Cavotec is a leading engineering group that designs and manufactures automated connection and electrification systems for ports, airports and industrial applications worldwide. Our innovative technologies ensure safe, efficient and sustainable operations.Cavotec's Ports & Maritime Division develops and manufactures innovative automation and electrification technologies for the global ports and maritime sectors.We continually innovate and develop our technologies to ensure that we deliver the levels of operational performance, safety and sustainability that our customers demand at all types of ports and terminals. Cavotec is the global leader in automated mooring, shore power, crane electrification, and connection and charging systems.

Harsco Rail is a global supplier for railway track maintenance and construction. With a broad range of high quality equipment, cutting-edge technology, and worldwide support, Harsco Rail takes care of customers’ needs for virtually all major aspects of track maintenance and construction. Delivering innovation and performance, Harsco Rail meets the demands of the track every day.

As VP of Sales & Business of a £690M global leading supplier of power management solutions with a presence in 30 countries, I modified the company’s DNA, transforming the culture into a performance and customer-based one. Given the severe market decline, fast strategic action was needed. I expedited double-digit growth in our North American and Chinese industrial segments, capturing £100M in new business each year. By reigniting the vision, I led the organization to outperform markets by 3 pp, while surpassing the competition in 80% of selected segments in Europe and North America.KEY SUCCESSES:✔PERFORMANCE CULTURE: I revolutionized the sales function, transforming it into a proactive commercial and application engineering response organization. As an integral part of the sales process, this not only added to GKN’s credibility as a recognized engineering company, but it instilled a sense of responsibility for performance among the team. ✔CUSTOMER-FOCUSED BUSINESS: I increased customer satisfaction scores by 15% acting on “voice of customer” response and incorporating the after-sales service offering into the original product sales process, representing a customer-centric, solution-selling approach.✔SALES FORCE EFFICIENCY: Perhaps one of my greatest areas of influence was in the area of sales activity management. Revenue per sales engineer grew by 4% yearly after embedding the GKN selling system, driven to exceed expectations through the new performance-based compensation structure.✔PRICING STRATEGIES: I increased prices 1%–1.5% YoY while protecting GKN’s market share.✔DEAL STRUCTURING: I took a threat of loss of a €75M account and converted it into a growth story, securing the client’s commitment to us through a smart competitive offer. ✔OPERATIONAL EFFICIENCY: I added value by launching a global “enquiry to order” system that streamlined the sales process and improved hit rates (up to 40%), customer responsiveness scores, and forecasting abilities.

With P&L responsibility of a geographically diverse region, my greatest legacy was in fostering a lean, customer-focused organization. When faced with the European construction market collapse, I refocused on the core business, creating 3 value streams that covered diverse customer groups, and growing business in the Middle East, Russia, and India while securing our European market share. By reducing overall operational complexity, we improved regional profitability by 3.5 pp driven by YoY 4%–4.3% productivity.KEY SUCCESSES:✔PERFORMANCE TURNAROUND: It was critical to eliminate inefficient operations and drive down costs. I did so by reducing our number of factories from 12 to 8, transferring operations to more cost-effective locations, and introducing continuous improvement measures that improved lead times 40%–50% and reduced stock 10%–15%. Despite the challenges inherent in corporate restructuring, employee satisfaction soared. ✔PORTFOLIO OPTIMIZATION: To significantly reduce costs, I redefined the core business, trimmed the product catalogue, and designed common sub-platforms that reduced SKUs, which led to significant production cost reductions and improvement in stock turns. ✔BOTTOM-LINE GROWTH: To offset inflation and to contribute to increased operating income, I introduced price structures by customer/channel segment, delivering YoY price increases of 1.2%–1.4%. This was significant in driving operating income from 4% to 7.5%.✔CASH FLOW OPTIMIZATION: I am proud to have improved the cross-functional collaboration of my organization—particularly between the A/R team and the customer care organization, whose work drove consistent cash flow conversion of 90%–110%. I drove further improvements by renegotiating with suppliers and standardizing commercial terms and conditions.✔LABOUR RELATIONS: I gained buy-in from labour unions on lean manufacturing initiatives I needed to implement in order to enhance efficiency across the supply chain.

As Vice President & GM Sales for the #1 manufacturer of commercial HVAC systems and building management systems and controls, I led a team of 10 direct and 250 indirect reports in driving up productivity, enhancing customer service, and introducing operational improvements that built a best-in-class sales and service organisation.During my 4-year tenure, I led my teams to consistently achieve stretch targets, delivering a 25% increase in revenue or CAGR of 5.5%. I contributed improving operating profit by 2.5% for the EMEIA division. In addition to the profitable growth achieved, we increased customer satisfaction scores by 10%. KEY SUCCESSES:✔BUSINESS ALIGNMENT: I spruced up the communication between the sales organization and manufacturing, which strengthened our price positioning, balancing the market demands with the plant load.✔PERFORMANCE MAXIMIZATION: I created a sales organization that was highly attuned to the impact of their actions on profit, making them directly accountable for bottom-line performance. ✔CUSTOMER SERVICE TRANSFORMATION: I overhauled the customer service organization, standardizing and digitalizing processes to enhance efficiencies. Furthermore, by consolidating a number of back-office functions, I improved customer face time by 5%–10% and increased customer satisfaction scores. ✔STRATEGIC SALES INITIATIVES: I revamped our business model, expanding our service offering and turning our reactive maintenance operation into a proactive sales and fulfilment model. This new approach enabled us to bundle equipment sales with highly profitable after-sales services, and to offer a differentiating competitive value proposition.

ROLES HELD:GM Sales & Distribution — Power Controls (Barcelona, Spain), 2002–2003Commercial Director — Power Controls (Gent, Belgium), 2001–2002Integrations Leader — Grässlin (GE) (St. Georgen, Germany and Kłodzko, Poland), 2000–2001Commercial Director — Power Controls (Gent, Belgium), 1999–2000GM Hungary — Power Controls (Ózd, Hungary), 1998–1999Operations Leader — Elester / Power Controls (JV) (Łódź, Poland), 1996–1998Six Sigma Strategic Programs Manager (Barcelona, Spain), 1996–1996 (7 months)New Product Introduction Manager (Gent, Belgium), 1994–1996Productivity Leader (Gent, Belgium), 1991–1994It was a privilege to build my career foundation within this multinational conglomerate and Fortune 500 high-tech industrial leader. GE afforded me endless opportunities to expand my scope of responsibility and grow as a leader. My impact on bottom-line performance and operational efficiency spanned the areas of Operations, New Product Launch, Strategic Planning, General Management, Sales, and M&A Integration. KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:►TOP-LINE GROWTH: Designed and launched an incentive programme that generated demand for our products among end-customers and rewarded wholesalers, leading to revenue gains of $35M.►MANUFACTURING FACILITY STARTUP: One of the highlights of my time with GE was the startup of a $15M factory investment in Hungary, delivered on time and within budget, which added significant value to GE thanks to the tax savings it afforded. I drove it to full capacity within 1 year and then handed it over to a local leadership team.►M&A INTEGRATION: As Integrations Leader, I orchestrated the Grässlin integration, involving a 30% workforce reduction. This task challenged me to keep morale up and maintain service levels while setting the stage for profitable growth, resulting in 5%–6% YoY productivity improvements, 15% lead-time gains, and a reduced manufacturing footprint.