Plant Manager – ALT Romania
What do you love most about your work as Plant Manager?
The role of Plant Manager requires insight and understanding in a wide range of professional fields, from finance, HR and legal matters through technical and logistic fields, all the way to market behavior. It is a daily challenge to reconcile often contradicting vectors of different professional fields, and coordinate them in a way that all lead towards one direction.
Please share a successful work story that you’re proud of.
There is a long list of successful work stories from the last 20 years that I could talk about. There were numerous cases when ALT Romania’s team has succeeded in delivering outstanding results in challenging circumstances, ranging from construction of production facilities in a very short timeframe, successful relocation of production processes in a just-in-time supply environment, etc. These are just a few examples, there are many more.
Although it is quite difficult to pick one story, I will talk about a more recent case from the period of the Covid Pandemic. In those critical months, our team was requested on two occasions (February 2020 and then in March 2022) to step in and support ALT’s Asian customers affected by the lockdown of our facility in China. Although ALT Romania was also in partial lock-down, in close collaboration with our colleagues from Shanghai we succeeded to set up the supply chain in record time from Romania to several Asian locations, against all odds of the Covid-created environment.
This proves, once again, that the global footprint of ALT, the resilience and the flexibility of our teams is a special feature of ALT, and ensures for ALT the preferred supplier status with our occupant safety customers and beyond.
You’ve been working in ALT Romania since its inception, how have you seen the facility change over the years?
When starting its operations in Romania in 2004, ALT was an “early bird” investment of what has proven to be later an extensive multi-player development of the automotive industry in Romania. ALT was one of the first production companies within the occupant safety branch of the industry. Most of our customers have established their presence in Romania years after ALT started production here, and have grown in size and scope of operations ever since, as did ALT.
The focus of my personal role has evolved during the 20 years of existence of the company. From the initial role of investment project management, establishing and making a production company operational in the environment of Romania’s emerging economy, through the role of facilitator of LEAN transformation, all the way to being the manager of a consolidated, stable and successful company as ALT Romania is today.
What were some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced over the years, and how did you overcome them?
During these 20 years of existence, we have faced natural disasters, economic meltdowns, a global health crisis, and several global supply crises. All of these making us stronger and more resilient. Having a resilient and dedicated team was the key ingredient in overcoming all these challenges.
I would highlight one special event from August 2005, from the early days of ALT’s existence. The Nyiko valley in which ALT’s first production unit was located was hit by a powerful flashflood, which is still considered to be the deadliest natural disaster of the area in known history. The factory was spared due to the good insulation of the building, but a lot of our colleagues lost most of their belongings. At that time everybody from the ALT family jumped to the help of those affected, both from Romania and from the Netherlands (the only 2 operating facilities at the time).
It was an emotional display of collegial solidarity, which manifested its full potential in those times of trouble. ALT resumed production already the next day, although power was not yet restored. We started up production using power generators to avoid any delay to our customers.
What’s one of the most valuable lessons you’ve learned from your team?
Teamwork for me is a continuous learning curve. Everything is in motion: all members of the team evolve in time, the dynamic is also influenced by new members entering or others exiting the team.
The most important lesson I have learned from my team is that empowerment and trust placed in people pays off. When people feel treated as partners and are empowered to take their own decisions (as individuals or as a team), the company becomes more resilient. We have years behind us, when this resilience was put to the test, and I’m very proud to say that we successfully tackled all challenges. ALT Romana hasn’t missed a shipment to its customers, and we have never let down any of our internal or external partners.
What values or principles guide your approach to managing the plant?
As mentioned earlier, integrity and employee empowerment are core principles guiding my actions. Both have proven their worth over time, thus strengthening my commitments toward these principles.
The pursuit of improvement, of becoming ever better, is another key principle we try to live by. In our automotive vocabulary this is the culture of ‘continuous improvement’. It gives sense and purpose to the daily routine, that every problem you face and solve is an opportunity for development, an opportunity to strengthen the resilience and immune system of the company, with the purpose of stopping the problem from occurring again.
Can you share a memorable moment or a milestone that you felt was particularly rewarding?
The construction of our Romanian production facility in 2008 amid the global financial crisis was one memorable milestone. We were investing in the development of the company in a time when the automotive industry was in crisis and investments were frozen. We succeeded in attracting financing for the project, in a time when most banks were decreasing their exposure to the industry and not even considering providing loans. At that time this was an outstanding achievement of ALT’s global management.
How do you see the role of sustainability evolving in the plant’s operations?
Protection of the environment and sustainability of our operations is a major objective for our team, and is embedded in our company culture. As an example, from the very start of ALT Romania’s operations, we fully recycle our production waste. As of 2024 ALT Romania is using 100% green energy, officially certified by the Romanian Energy Regulatory Authority. It is also important to mention that we are an ISO 14001 certified company since 2012.
What do you like to do outside of work?
Physical activities occupy the important part of my activities outside work, besides family of course. During summers I swim, paddle board, bike and roller skate, while in winters I skate, play ice hockey and practice skiing. Hiking in nature comes very close to second place, an activity for which our location in the Carpathian basin provides plenty of opportunities. Finally, I’m actively involved in community service activities for our local community, I strongly believe that we ought to give back something to the community which has nurtured us.
What is your vision for ALT Romania facility moving forward?
Romania has come a long way in social and economic development since joining the EU on the 01st January 2007. Once considered a low-cost country with respect to labor cost, today Romanian wages equal or in some cases even surpass those of older member states of the EU block like the Baltic states, Greece, Hungary or Portugal. Although Romania is no longer a low labor-cost country, automotive companies have proven to be globally competitive, they have access to the latest technology and excel in R&D.
In this economic environment one of our objectives continues to be the further automation of our production processes. We have come a long way in automation, but as technology develops at an ever-faster pace, we can never stop pursuing new objectives.
Above all, our focus and drive is towards customer satisfaction, that is the single most important indicator of our performance. Therefore, another goal for the RO facility moving forward is to continue pursuing the “zero defect” objective, while maintaining the excellent service level to our customers.
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