Following a successful restructuring, automotive supplier Huf, leading specialist for secure access and authorization systems, is realigning its management structure. A change in the structure of the departments is intended to help secure the company's success in the long term.
"Our restructuring course has proven its worth right down the line. Thanks to consistent optimization measures in all areas, we have significantly improved our earnings and achieved the turnaround despite the pandemic-related decline in sales. We have thus reached a decisive milestone in our One Huf plus transformation program," says CEO Tom Graf, who has been leading the company since the beginning of 2019. In view of the major challenges posed by the upheaval in the automotive industry and digitization, the comprehensive transformation of the company is to be continued. Therefore, Dr. Lars Placke (48) will join the management board as Chief Performance Officer on March 29th, 2021. Placke, a graduate physicist with a doctorate in psychology, had joined Huf in 2016 as Head of the Business Unit Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems. Previously, he was CEO of the Blaupunkt Technology Group and held various management positions in the Bosch Group.
Another personnel change in the Huf Group Management is pending in Operations, as Michael Supe, previously Chief Operations Officer (COO), wishes to take on new professional challenges following the reorganization of the global production network that he has been driving forward. Dirk Fischer (50) has been appointed as the new COO effective March 29th, 2021. A mechanical engineering graduate, he has been advising the Global Function Operations & Industrial Engineering since 2019 and was previously COO and managing director at various automotive suppliers.
"Michael Supe has played a major role in the restructuring success of Huf. We very much regret his departure, but understand his decision. We thank him for his excellent work at Huf over the past 20 years and wish him all the best for the future. We are pleased that with Dirk Fischer we have been able to gain a proven expert in lean management and high-performance production systems," said Ulrich Hülsbeck, Chairman of the Advisory Board of the family-owned company.
