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For over half a century our privately held client has been a recognized leader in their industry. Providing low volume manufacturing for the heavy/specialty truck and defense industries, they supply their customers all over the country with two locations in Southeastern Michigan. Their capabilities include fabricating, precision laser cutting, turret punching, press brake forming, stamping, welding, machining and assembly with various alloys including stainless steel, aluminum and high strength steels. Approaching 100 employees, they maintain inventory and provide JIT delivery for their long-term, legacy customers. Their non-union facilities support two shifts focused on growth and total product excellence.
As the owners have grown the company and desired to focus on larger strategic issues, they sought to hire a president to lead the organization into the next phase of the growth cycle. Candidates interested in this position had to demonstrate an ability to create trust and instill stability. Empowered to lead the entire organization, ownership created this new position to continue the businesses success. With multiple manufacturing processes and a diverse customer base, candidates had to have a proven track record of leading manufacturing excellence while designing and implementing a strategic plan. The president had to be able to grow the customer base as well as negotiate with established and new customers.
Recognizing the essential requirement of an excellent culture fit along with the experience of working with a family enterprise, the candidate placed was an excellent combination of operational expertise and customer focused. The new president took charge, stabilized the company’s workforce and established a new level of trust. The owners were able to quickly refocus their efforts on the strategic growth initiatives.
As a third-generation family business, our client has been serving the electrical supply needs of the Detroit Metropolitan area. Its primary market consists of commercial and industrial customers who are purchasing material for new construction, major renovation and maintenance. They have a culture of exceptional customer service.
Our client required a president who would be responsible for the leadership and ultimate day-to-day operations of the company. This leader’s responsibilities were broad and included managing all operations directly and through internal department heads. The successful candidate had to be extremely entrepreneurial with a hands-on approach to management; leadership and motivational skills, as opposed to dictation, were required. It was imperative that the president was a visionary who could be involved in the business’s continuity planning process as this innovative 3rd generation team worked toward future growth. He/she needed to have unquestioned integrity, straight-forward communication, sound judgement and value relationships.
After comprehensive discussions with ownership and interviewing all members of the family involved with the business, HH&A helped to define the type of candidates that would best support the continued growth of the company. Ultimately, the candidate selected was a unique fit to the needs of the company and was willing and able to develop and mentor the family-based team.
Our client has been an integral part of the automotive industry for more than thirty years. A second-generation family business, they employ over 500 employees and have facilities in two states and opened a new facility in a third state to meet demand. They are recognized as a “supplier of choice” by the OEMs and initiated a search to provide leadership for the new facility.
Our client was looking for an experienced and innovative operations leader to drive continuous improvement and optimization of all processes. The plant manager would be responsible for the leadership and the day-to-day operations of the plant. He or she needed to direct and manage plant operations for production, quality, maintenance, shipping and receiving. The role was responsible for working with departmental managers to ensure that the total manufacturing objectives were accomplished in a timely and cost-effective manner. The ideal candidate needed to have held various roles within an automotive tier manufacturer and be well-rounded in experience and understanding of all aspects of lean manufacturing. The candidate was also required to have the key skill sets to lead and manage processes that could maximize productivity, quality, safety and stewardship.
Recognizing the need to ensure cultural fit as well as technical expertise and leadership experience, HH&A initiated a thorough review of manufacturing executive leadership in our proprietary database and through outreach to our network of similarly functioning executives to find a group of candidates that fit the need exceptionally well. The candidate selected brought the plant on-line and quickly instituted the corporate culture and values. The plant went on to achieve several best of class supplier awards.
Our client is a tier-one automotive and heavy truck supplier. The company is a full-service, design responsible supplier. They support global customers through manufacturing and R&D in North American, Europe and Asia. Although their primary focus is on transportation, they also supply components to the marine industry as well as the HVAC, industrial building and construction industries.
Our client was searching for a Vice President of Human Resources who could make a significant contribution across all human resource functions. Poised for substantial growth, our client needed an individual to provide overall human resource leadership to the organization. Among the key responsibilities were the development and implementation of human resource policies, programs and services including employee relations, employment practices, compensation, benefits, recruitment, orientation, training and development, retention, legal compliance, procedures and employee communications. The Vice President of Human Resources would also engage in the strategic planning process by supporting the execution of business unit strategies and plans with solutions that supported short and long-term business objectives including significant expansion.
In recognition of the complexities of human resources on a global scale, HH&A carefully initiated a full outreach to its network. Looking for a cultural fit from an accomplished HR executive that had experience leading company-wide cultural change in an organization that was part of a larger international group of related companies, we were successful in identifying several candidates that the client reviewed and they ultimately selected an outstanding new VP-HR.
Our client is a multi-billion-dollar global diversified company that designs and manufacturers various engineered components and products. The tier-one automotive business unit, which exceeds $700 million in sales, comprises three main product segments with operations on three continents. Their customers include all major OEMs including Ford, GM, Chrysler, Toyota, Daimler and respective tier-ones.
Our client was looking for an experienced executive leader who would play an integral part in moving this company’s automotive division forward. Building on their continuing growth and competitive advantage, the primary role for the president was to lead the expansion of the company’s product line. Working as an active member of the executive management team, the successful candidate would lead the corporation’s future strategic global direction within the automotive industry. The president’s responsibilities were broad and included managing all operations and leading the process of developing and implementing aggressive but realistic annual sales plans targeted to increase market share and deliver consistent year-over-year revenue growth. The ideal candidate had to be passionate about the mission at hand. In alignment with the company’s culture, the candidate was also to be respectful, hands-on, honest, intelligent, cooperative and responsible (“owns it”).
Our client’s belief in fundamental “Midwest values and work ethic” while clearly needing to bring a leadership process change agent was a unique challenge for the HH&A team. With continual feedback from the executive office and a willingness to meet several different types of candidates with a variety of career industries, the ultimate solution was to bring in a president from a Fortune 50 company with the skills and experience to lead the strategic expansion of the company.
Our client brought a new, large-scale manufacturing facility to Detroit and, for the first time in decades, helped to revitalize the city and Michigan through significant job creation. Its 1,000 employees use state-of-the-art technology to manufacture and assemble injection molded interior trim components for global automotive brands with an unparalleled commitment to quality and efficiency. In 2015 alone, its team members built more than 1 million instrument panels. By achieving best-in-class performance and profitability, our client contributes to the health and sustainability of its team members, partners, suppliers and the community — and is working to create opportunity and prosperity for the next generations.
In this key leadership role, the Director, Production Control & Logistics was expected to pull a team together using techniques that would influence positivity and motivation. Having experienced tremendous turnover in this role, the department needed to be stabilized. An entrepreneurial spirit and technical understanding were critical. By putting in place organized methodologies and metrics, the Director, PC&L would coordinate the material flow and logistics from point-of-order to delivery. The director would operate with minimum direction and was responsible for the implementation of Lean Manufacturing practices within the entire facility. Strong SAP skills were a must have. Successful candidates needed to have a deep understanding of how to communicate with the customer, solid business acumen and be willing to roll up their sleeves and be part of the solution.
To fill this critical need, HH&A networked with the extensive automotive management personnel in our proprietary database. The placed candidate was a highly experienced manager, fully qualified in production control methodologies and processes. A completely new measurement system was initiated to accurately report on production, inventory, quality issues and line optimization. He professionalized the PC&L team and was responsible for significantly raising both customer and supplier ratings for this JIT facility.
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