Franz Cerwinka

Senior Vice President, President, Applied Water Systems and Xylem Business Transformation

Role at Xylem

Franz Cerwinka leads Xylem’s commercial operations across six geographical regions – Africa, Australia and New Zealand, China and North Asia, India and South Asia, Middle East and Türkiye, and Southeast Asia. His team delivers market-leading products and solutions that address unique and localized water challenges and opportunities. This includes delivering solutions from Water Infrastructure, Applied Water Systems, and Measurement and Control Solutions (M&CS), along with all product brands within the Xylem portfolio, such as Godwin, Flygt, Wedeco, Sanitaire, Sensus and others.

Globally, Franz leads Xylem’s Applied Water Systems (AWS) segment including market-leading brands Goulds, Bell & Gossett, Lowara. These brands deliver efficient movement of water for industrial, commercial building and residential applications as well as low-flow pumps, valves and membrane filters used in everything from beverage processing and dispensing to leisure boats. 

Professional Background

Franz joined Xylem in 2020 and has more than 25 years of experience in general management, operations, commercial and finance leadership positions, with a focus on the industrial and manufacturing segments, including:

• Chief Executive Officer of Johnson Controls-Hitachi Air Conditioning in Tokyo and Vice President/General Manager of Johnson Controls-Air Distribution in North America. Franz also held a variety of commercial and finance roles at Johnson Controls’ automotive and HVAC businesses in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific
• Franz served as a board member in multiple partnerships and joint ventures in China, India, Korea, Japan and other Southeast Asia countries

Community Impact

Franz is an advocate for the Hispanic Origin & Latin Affinity (HOLA) community, including serving as executive sponsor for the network within Xylem.

In the community, Franz serves on the Singapore Advisory Board for the Asian University for Women, an independent international university offering undergraduate education and leadership development for young women from across Asia and the Middle East.

Education

Master of Business Administration in Finance, University of Michigan
Bachelor of Science in Industrial Engineering, Universidad de las Américas Puebla