New Start in Dongguan

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How a new plant manager increased productivity and successfully drove forward a restructuring process

Sometimes the biggest obstacle to progress lies not in the market, but in internal structures. For us at Steinkellner China Search, working with a traditional German manufacturer of specialty lighting was a prime example of how the right leadership personality can revive a stalled restructuring process and lead to measurable successes. Learn how we helped improve communication, significantly increase productivity, and enable a decisive turnaround in our client’s Chinese production facility in Dongguan.

A leading German manufacturer of specialty lighting and technical components, which has been acting as a development and innovation partner for the lighting and household appliance industry since 1867 and produces hundreds of millions of components annually, maintains an important production facility for oven lights in Dongguan, China. This plant supplies high-end customers, including leading household appliance manufacturers who have the highest demands for electrical and thermal resilience. The company found itself in a necessary restructuring process with its plant in Dongguan. However, this process stagnated under the existing plant manager, who saw no further need for optimization. The management team at the German headquarters, on the other hand, identified a massive communication deficit and the urgent need to increase productivity on-site in Dongguan. Implementing these goals over the distance, however, proved to be a major challenge, especially since the then-responsible managing director on-site did not share this view and blocked necessary changes.

Due to our extensive experience in filling plant manager positions in China, we were commissioned by our client with this demanding search. The clear task for us was to find a new plant management with Chinese roots who is not only technically capable of implementing the necessary optimizations on-site but also brings the motivation and determination to consistently drive the restructuring process forward to a successful conclusion. Our goal was to identify the hand-picked and perfectly fitting executive who could shape this turnaround. In the course of an extensive recruitment process, we worked with our proven two-stage system: The initial interviews were conducted by our APAC Lead Recruiter, while the main interviews were led by Manfred Steinkellner. Our team systematically guided our client through the entire process, presented well-founded options, developed selection possibilities, and finally presented concrete, highly qualified talents.

Through our process quality and the experience of our involved recruitment team, we were able to find the ideal executive for this key position. The new plant manager was able to achieve impressive successes for himself and the company in Dongguan within a very short time and gain the trust of the German parent company. The improvements were significant and measurable:

  • Productivity increased by +15%.
  • Complaints were reduced by -50%.
  • Inventory integrity improved by +6%.
  • Furthermore, under the new leadership, automation was introduced in the plant and the first machine was successfully put into operation on-site.

“We finally have an unbeatable man on-site with whom we can really make progress – and this despite the fact that we could never meet him in person due to Corona.”

“The new plant manager was the best personnel decision of the year 2021.”

Gerrit D., CFO

  • The precise analysis of the initial situation and the understanding of the need for a genuine turnaround manager with specific intercultural and assertive competencies.
  • Our proven two-stage interview system, which ensures an in-depth evaluation of both the professional and personal suitability of the talents.
  • The close and strategic guidance of our client through the entire process, including proactive consulting and the presentation of clearly defined options.
  • Our ability to identify executives with Chinese roots even for demanding restructuring and optimization projects who can both understand the local mentality and meet the requirements of a German quality company.

Your success story could be the next

Is your company in China also facing the challenge of revitalizing a stagnant process or significantly increasing the productivity of your branch? Do you need a leader who not only manages but actively shapes and optimizes? Let’s talk about how we can find the right personality for your success in China with our expertise and dedicated team.