Interim CEO, CRO, COO, Project Manager, Operational Excellence

• Preparation of a turnaround report according to IDW S6 for a real estate developer as consultant/expert
• Assessment of the current situation
• Examination of insolvency risk and over-indebtedness
• Liquidity planning
• Derivation of necessary measures and strategy development
• Initiation of selected measures and presentation of results
• Very fast preparation of the report
• Development of a viable strategy
• Building trust among creditors to continue supporting the client in the future
• Extreme time pressure in preparing the report
• Need to persuade the shareholder to provide (additional) loans to allow continuation

• Reorganization of sales processes and implementation of a lead-to-order process for business development after a revenue crisis
• Analysis of existing sales and marketing processes (current state assessment)
• Restructuring of customer acquisition processes (including automation of certain steps)
• Implementation of CRM-based lead generation
• Training of internal sales staff on new tools and processes
• Support of sales meetings and sales controlling
• KPI-based monitoring of process improvements
• Setup of a functioning sales pipeline with >1,000 qualified leads
• Generation of over 35 active new customer relationships
• Sustainable establishment of process-oriented sales management
• Intense price competition in the market
• Time pressure in generating inquiries
• Entrenched structures at the client
• Handling a high volume of inquiries

As CEO: Successful implementation of SAP in a medium-sized steel and special machinery manufacturing company

• Selection and implementation of a new ERP system (SAP Business One)
• Choosing the right system
• Applying for the government digital grant
• Data preparation and data migration
• Adapting processes to the new ERP system and rolling it out
• Training employees on the software
• Go live
• Successful rollout of SAP Business One
• SAP implementations are a challenge in themselves…

As CEO: Digitization and introduction of paperless processes in a steel, machinery, and special machinery manufacturing company

• Eliminating paper overload and moving to a paperless office
• Creating transparency across all orders
• Increasing employee efficiency
• Limiting printer usage
• Establishing digital infrastructure
• Adapting the existing process structure to new challenges and consistently implementing it
• Partial digitization of existing documents
• Reducing paper consumption by 98%
• Cutting inefficient search work by two person-months per month
• Complete digital documentation of orders
• Significant reduction in response times for customer inquiries
• 'We've always done it this way…' – especially among the remaining long-time shareholders
• Sustainable adaptation of employees to new requirements, processes, and procedures

As Director Order Fulfillment: Scaling operational structures for growth in a family-owned R&D company in special machinery manufacturing for the automotive industry

• Technical and disciplinary leadership of the Order Fulfillment department (project management, order planning, design (mechanical, electrical, software), commissioning, service)
• Merging both locations into a single functional unit
• Realigning the strategy considering both sites (e.g. 'best cost' vs. 'German thoroughness')
• Identifying and implementing synergies
• Developing and implementing cross-site processes
• Strategic company planning
• Defining strategies for sales, projects, and aftermarket
• Financial planning, including implementation and monitoring
• Workforce planning aimed at double-digit annual revenue growth
• Personnel development
• Introduction of LEAN and SIX SIGMA
• Replacing some department heads with better qualified managers both technically and personally
• Process optimization and rollout
• Establishing suitable communication channels for key markets
• Closing critical and outdated projects
• Implementing suitable personnel and order planning tools
• Lobbying with affiliate business partners
• Personnel development, mainly in project management and commissioning
• Tight integration of design processes and workflows with production, managed by project management at the task level and order planning overall
• Promoting team spirit between the German and Czech teams
• Achieving revenue growth of over 25% since I joined
• Increasing efficiency of German and Czech departments so that headcount did not need to increase despite higher revenue
• Successful rollout of standardized processes across all departments and countries
• Co-responsible for redesigning the globally used AVL project management manual
• Complete reorganization of the project management department and cross-border departments between Germany and the Czech Republic
• Significantly improved product quality led to even higher market acceptance
• Co-introduction of a modular test bench concept to reduce costs and delivery times
• Standardizing processes, developing training concepts, and expanding commissioning activities led to massive efficiency gains, time and cost savings, and shorter commissioning times
• Introducing a tool for hour-accurate planning and reporting of commissioning assignments
• Introducing an easy-to-understand production planning tool, used beyond production for better sales activity planning
• Introducing cost and revenue planning tools for financial company management
• Linking capacity planning of individual departments within my area for more efficient project flow planning
• Burned-out teams due to high and unstructured (no suitable processes) workloads
• Distrust between the German and Czech teams
• Very weak leadership team, especially those who had been with the company a long time
• Quality issues
• Poor standing of AVL Zöllner within the AVL Group

Business Unit Head in China: Strengthened competitive position through revenue growth and new USPs – headed a business unit in R&D-focused special machine construction for the automotive industry

• Explored revenue growth potentials outside the previously established business areas
• Increased the BU's profit through suitable further development of the BU
• Created nine USPs compared to competitors
• Searched for partner companies that already had a strong technical position, matched our products, and wanted to establish themselves in China
• Used our sales team to jointly market the partner's products and services and include them in our offers
• Developed and implemented a suitable marketing strategy
• Generated additional revenue in the seven-figure range in the first year
• Increased profit by over 30%
• Acquired a large number of new customers
• Expanded the product portfolio to include products and services of the partner company
• Increased revenue and profit from selling our own products through the new USPs created by the cooperation
• Introduced a new product and a previously relatively unknown provider in China
• Overcame initial distrust from our top management regarding the strategy and the partner
• Enforced the relatively high but fair prices of the partner's services and products

Interim Business Unit Head for a machine in special machine construction in China

• Mapped the current situation
• Stabilized and restructured the BU
• Closed critical projects
• Defined and introduced key processes
• Implemented SCM
• First functioning processes
• Closed critical projects
• Full transparency
• Functioning SCM
• Dealt with distrust from Chinese and arrogance of German colleagues
• Created understanding for the German, process-driven way of working
• High customer pressure
• Weak market position

Interim Operations Manager for a special machinery manufacturer in China

• Identification of gaps in the BU's project business in China
• Monitoring and supporting the then BU head
• Implementation of project management standards
• Introduction of production and capacity planning
• Introduction of communication standards with headquarters and clients
• Assessment of the current situation
• Implementation of German PM standards
• Development and implementation of project management standards, production and capacity planning
• Regular meetings with headquarters and clients
• Implementation of required measures under the most challenging conditions
• Approaches to improve customer satisfaction
• Establishment of a structured communication
• Extreme mistrust from the Chinese colleagues
• Time pressure in several critical projects
• Boycott stance of the Chinese GM