Interim Project Manager

H+H Deutschland GmbH is a Europe-wide manufacturer of aerated concrete and sand-lime brick for the construction industry. With over 14 sites in Germany alone, it is the second largest supplier in this segment in the DACH region. At the Wittenborn site stands the group's largest and oldest aerated concrete plant, with significant production capacity especially for the Nordic Scandinavian market. In 2022, the Wittenborn plant underwent a comprehensive modernization project in the double-digit million range. In addition to replacing 38m-long autoclaves (stone-hardening boilers), crane systems along the process chain were automated and renewed, and a modern safety concept was implemented.

Interim Management

Overall Project Manager (01/2022 – 08/2023)

• Integration management of four subprojects including maintenance and their respective project managers (double-digit million investment)
• Stakeholder management at C-level (Germany, England, Denmark)

Plant Manager / Maintenance Manager (01/2023 – 08/2023)

• Assumed both roles until a successor was appointed

psX GmbH is a consulting firm based in Hamburg since 2004, focusing on operational project management in industries such as automotive, renewable energy, aerospace, transport, and logistics.

• Independent handling of consulting projects for third-party clients
• Taking on leadership roles in consulting projects, especially guiding psX team members
• Personnel responsibility for assigned team members
• Acquisition of client contracts from new and existing customers

Project Assignments

08/2019 – 04/2020 Lead PM Engineering Task Force Manager in the development of a high-voltage component at an international supplier for a German OEM's electric and hybrid models. Restructuring of the project, harmonization of interfaces, and stakeholder management (external/internal).

05/2018 – 07/2019 Overall Project Manager and Commercial Project Manager simultaneously for Eisenmann Anlagenbau GmbH & Co. KG for the new paint shop at Porsche AG in Zuffenhausen for the new Taycan model. Technical responsibility for a six-person project team, 20 site supervisors, and 500 fitters, installers, and commissioning engineers. Sole responsibility for schedule, quality, and budget (in the high double-digit million range).

09/2017 – 04/2018 Project Manager and Process Consultant for the refurbishment of 41 regional trains for DB Fahrzeuginstandhaltung on behalf of DB Regio AG. Responsible for schedule, quality, and budget across both workshop sites in Kassel and Wittenberge. Introduced shop floor management to optimize the refurbishment process. Structured and adapted communication and information flow between design, procurement, materials planning, and production.

04/2017 – 08/2017 Process Consultant as part of an operational excellence initiative for DB Regio AG to optimize the performance of the new specialty workshop in Ulm. Analyzed and reorganized processes between the control center, fleet management, and workshop. Developed key metrics to manage workshop processes and prioritize tasks. Introduced and optimized shop floor management (digital and analog) in operational planning of workshop capacity to ensure target achievement.

Senvion GmbH, based in Hamburg, is a manufacturer of wind turbines in the 2MW, 3MW, and 6MW classes. In the sensitive offshore wind farm sector in the German North Sea, the company is currently handling projects in the triple-digit million range.

• Defining and implementing risk and change management processes according to the PMI international project management standard
• Training the project team and raising stakeholder awareness on the topic
• Embedding the unified processes in the current project and creating a basic structure for use in future offshore projects
• Implementing the risk and change management standard until handover to internal project staff to be defined

Eisenmann AG, based in Böblingen, is the world's second-largest provider of paint shop construction and turnkey delivery for the automotive industry. On behalf of customers FAW-VW and SVW, three modern facilities for a two-line operation on five levels were built in Foshan, Shanghai, and Changsha. A special challenge, apart from the locations, was handling and coordinating German and Chinese scopes of work in design, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, and assembly.

• The main focus of commercial project management was monitoring and controlling project cost and profitability as well as schedule adherence
• Responsible for contract results, claims and change orders, project schedules, and cash in/cash out
• Identifying opportunities and risks in technical, cost, and schedule areas
• Defining, implementing, and monitoring measures to improve results
• Coordinating design, procurement, manufacturing, logistics, and assembly
• International process design and planning/co-ordination

Kenersys, as part of the Indian Kalyani Group, entered the wind turbine market as a manufacturer. At its headquarters in Germany, the prototypes of the first two wind turbines with 2.0 MW and 2.5 MW were coordinated. In parallel, an in-house manufacturing plant was planned and built in Wismar. After prototype construction, the ramp-up of series production took place with the goal to achieve a 10% global market share in the coming years.

• Building and coordinating the ordering, delivery, and warehousing process
• Supplier management in line with production planning for German and Indian manufacturing
• Setting up procurement/disposition processes and interaction with design and site management
• Quality management in prototype planning and transferring concepts to series production
• Developing documentation processes in the overall project

The telecommunications company was on the verge of moving from start-up to big player in the industry. Immense customer growth and ever shorter product lifecycles put internal product- and customer-oriented processes under great strain.

• Analyzing and defining more cost-effective customer service processes as part of a technical concept (KPI-based process analysis)
• Supporting the transfer of customer service procedures from the call center to the online self-service platform (customer portal)
• Defining processes, work instructions, and customer documentation
• Project responsibility to ensure time and quality

An ongoing multi-million project of a German DAX 30 company at two major German car manufacturers fell into extreme financial distress shortly after project launch due to client- and internally caused factors. The project to introduce PC lifecycle management became a complex recovery case. A three-person project management team (internal project manager, internal project commercial manager, and external project controller) was tasked with the project's turnaround.

• Head of the project office
• Establishing project reporting based on operational and commercial KPIs
• Conducting audits based on ITIL
• Developing a methodology for continuous project and process optimization and improving collaboration with internal resources of the contractor's line organization
• Establishing project-related risk and change management
• Coordinating project communication between project teams (120 staff), contractor organization, client organization, and project management
• Presenting recovery progress and embedding recovery rules in the project organization for sustainable implementation over the remaining project duration – reporting to the steering committee and board

A world-renowned consumer goods manufacturer from northern Germany implemented a CRM system from Siemens Business Services GmbH & Co. OHG to strengthen its sales activities. This CRM suite, called eMACCS (electronic Management and Customer Care System), is a development platform that can be adapted to individual customer requirements. The system is used both operationally and analytically and will be used throughout the global corporate network.

• Organizational and technical design of company-wide interfaces
• External project management in the implementation of the eMACCS CRM suite
• Liaison between system providers and clients/end users
• Defining functional requirements and creating the specification document
• Order costing and ensuring budget compliance
• Coordinating development activities and leading implementation phases
• Managing project reports, documentation, and status presentations
• Training sales staff on how to use the system

Assigned directly by the division management to support the entire division during upcoming strategic changes. Environment conditions:

• Development of sales markets into new product fields

• Inflexible and outdated sales and service processes

• High revenue and cost pressure in the telecommunications and networks business area

• Conducting strategy workshops including SWOT analyses and defining action packages for the internal and external repositioning of the entire division

• Supporting the redesign of sales and service processes based on new product and market conditions

• Assisting in designing the transition of (partially manual) order processing to automated processes (eBusiness)

• Optimizing process flows between engineering and sales

• Conducting process cost accounting and developing customer-oriented proposal structures

Development of a CRM solution for contract management. Integrating all relevant databases, consolidating information, collecting customer data, connecting all employees with customer contact (including 700 sales staff, 100 customer service employees).

• Developing the functional concept of requirements for the software to be developed, data storage, and processes in contract management
• Developing solution alternatives and evaluating them with the implementation partner (cost-benefit analyses)
• Leading the project for the introduction and concurrent development of the CRM application
• Developing concepts for structuring existing customer data, acquiring new customer data, and processing it through customer loyalty measures
• Implementing customer segmentation and lifetime value analyses into product and service offerings
• Designing system enhancements to meet field service requirements and integrate additional databases and information systems
• Conducting a kick-off tour through all branch offices to increase acceptance of the application among the 700 field staff

The Siemens AG ICN Regional Sales division was a business unit that, at that time, served approximately 230,000 customers in the telecommunications systems business. Key organizational elements were a nationwide direct sales force, a central sales support unit, and a central project planning unit. Between 1997 and 1999, the business shifted from selling pure telecom hardware and installation to offering communication system solutions.

• Inside sales team leader with four staff and responsibility for supporting 20 field sales representatives in direct sales
• Commercial support for project planning business for large projects – especially preliminary, during, and post-calculations of complex project deals
• Establishing a central inside sales support unit in Berlin for the new federal states
• Developing concepts for process optimization in the interaction of sales, project planning, and commercial teams to achieve efficiency and effectiveness gains in acquisition
• Process redesign during the transition from hardware sales to solution business