A young new generation
34, 35, 40, 43, 44. No, these are not the winning numbers in last week’s lottery, but rather the ages of KAMAX’s five European plant managers. The average age of managers at this level is normally at least 52. Now, following multiple changes this year, the plants in Homberg, Museros, Turnov, Osterode and Bardejov are in the hands of a new generation with big plans. We would like to introduce you to this new generation.
Tomáš Hájek (44) is the oldest of the group, and has been a part of the KAMAX team for the longest. He has been with the company for 20 years and spent most of this time working closely with his predecessor, Vladimir Kosicek. While they are similar in many ways, the biggest change has been in management style, with the introduction of a culture of discussion. Tomáš Hájek ’s biggest challenge will be to build on the success of the Czech location in recent years.
Birthday: 1978
Place of birth: Novy Jicin (Czech Rep./Moravia Region)
Marital status: Married, 2 children
Hobbies: Fishing, Garden and Home Project works, occasionally summer and winter sports
Favorite food: Seafood, especially shrimps
Favorite car: BMW X5
Favorite machine: Sacma SP 570
Favorite spot around the corner for quality time: early morning at fishing spot
“We are all same at KAMAX. Great operations with fully motivated Teams, who strive to give their best for technical so as financial performance.”
Birthday: 1979
Place of birth: Košice (Slovakia)
Marital status: Married, 2 children
Hobbies: Gardening, motorbike
Favorite food: Pizza
Favorite car: BMW X Series
Favorite machine: 5VB6
“Advantage of the new generation is that they give us new blood of energy and experience from a new view for actual and future world. A new generation see how make the things ease and faster, if they get a chance to do it. The new generation has right questions, where we do not have answer yet prepared.”
Birthday: 1981
Place of birth: Osterode am Harz
Marital status: Married, two daughters (8 and 4 years old)
Favorite food: BBQ, Steak, Tapas, Asian Food
Favorite car: The BMW 1600 GT
Favorite machine: NB 522 Cold Header and Spinner TC 400 lathe
“The goal is to remain competitive internationally in order to secure the future of the plant and the entire KAMAX group. In doing so, we can rely on the high motivation and flexibility of our employees who approach their work with passion. It will be very important that the KAMAX sites move closer together and bring their strengths and skills together in order to further develop all of them.”
Birthday: 1987
Place of birth: Valencia (Spain)
Marital status: Married, 1 child
Hobbies: Soccer, Traveling
Favorite food: Paella
Favorite car: Range Rover Sport
Favorite machine: SACMA SP48
Favorite spot around the corner for quality time: Valencia’s beach
“Rising energy and material costs and achieving sustainable growth are our biggest challenges. We are confronting these head on and doing our best to make our plant a benchmark for our industry.”
Birthday: 1988
Place of birth: Heilbronn (Germany)
Marital status: Married, one son
Hobbies: Riding ATVs, family excursions in the countryside
Favorite food: Sauerbraten with spaetzle
Favorite car: 1967 Corvette Stingray
Favorite machine: Hyodong
Favorite spot around the corner for quality time: To cycle along Usa Creek (Ober-Mörlen)
“The young new generation of plant managers is giving teams more responsibility and greater freedom to make decisions. We are also closely networked with one another, which helps us to take decisions quickly. My clear objective for Homberg is to establish a bit of calm in production and to get the operation into the black every month.”
Getting the fleet back on course
The tasks facing the other four are markedly different. All four “captains” share the same goal: to get their ships back on course. That’s not an easy task if, like in Osterode, the ship you are steering is pretty full on account of all the machinery that has been transferred there. Yet in light of the deft touch the new captain has displayed with staff at the company’s original location, it is clear that the plant is in good hands for the challenges ahead. Anyone accompanying Plant Manager Wilko Hinrichs-Stark through the production halls will quickly see that he is personally acquainted with almost everyone working there, and that he treats everyone with respect.
José García has set out to do the same thing. At just 35 years of age, the Spanish Plant Manager is the second-youngest of the group, and is following up stints at Alsfeld and Homberg by taking responsibility for his third KAMAX plant: Museros. He is part of the leadership team that is taking over from Carlos Mena and Manfred Weidner. He was already very close to production in his previous positions, where he established new forms of communication. Since starting out at KAMAX as a trainee, Garcia has had a storybook career that is now returning him to the country of his birth – a step he is also taking for his family.
Dennis Winter at the Homberg plant
José García at the Museros plant
Wilko Hinrichs-Stark at the Osterode plant
Tomáš Hájek at the Turnov plant
Faster and easier
The only one who is not able to build on a foundation laid by his predecessor is Jozef Mihok. He is Bardejov Fastener’s first Plant Manager and has been given some ambitious targets to meet: to firmly anchor KAMAX’s standards at this brand-new Slovakian plant and turn the facility into a profitable enterprise for the Group. He firmly believes in the advantages of the new young management group: “When given the chance, a new generation is able to do things faster and easier.”
The biggest plant is now under the youngest manager. Dennis Winter (34) has been in charge of Homberg since the middle of this year, after serving as Plant Manager in Alsfeld. He quickly discovered not only that employees are very loyal, but also that they are very good at putting out fires as they appear. Over the long term, he hopes to create a calmer working environment for all of his employees.
No matter who you talk to, all five of these managers display four key traits: they have KAMAX in their blood, they greatly respect their predecessors, they have brought a new style of management with them, and they know that the actions they take now will be decisive.
KXpress
