Trainers

As a consultant and trainer within the WIEPROconsulting department at SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG since 2022, Yannic Blessin is in charge of the electronics plant in Bruchsal. Here, he launches and supports assembly and logistics projects. He is a trainer at Staufen Academy.

Yannic Blessin completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering at the DHBW Mannheim and a Master of Business Administration (MBA) at the Graduate School Rhein-Neckar. From 2016, he acquired expertise in the optimization and redesign of production and quality assurance areas in his role as a project engineer at PFW Aerospace GmbH, a supplier of fuel tanks, structural components and piping systems for the aviation industry. Later, he was in charge of setting up the central Manufacturing Metrology function and successfully implemented process-integrated, standardized economic quality inspections. Before joining SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG, Yannic Blessin was an external consultant and was tasked with Lean Management and Task Force projects.

Jérôme Cieplik has been a consultant in the WIEPROconsulting Global Logistics Planning of SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG since 2019. He completed a degree in industrial engineering before furthering his expertise in logistics and digital plant management. 

In his role at WIEPROconsulting Global Logistics Planning, Jérôme Cieplik is primarily responsible for the realization of standardization and change projects at international locations. Moreover, he has also been assigned the role as Global Process Owner Outbound Logistics.

He initiates and accompanies integrated change projects relating to material and information flow design, and also standardization projects relating to logistics and assembly processes.

Pierre Cloth is a state-certified technician and qualified Six Sigma Master Black Belt and was trained as a Kaizen/CIP trainer at Novem Car Interior Design GmbH and MAGNA Interiors. Being an experienced project manager, he has been able to demonstrate his holistic view and a strong solution-oriented mindset in the fields of world-class manufacturing/engineering and value stream design in a number of projects and workshops throughout various plants and countries. Pierre Cloth is a trainer at Staufen Academy.

As Project Manager in several Six Sigma Black Belt projects, he has made significant contributions to improving and increasing the efficiency of processes.

Since 2007, Verena Franz has been with RECARO Aircraft Seating, and today she also collaborates with Staufen Academy, where she is a trainer. Initially joining the process management team in Schwäbisch Hall, she took on her first leadership role at the plant in Texas in 2010. After returning to Germany, she directed and globalized the complaints system, among other things, while she later assumed responsibility for quality management. Since 2022, Verena Franz has assumed global responsibility for the Lean and Management Systems Team. This included implementing the global Lean Enterprise Program and working on continuously enhancing the internal Lean qualification program. In 2023, Verena completed Lean Leader training. 

Moritz Gadow holds a degree in Industrial Engineering (M.Sc.). He is a consultant and trainer at Staufen. Moritz Gadow has extensive expertise in the methodology of lean management and a solid understanding of processes, particularly in assembly, production and maintenance systems. He is committed to developing tailored concepts and implementing them in a systematic manner. He has extensive experience in the aviation, automotive and mechanical engineering industries.

Moritz Gadow focuses on integrated optimization approaches with value stream design, the design of synchronized assembly systems and has expertise in value stream-oriented factory design, incorporating the optimization of assembly and logistics processes.

Mariana Hergl is a trainer and consultant at Staufen AG. She is known for her high level of cross-cultural expertise and is involved in international consulting projects and in-house training in a range of industries.

With a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering and Management from the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, she acquired her Lean Six Sigma Green Belt in France. Her wide-ranging expertise spans many different aspects of process optimization and Lean Management.

As an experienced trainer, Mariana supports future Lean experts and trainers on their career paths while inspiring them with the content of diverse areas – from the basics of Lean Management to topics specific to production.

Dr. Alexandra Hey holds a degree in psychology, she is a systemic consultant and coach, Lean Trainer, Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Scrum Master.
 
Alexandra Hey has international experience as an in-house and external consultant, in managing transformation programs for large corporations and as an executive, including as a member of the management board of a German insurance company. She is a trainer at Staufen Academy and instructs improvement experts and trainers. She specializes in the services and administrative functions in industry.

Jens Kittlitz has been working for SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co. KG since 1991 in the training department and in diverse cutting production areas. After the completion of his training as an industrial mechanics followed a long-term production practice in the fields of operating and fitting CNC lathe and cutting machinery. Further qualifying himself as a technician, he has been working as an instruction master since 2010, focusing on conventional CNC lathe machinery as well as on examining and team building.

Janice Köser is working at Staufen AG as Academy Manager since 2012. Her career started in 2007 as working student in the event management at Westpac Corporate Banking in Sydney. After finishing her Master of Commerce at the Macquarie University Sydney in 2008, she took over the professional guidance of congresses and cooperation events as Project Manager for WELT GROUP, FOCUS and F.A.Z. at premevent GmbH and Management Circle AG. Through this, she gained far-reaching contacts in economy and industry, science, and politics. Moderation and hosting plenary discussions complete her profile. Since 2011, Janice Köser is lecturer at the International School of Management (ISM) in Dortmund, Frankfurt Main, Cologne, and Stuttgart, teaching Strategic Event Management and MICE. She is member of the Staufen company audit AZAV / ISO 9001 / ISO 29990.

Lukas Kreinest holds a degree in Industrial Engineering (RWTH Aachen). He is a consultant and trainer at Staufen AG. He combines a broad knowledge of production optimization and Lean Management with a systematic and entrepreneurial perspective on problems and solutions along with strong analytical skills and a quick mind.

With several years of professional experience in the automotive and supplier industry, in plant engineering and in the semiconductor industry, Lukas Kreinest also offers expertise as a Lean Consultant – primarily in the areas of production and logistics.

Detlef Kuhn completed a degree in Micro and Precision Engineering and expanded his professional knowledge in the areas of production technology and design. He is a consultant in the WIEPROconsulting department of SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG and a trainer at Staufen Academy. His responsibilities at WIEPROconsulting include the realization of change projects at international locations in Europe and market launch processes.

Detlef Kuhn initiates and accompanies integrated change projects in the areas of material and information flow design, process optimization and layout design, including MAXOLUTION system solutions. Furthermore, he leads training programs in Lean Production and conducts Best Practice Days.

Axel Davila Lage has a degree in Industrial Engineering and is a certified Change Manager, Six Sigma Master, and specialist for occupational safety. He is a consultant at Staufen and a trainer at Staufen Academy. His many years of experience include consulting and industry, where he worked for many years at plant and company level. His intercultural skills were acquired in various international projects.

He is a qualified expert in the areas of OEE improvement, TPM and maintenance, occupational safety, strategy development, Shop Floor Management and the design and implementation of production systems.

Arturo Medellin has over 20 years of Lean experience in the automotive industry. His career steps led him from the position of a manufacturing engineer over several steps to the position of a plant manager where he received the award ‘Best Lean Plant 2000‘. During his consultation activity Arturo Medellin supported well known companies and their international plants implementing consequently the Lean philosophy. His working relationship with Dr. Jeffrey Liker enabled him, amongst others, for the position of the vice president Latin America of the TOYOTA Way Academy. Since 2012 Arturo Medellin works for Staufen AG, since October 2016 he is General Manager of Staufen Americas located in Mexico City.

With more than 16 years of experience in manufacturing operations in the automotive industry focused on processes of Continuous Improvement and Quality, taking positions of leadership through Quality and Continuous improvement (Lean) Manager to Plant Director.
Jose Gabriel Mendoza as a manager experience implemented Lean Tools focused from the development of Strategy (Hoshin) to the implementation of the tools at Gemba, always focused on the value added activities and being the priority Cultural Change through the experience of Lean Implementation in different companies like Honeywell, Delco Remy, Heil Trailer, CPE Italia and Gonvarri Steel Services, developed different projects with direct impact on the Operating Income also gained experiences of work with global teams that brings the knowledge of working in different cultures. He has experience as instructor and consultant teaching through Lean Simulator to increase the success in the implementation of Lean techniques. He is Project Manager at Staufen Americas since 2017.

Florencio Munoz assisted major corporations with their objective to convert traditional manufacturing strategies into a lean manufacturing system for different companies such as Caterpillar India, Hertz Rent a Car (Canada, USA & Spain), Siemens (Mexico), Hovid (Malaysia). Sematic and Patheon (Mexico and USA), and Inversiones La Paz (Honduras).
Prior to be a consultant Florencio Munoz includes thirty years of manufacturing experience with extensive training in TPS. He affiliated with different companies such as Ford Motor Company, Nacobre, Allied Signal, etc. As a plant manager Florencio Munoz led the transformation to Best-in-class worldwide plant for Remy Group and received several awards (Supplier of the year General Motors 2004, Supplier of the year Mercury Marine 2003 and Best worldwide awarded Plant at Remy 2005).

Maja von Olnhausen has a degree in Industrial Engineering and has been a consultant and trainer in the WIEPROconsulting department at SEW-EURODRIVE GmbH & Co KG since 2007. In collaboration with Staufen Academy, she conducts several training programs at SEW. 

Over many years, Maja von Olnhausen launched and accompanied improvement projects at the Graben-Neudorf production and assembly plant and the Bruchsal large gear unit plant. She primarily concentrated on interlinking systems, operating concepts, optimizing setup times and material flows and redesigning assembly workstations.

Since 2016, Maja von Olnhausen has been involved in development focusing on process analysis and the design of administrative processes. They include the accompanying communication, interface analysis as well as the required knowledge management. She also oversees the conceptual development and rollout of tools for development projects involving interdisciplinary stakeholders. She played a key role in developing and launching sustainability processes. She was responsible for project management of the preliminary project for the new implementation of a PLM domain.

After studying business management at the Rijksuniversiteit Groningen, Remco Peters began his career as a consultant at Agamus Consult. He developed his consulting experience at Cap Gemini as a member of international projects in the automotive industry. Most recently, he was responsible for Practice Lean Manufacturing & Administration at MBtech Consulting GmbH. The main focus of his consulting work is to design and implement lean business processes in the automotive and manufacturing industries. He is an expert on the subject of Shop Floor Management and the sustainable change of organizations. Since 2013, Remco Peters has been working for Staufen AG as a partner and mastercoach in the area of Shop Floor Management.

Marco Pett holds a degree in economics and specializes in systemic coaching. With many years of experience as a manager in the production environment, he is an expert in coaching executives. He is a trainer at Staufen Academy. Marco has expertise in the assembly and production sectors in various technologies and is highly effective with customers thanks to his combined management and process expertise.

As a consultant, Marco Pett has five years of experience in the field of Lean Leadership at Staufen and five years of management experience in several management positions at GIRA Giersiepen GmbH, where he also acquired experience in controlling. He is also a Kata coach.

Maximilian Reintke completed a degree in Mechanical Engineering (PTW at TU Darmstadt with a focus on Industrial Production Management) and is a Staufen-certified Lean Leader. As of 2019, he has been a Lean Manager at INSTA GmbH and is a trainer for the Lean Assembly I Small Series seminar in collaboration with Staufen Academy. 

Maximilian Reintke specializes in strategic and operational improvement initiatives across the entire logistics and production value stream (SMT and THT production) and particularly in the introduction of Shop Floor Management and its extension to Green Shop Floor Management. Additionally, he is a coach and leads KATA improvement projects. 

Nicolas Romfeld is a Systemic Coach, Professional Scrum Master and Industrial Engineer. As an experienced consultant, coach and sparring partner for managers, employees and teams, he is also a trainer at Staufen Academy. He is an expert in Lean Development and Lean Administration, agile methods and leadership and communication from strategy to implementation. He has a wealth of industry experience in services, mechanical and plant engineering, automotive and electronics.

Nicolas Romfeld has over 10 years of consulting experience in Lean Transformation in R&D and order fulfillment, production and management. For clients, he is responsible for designing and implementing tailor-made training and development programs along with the internal development of several professional and management seminars. He heads consulting projects that focus on strategy development, performance improvement, collaboration, product development, quality management and technical problem-solving.

After his apprenticeship and studies, Gunter Schöller has gained extensive experience in the realignment of the processes and their IT support in training and service areas in management functions. In addition to managing large and heterogeneous teams, he was able to successfully apply the principles of GPO and Lean. This formed the basis for long-term consulting activities at Management Partner GmbH. At two large regional banks, he successfully managed institutes by optimizing processes in the asset and liability business, IT migrations, the implementation of models of the associations and the concept of branch and media distribution. Lean projects in the sectors trade fairs, housing industry, industry and defense as well as interim management complete his profile. Gunter Schöller has been a Senior Expert at Staufen AG since 2015.

Gerrit Speidel has a Master of Business Administration in General Management and is a trainer at Staufen Academy. He has many years of experience in product development an is an expert for Lean Development. Gerrit Speidel adopts a holistic and entrepreneurial approach to problem solving and has industry expertise in the automotive and trade industries.

With three years of consulting experience specializing in the optimization of indirect processes, Gerrit Speidel has also acquired over
ten years of professional experience as an engineer with responsibility for development, acting as team leader and project manager at an international automotive supplier, plus intercultural leadership experience as team leader of a development team in a service center in the Czech Republic.

Eric Nils Timmer holds a degree in Industrial Engineering. He is a trainer, consultant, and coach at Staufen Academy. As a lean expert and systemic coach, he is an equal sparring partner for executives and top management. He is an expert in achieving sustainable success by combining process and leadership excellence, with a focus on pragmatic concepts and sustainable implementation success and many years of leadership and consulting experience.

Eric Timmer brings more than seven years of leadership experience in automotive and FMCG and over twelve years of experience as a trainer, consultant and coach in integrated Lean Transformation and Shop Floor Management. Other areas of expertise include leadership, change and organizational development.

Peter Ullrich has a degree in physics and is a professional Scrum Master. He is a trainer at Staufen Academy and is also responsible for trainer staffing and instruction. He has operational leadership experience and manages international clients and projects. Peter Ullrich is an expert in engaging people in change projects and is experienced in training and consulting in direct and indirect areas. He also has extensive industry experience in mechanical and plant engineering, vehicle construction, services, and electrical engineering.

Peter Ullrich can look back on 20 years of experience in optimizing technical workflows and business processes and over 15 years of experience as a trainer and facilitator of change processes.

During his studies in cooperation with the ThyssenKrupp Group he was jointly responsible for development and optimization projects in value stream oriented production processes according to lean principles. Additionally, he gained intercultural experiences in Great Britain and Mexico during his academic studies abroad. As Master’s candidate in the area operations at P3 Group he wrote his thesis on the subject „Analysis and valuation of production strategies in the automotive industry“. Alexander Wagner worked in the team of lean manufacturing experts with a focus in the automotive industry regarding process and leadership excellence since 2014 and currently operates as Associate for Staufen Americas in Mexico and the USA.