[:de]► Interim Manager: Mr DV
► Industry: Treatment for Automotive Supplier and Machine Building
► Customer: Confidential
► Location: Remscheid / Germany
► time frame: 10 months, January 2017 – October 2017
► Role: Vacancy Role, predecessor left the company without successor being installed on time
► Turnover: 16 M €
► No. of employess: 150 (incl. part time and temporary staff)
► About the Customer
The client is a globally leading heat treatment company based in Remscheid. The client employs > 1,000 staff in 6 countries at 22 locations. The company acts as service provider with heat treatment solutions for the global automotive supplier and machine building industry. The Remscheid plant is the largest plant within the group and the core business of the (CONFIDENTIAL) group brand.
► Situation (Challenge)
The client lost the acting plant manager at the end of 2016 and didn’t manage to find a replacement on time. Therefore Mr DV was contracted to run the production plant on an interim basis and meet the targeted turnover and EBITA planned for 2017. One of the main targets inter alia was to pacify the relation btw. the work council and the management, Mr DV had to moderate on both sides and find a solution for the ongoing court case of the two parties.
The initial assignment length was 6 months, but the assignment was extended for a further 4 months due to the lengthy process of finding and appointing a permanent Production Director.
Adding new and replacing old equipment is an ongoing process of a production plant with an 80 years history, so transferring additional equipment into an already busy facility is a challenge.
The plant also had a large backlog of overdue orders.
► Solution (Achievement)
Until the end of October the turnover budget was + 4% and the EBITA was also above the targeted figure. Furthermore the backlog of overdue orders was substantially reduced with a rising customer satisfaction. The court case btw. the work council and the management was finally withdrawn amicably.
Furthermore new equipment had been installed inside the plant at a location which was not according to the original plan of the Technical Director, finally he had to agree that his original plans would have lead to a shutdown of one dept. for 2 months. This scenario was not acceptable due to the high order book value and very tight delivery schedules to the automotive industry.
► Customer Feedback
‘The client has a high wear and tear of Production Directors (4 in 5 years). The main task is the difficult situation btw. staff, work council and the management board. Plant equipment and its technical availability is not state of the art, reinvestment is not as it should be.
You analyzed the situation and then started to implement changes. A higher level of information and an open communication with the work council was identified as being very important. The sense of unity of the staff was strengthened by you, also outside the plant and off business hours.
All senior managers were supported with their tasks and trainings were implemented. In case of difficult client relations and quality issues both sales and quality department were supported and related actions accompanied. Due to your longstanding expertise many important issues were addressed and sometimes with external support made much more professional: remodeling, internal and external project management, sales strategy, client satisfaction, taking responsibility and managerial functions etc. You implemented long term changes.’[:en]

► Interim Manager: Mr DV
► Industry: Treatment for Automotive Supplier and Machine Building
► Customer: Confidential
► Location: Remscheid / Germany
► time frame: 10 months, January 2017 – October 2017
► Role: Vacancy Role, predecessor left the company without successor being installed on time
► Turnover: 16 M €
► No. of employess: 150 (incl. part time and temporary staff)

► About the Customer
The client is a globally leading heat treatment company based in Remscheid. The client employs > 1,000 staff in 6 countries at 22 locations. The company acts as service provider with heat treatment solutions for the global automotive supplier and machine building industry. The Remscheid plant is the largest plant within the group and the core business of the (CONFIDENTIAL) group brand.

► Situation (Challenge)
The client lost the acting plant manager at the end of 2016 and didn’t manage to find a replacement on time. Therefore Mr DV was contracted to run the production plant on an interim basis and meet the targeted turnover and EBITA planned for 2017. One of the main targets inter alia was to pacify the relation btw. the work council and the management, Mr DV had to moderate on both sides and find a solution for the ongoing court case of the two parties.
The initial assignment length was 6 months, but the assignment was extended for a further 4 months due to the lengthy process of finding and appointing a permanent Production Director.
Adding new and replacing old equipment is an ongoing process of a production plant with an 80 years history, so transferring additional equipment into an already busy facility is a challenge.
The plant also had a large backlog of overdue orders.
 
► Solution (Achievement)
Until the end of October the turnover budget was + 4% and the EBITA was also above the targeted figure. Furthermore the backlog of overdue orders was substantially reduced with a rising customer satisfaction. The court case btw. the work council and the management was finally withdrawn amicably.
Furthermore new equipment had been installed inside the plant at a location which was not according to the original plan of the Technical Director, finally he had to agree that his original plans would have lead to a shutdown of one dept. for 2 months. This scenario was not acceptable due to the high order book value and very tight delivery schedules to the automotive industry.

► Customer Feedback
‘The client has a high wear and tear of Production Directors (4 in 5 years). The main task is the difficult situation btw. staff, work council and the management board. Plant equipment and its technical availability is not state of the art, reinvestment is not as it should be.

You analyzed the situation and then started to implement changes. A higher level of information and an open communication with the work council was identified as being very important. The sense of unity of the staff was strengthened by you, also outside the plant and off business hours.
All senior managers were supported with their tasks and trainings were implemented. In case of difficult client relations and quality issues both sales and quality department were supported and related actions accompanied. Due to your longstanding expertise many important issues were addressed and sometimes with external support made much more professional: remodeling, internal and external project management, sales strategy, client satisfaction, taking responsibility and managerial functions etc. You implemented long term changes.’

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