Category: Thought leadership

John Swinhoe has been appointed to the key strategic role and in doing so makes a welcome return to Sertec, having enjoyed a previously successful stint as Operations Director at the Coleshill based company’s, Hungarian plant.

Having spent two years overseeing operations at Sertec’s plant in Ászár, Koztarsasag, Hungary, John took up post as one of the senior management team at tier one automotive supplier WHS Plastics, based in Sutton Coldfield, last year.

In returning to Sertec, John brings with him over 35 years of experience and knowledge from working in the manufacturing and engineering sector, with over 25 years of that time spent in tier one automotive supplier roles.

In his new role at Sertec, John will have responsibility for the implementation of group processes and methodologies that deliver sustainable business performance and excellence and play a key role in the continuous improvement of current and future business ventures.

John said: “It’s great to be reunited with the Sertec team and I am really looking forward to starting the new role and the responsibilities that come with it.

“The two years I spent working in Hungary running the Sertec plant were among my career highlights to date, so it’s great to have the opportunity to return to Sertec at such an exciting time for the company.

“I am really looking forward to the challenge ahead and playing my part in further enhancing the company’s reputation for manufacturing excellence and establishing Sertec as a key player in the EV sector.”

Grant Adams, Group CEO at Sertec, said: “John is an excellent addition to the team.

“We know from John’s time overseeing our Hungary plant that he is an experienced and highly capable operator, and his return is a welcome one at a strategically important time for the business.

“We have some exciting times ahead in 2021 and with John and other recent senior appointments, we are better equipped to take full advantage of our position in the automotive sector.”

Sertec Group Ltd operates across eight sites, with six manufacturing sites in the Midlands in the UK, one manufacturing site in Ászár, Hungary and one in Hückeswagen, Germany, plus a tooling technical centre based in Dongguan, China.

Effective January 4th, 2021, Susan will oversee the company’s global finance and IT Teams, as well as management of cash flow, financial planning, treasury activities, and profitability.

Susan brings a wealth of cross-industry experience in accelerating companies’ growth and strategic business planning as well as the financial planning and controls and corporate governance. She has also held executive positions in a wide range of functional areas including finance, general management, and customer services. In more recent times, Susan has served as Vice President General Manager with profit and loss responsibility for entities in the UK, Europe, Asia region and North America.

Susan’s appointment will add to the Board’s diversity and experience. Alongside her fellow board members, Susan will be at the forefront of implementing a long-term, strategic plan for Sertec to increase its share of UK and European markets. This will include the company preparing for significant growth, accelerated through opportunities offered by EV and lightweight technology.

Susan, said: “I can’t imagine a more exciting and challenging time to join the Sertec family and to partner with the team in building the business through these very testing times”.

“With its innovation and points of difference in relation to EV and lightweight technologies, Sertec has a very bright future and I look forward to contributing to its future business successes.”

“We are excited Susan has chosen to join our growing team,” says Grant Adams, CEO of Sertec. “The wealth of experience and knowledge she brings to the role will benefit the business as we move into a new chapter of the Sertec story”.

“We have some exciting times ahead in 2021 and with Susan and other recent senior appointments, we are better equipped to take full advantage of our position in the automotive sector.”

Sertec Group Ltd operates across eight sites, with six manufacturing sites in the Midlands in the UK, one manufacturing site in Aszar, Hungary and one in Hückeswagen, Germany, plus a tooling technical centre based in Dongguan, China.

Antal Mihalicz joins as Managing Director in Sertec’s Hungarian territory and brings with him a wealth of senior experience within the sector. He has over 30 years of automotive manufacturing experience including Operations Director at Novares, Managing Director of Hella Manufacturing in Hungary and Managing Director of Schefenacker Automotive Parts, which counted Audi, BMW, Ford, and Toyota amongst its client base.

Antal’s appointment is part of a long-term, strategic plan for Sertec in the region, with the company preparing for significant growth, accelerated by opportunities offered by EV and lightweight technology.

Antal, said: “I feel privileged to join the Sertec board and have the opportunity to play my part in growing the company’s share of the European market.

“I am looking forward to working with fellow Board members to implement our long-term plan for the region, showcasing Sertec’s innovation and point of difference and maximising the opportunities available to us within the EV and lightweight technology sector.

“There are huge opportunities for expansion and I look forward to working with the Sertec board and the wider team to deliver our business vision for the region.”

Grant Adams, CEO at Sertec, said: “Antal’s appointment is a significant addition to our Board, bringing with him new experience and skills that will help complement our existing team.

“He will play an integral part in establishing and growing our European footprint, as we seek to capitalise on the huge opportunities afforded by what we see as a ‘new industrial revolution in our sector. There is huge investment in the region for EV technology, including large manufacturers such as Audi, and we aim to be at the forefront of this new wave of innovation and development.

“We welcome Antal and look forward to working with him to achieve our vision for the business in the Hungarian territory and the wider EV and lightweight technology market.”

Sertec Group Ltd operates across eight sites, with six manufacturing sites in the Midlands in the UK, one manufacturing site in Aszar, Hungary and one in Hückeswagen, Germany, plus a tooling technical centre based in Dongguan, China.

Juergen Schreiner joins in his new role with extensive sector experience, spanning over 25 years in the automotive industry. His previous roles include Global Sales Marketing Director at Metsala, Director of Sales at Faurecia Emissions Control Technologies and Senior Director Sales Europe at Emcon Technologies.

Juergen’s appointment is part of an overarching business development plan to increase Sertec’s market share in the next three years. At the forefront of this expansion strategy is a plan to open a new technical sales centre in Germany.

The new technical sales centre will be headed up by Juergen, who will lead a sales team focused on meeting specific customer needs and driving sales across the European market.

Juergen, said: “Sertec are very focused in their ambitions for the European market, with a clear vision for what they want to achieve and with the capability to offer the complete package to their customers.

“They have extensive coverage of the European mainland markets, are at the forefront of EV technology and possess premium automotive insight borne out of years of experience in the industry.

“With such a clear set of ambitions and a well-established automotive engineering heritage, I feel privileged to be joining Sertec and look forward to playing my part in delivering their plans for expansion.”

Ben Higgins, Group Commercial Director at Sertec, said: “Juergen is an excellent addition to the team and the experience and knowledge he brings will prove to be a great asset in helping to take the business forward.

“He will lead our sales team from the new technical centre in Germany and will be at the forefront of our business development strategy.

“We welcome Juergen to the Sertec team and look forward to working with him to achieve our business vision.”

Sertec Group Ltd operates across eight sites, with six manufacturing sites in the Midlands in the UK, one manufacturing site in Aszar, Hungary and one in Hückeswagen, Germany, plus a tooling technical centre based in Dongguan, China.

Andrew has an extensive 1^st Tier Automotive background of over 30 years, starting off as a Technical Apprentice, followed by Production Engineering and then progressing to management level. Over the years Andrew has achieved many awards during his career, such as, MX Award Finalist for World Class Manufacturing and Six Sigma Black Belt.

Andrew joins us from ZF Lemforder where he has worked as a Production Manager for the last 5 years. His key skills include organising, planning, coaching and supporting teams, teaching and implementing lean practices and systems of work.

Over the next few weeks Andrew will be shadowing Richard Sadler whilst getting to know the team and our different sites.

Richard Sadler, Operations Director, stated: “Andrew is going to be a great asset to Sertec and more significantly to SAST with his knowledge and experience I’m sure he will settle right in and move the plant forward.”

I know you will join us in congratulating Andrew and welcoming him to the Sertec Team.

Having started out as an expeditor many years ago and working my way up through the ranks of Buyer, Procurement Manager, Purchasing Director, always in a manufacturing environment and predominantly in the Automotive Industry. The knowledge and experience I bring to Sertec is a perfect alignment with the Sertec vision and as part of the improvement and development strategy for the Purchasing Department, there are a number of changes that I would like to make you aware of.

I’ve reviewed the purchase structure which is now concluded and I have completed the strategy to develop the department into a commodity/category management style of purchasing where each manager and buyer is given a number of commodities to manage and effectively becomes the expert in the end to end procurement process for their chosen commodities. Focusing on the pre-award process, NPI, category analysis, demand management, supply market characteristics, sourcing, price negotiations, contract management, performance management and aftermarket.

I attach a copy of the new Purchase Structure for your perusal and it is my intention over the coming weeks to attend each of our sites to formally present the structure, discuss the changes and identify what impact these changes may have in your areas.

To enable the purchasing vision to come to fruition, specialist recruitment has taken place and an internal promotion. To this effect I am extremely pleased to announce the promotion of Bryn Steggles to Group Commodity Manager and I am delighted to welcome Alison Shingles, Group Commodity Manager and Ian Marley, Group Commodity Buyer into the Sertec Group.

Bryn joined Sertec in 2009 as a spot weld engineer before progressing in to a buying role. Bryn found his vocation within the Purchasing department and his career took off leading him to a management secondment at our plant in Estonia for 3 years, where he played a vital role in the day to day management of the plant until its sale in 2014. Bryn’s knowledge and experience in purchasing has enabled him to become the right fit for this promotion and it is thoroughly deserved.

Alison brings to Sertec a wealth of knowledge and experience from her many years in Purchasing; she has spent the past 12 years at Aston Martin at a senior level advancing in Total Delivered Cost, Total Value Management and Powertrain. With her strong automotive background and working within a commodity management structure, Alison has the key attributes which will help her to quickly establish her role in the organisation and she will become a key driver in Sertec’s future.

Ian also has an extensive automotive background, spending his career in the Purchasing function in Buying and Purchasing Management roles for Tier 1 suppliers. He has spent the last 10 years at UYT (CPA), a supplier partially owned by Honda, this means he is fully conversant with the protocols and procedures of a Japanese OEM. Ian’s comprehensive knowledge in BIW, BOP, raw material purchasing and NPI are important skills required to enhance our new purchasing structure.

On behalf of the Sertec Group I would like to congratulate Bryn on his new position and I am delighted to welcome new faces into the Group – wishing you all the very best of luck.

Alison Shingles

Bryn Steggles

Ian Marley

Matt is a highly regarded senior logistics professional with expertise in delivering green-field logistics operations and delivering continuous improvement through an operational excellence approach.

Matt will be working closely with Scott Taylor and the rest of the Team to drive operational efficiencies, cost control, and support the continued growth of Sertec.

Matt brings over 15 years of logistics leadership experience to Sertec, having previously worked as a senior manager for Grupo Antolin, Jaguar Land Rover, Royal Mail, and in Logistics consultancy roles.

I am sure that you will all join me in congratulating Matt on his appointment and as ‘one group’ we will work together to make the business even more successful in the future.

Chris will assume full responsibility for our Quality department. Chris will be residing at Wincaster House shadowing Glenn Smith and getting to know our Quality team over the next few months.

Chris brings to Sertec his wealth of knowledge and experience; he has worked in Quality roles for 25 years and has 13 years’ experience at senior management level.

Chris started out as a Tooling Apprentice and quickly progressed up the career ladder to Quality Manager. His career went from strength to strength. Since 1987, Chris has worked in Austria perfecting his Quality role. His main skills are strategic planning/development, problem solving and workshop facilitation.

On behalf of the Sertec Group we welcome Chris to our team and we wish you the very best of luck for your new adventure here at Sertec.

Julie Crombie will have ultimate responsibility for our Purchasing department and Jon will head up our New Projects Development team, both housed at our HQ at Wincaster House in Coleshill. The Board feel this is an essential move to help develop and progress the teams, whilst enhancing our services internally and externally.

Jon Bramham joined Sertec in 2015 as Group Purchasing Manager, bringing 12 years of procurement and supply chain experience. Jon is an accomplished, reliable and proficient Manager with an outstanding track record in cost saving and business development. Jon’s previous experience in Purchasing and materials will be a great strength for our Projects team.

Julie brings over 29 years of purchase experience to Sertec, with 22 years spent directly in the automotive arena. Julie has recently held senior positions and was Head of Purchasing for 18 years in her previous role. She has developed and implemented purchasing strategies to meet demanding customer requirements for quality, VFM and on time delivery and generated major savings from productivity improvements and lean manufacturing techniques.

On behalf of the Board we welcome Julie to the team and wish Jon good luck with his new role; we strongly believe these changes are necessary to help develop Sertec for our future.

Steve Dunn will have ultimate responsibility for our Stampings Processes at our Heavy Stampings site in Coleshill. Carol will join our ROC Commercial Team based at our Sertec Precision Components site in Aston.

Steve brings his experience of 37 years in the Automotive Industry; he joins us directly from a major 1st tier BIW and Chassis manufacturer where his main responsibility was for future factory vision, project leadership & deployment of future world class factories within the UK/Europe. Steve is a skilled, reliable and experienced Director with an excellent track record in Business Process Improvement, Technical Product Development, growth and business restructure. Steve’s experience in assessing and setting up strategic businesses within and outside of the United Kingdom will be a great asset for the wider Group heading into to our future.

Carol brings to Sertec over 25 Years of Automotive Purchasing & New Model experience and over 8 years in Senior Management. Carol joins us from Covpress Assembly Ltd (formerly UYT Ltd) where she was Head of Procurement & Commercial with her main areas of purchasing expertise in BIW & Powertrain. During Carol’s time at Covpress she supported the sale of the business (UYT to CPA) and since the sale supported the Board of Directors with other areas of the business. Carol’s wealth of knowledge and experience will be the driving force behind our team’s progress in attracting new Customers to the Group.

On behalf of the Board we welcome both Steve and Carol to the team; we strongly believe they will help the business develop to the next level.