Consulting in project, program and line management
More than 30 years of international experience in the automotive industry
Consulting in project, program and line management
​Since 2022, Executive Advisor, Business Consultant, Interim Manager with consulting mandates from the automotive supplier industry.
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Before that almost 30 years of management in the automotive industry, in leading positions on different continents, businesses and companies, including President & CEO, Managing Director, head of diverse Business Units, Joint Ventures, projects and programs as well as head of a Production Plant and as head of a Retail Branch.
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As a consultant, I support your strategy and operations with an approach that is customized to your individual needs. With a focus on people, processes, performance and profitability, I work with my clients as equal partners and help them achieve success by relying on field tested and sustainable solutions.
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More than 30 years of international management and consulting experience - automotive industry
Since 2022
Executive Advisor, Business Consultant, Interim Manager
Advisory, Consulting and Interim Management for large scale and medium sized companies with a focus on automotive Tier 1 and Tier 2 suppliers
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Current and previous mandates:
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Consulting a global equipment manufacturer of automotive e-motor assembly lines (2024)
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Consulting a global automotive Tier 1 supplier on production localization in China (2023)
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Consulting a global automotive Tier 1 software engineering provider on internationalization (2022/23)
President & CEO - Executive Board Member Daimler Greater China
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Fujian Benz Automotive Co., Ltd.- Fuzhou (China)
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Production, purchasing, supply chain and sales of vans in China; development of components
Turnover EUR 1.6 billion, 3,200 employees
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China Executive Mercedes-Benz Vans and Executive Board Member Daimler Greater China
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President & CEO of the company, a majority-owned joint venture between BAIC (China) and Daimler
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Outsourcing and restructuring of sales, marketing, product and program management
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Further development of the production system and CIP to increase efficiency and quality
2016 - 2021
2012 - 2015
Executive Member Product Group Compact Cars
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Mercedes Benz - Sindelfingen
Budget > EUR 100 million, 50 employees
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Head of global compact car production planning
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Head of global e-Drive production planning, joint ventures with various industrial groups
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Production relocation of a compact car model to a contract manufacturer (Finland)
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Development of a joint venture with a Japanese OEM to construct a compact car factory (Mexico)
2007 - 2011
Director Automotive Foundries and Forge
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Mercedes-Benz - Untertürkheim, Head of Foundries and Forge
Budget > EUR 100 million, 3,200 employees
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Strategy process to determine the future product portfolio
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Entry into cast steel (turbocharger) and cast magnesium (body parts)
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Exit from iron casting, outsourcing of the brake disc business
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Programs and projects to increase efficiency and quality
2005 - 2007
Director Divisional Program Office
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Mercedes Car Group - Untertürkheim and Sindelfinge - worldwide turnaround program CORE
Budget > EUR 200 million, 15 office employees, 70 consultants, 150 full-time, 2.800 part-time project workers
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40 work packages, entire value chain; improvement from 0 to 7% ROS
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Introduction of vehicle platforms and module strategy in development and purchase
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Plant efficiencies through the introduction of the harbor logic (“hours per vehicle”)
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Purchasing offensive and realignment of the administrative areas
2003 - 2005
Managing Director and Plant Manager
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MDC Power GmbH - Koelleda (Thuringia), Tier 1 supplier
Turnover > EUR 500 million, 600 employees
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​Installation of a joint venture between Daimler and a Japanese OEM
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Construction, commissioning and series operation of a greenfield engine plant in Thuringia
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Set up of flat hierarchies, outsourcing of operations (e.g. maintenance and logistics)
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Design, installation und operation of a lean production system
2001 - 2003
Head of Passenger Car Assembly
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Mercedes-Benz, head of assembly passenger cars (interior), Bremen plant
Budget > EUR 50 million, 1,200 employees
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Assembly - interior installation and pre-assembly (cockpit, doors), 250,000 vehicles per year
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Management of 4 team leaders, 60 foremen and 1,200 employees in three-shift operation
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Installation of a CIP under the direction of temporarily released team leaders and foremen
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Projects for process stabilization, efficiency increase, quality improvement
1998 - 2001
Head of Company Owned Retail Branch
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Mercedes-Benz, Magdeburg branch
Turnover > EUR 300 million, 400 employees
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Sales of new and used vehicles (cars, vans, trucks) and aftersales (service and parts)
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Management of three regional contractual partners (aftersales and customer brokerage)
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Parallel project manager for strategic realignment of sales in Germany
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Parallel project manager for strategic realignment of global sales
1996 - 1998
Head of Marketing - South American Subsidiary
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Mercedes-Benz Argentina, Buenos Aires
Budget > EUR 15 million, 30 employees
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Market launch of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter in Argentina
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Restructuring of the sales areas, introduction of new dealer management tools
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Know-how transfer from Germany and USA to Argentina
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Implementation of a sales-wide change process ("Proyecto Comercial")
1994 - 1996
Executive Assistant to a Board Member
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Mercedes-Benz (MB) and Daimler-Benz AG, Stuttgart
Budget > EUR 20 million
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Assistant to the Executive Board, initially in MB car development, then in Daimler-Benz sales
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Pick up, coordinate and follow up on topics relevant to the board of management
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Collaboration in the MB car development TQM change process (for 8,000 employees)
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Office management, travel escort, mail processing, meeting management, minutes
1993 - 1994
International Management Associate Program
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Daimler-Benz AG, Stuttgart and Vitoria (Spain)
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Pre-development passenger cars - collaboration in driving tests with 100 battery-electric cars
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Pre-development passenger cars - collaboration in the strategy development of a directorate
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Van plant Vitoria - study on the outsourcing of IT activities to external service providers
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Van plant Vitoria - collaboration in the implementation of a new production control system
Education
1989 - 1993
RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, doctorate in business administration, Dr. rer. pol.
1982 - 1988
TU Darmstadt, studies in business administration and mechanical engineering, Dipl.-Wirtsch.-Ing. (MB)
Internships
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Procter & Gamble, Spain (Barcelona): Intralogistics project in a detergent production plant (post graduate,1992)
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BASF Belgium (Brussels): TQM concept for a national wholesale organisation (post graduate,1991)
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Philips Lighting, UK (London), technical concept for cleaning cycle optimization of motor-way road lamping (graduate,1987)
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Oliver Wyman, Germany (Munich), industrial consulting project at VOEST Alpine, Austria (graduate, 1987)
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Languages
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​German: native
English, Spanish: business fluent
French, Chinese: colloquial
Honorary positions​
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Guest Professor Fuzhou University, MBA program, School of Economics and Management (since 2017)
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Guest lecturer, OneMBA program, an executive program of five international business schools (since 2018)
Awards/Prizes​
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Konrad Mellerowicz Prize for Business Administration, TU Berlin (1993). The prize shall commemorate Konrad Mellerowicz (1891-1984), a German professor of business administration. Since 1991, it is bi-yearly awarded to outstanding academic publications in the field of business administration.
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Max Weber Prize for Business Ethics, Institute of German Economy, Cologne (1994). Awarded are outstanding academic publications addressing potential conflicts between profit orientation and social responsibility.