Top 10 Women in Manufacturing
In our April 2021 issue of Manufacturing Global we list our Top 10 women from leading manufacturing organisations around the world that are paving the way in innovation, leadership and strategy.
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10: Medeja Loncar...
Medeja Loncar is the current CEO at Siemens (Slovenia). Her career journey began in 1997 working for the likes of Kovinotehna d.d. as Management Board Member (1997); and Si.mobil d.d. as Marketing director (2000), before joining Siemens in 2018.
Siemens has a global history of 170 years, pioneering electrical engineering. Starting as a 10-man business in Berlin, Siemens today is a global giant that has been a major innovator and technology force.
Position: CEO, Slovenia
Company: Siemens
09: Tanja Rueckert...
Tanja Rueckert’s career in the manufacturing industry in 1997. With 24 years of experience in the industry, Rueckert worked for SAP for 21 years, before joining Bosch in 2018.
As President of the board of management and CEO at Bosch Building Technologies, Pueckert’s role focuses on strategy, technology, innovation and business development in close collaboration with customers and partners.
Since joining Bosch in 2018, Rueckert has been awarded the IoT CEO of the Year Award 2018, and ranked among the Top 20 Industrial IoT influencers (2018) by IoT ONE.
Position: President of the board of management and CEO
Company: Bosch
08: Irina Stiller...
Irina Stiller, Manufacturing Excellence Manager (Digital Factory) at Unilever, has been working in the manufacturing industry since 2012. Prior to joining Unilever in 2014, Stiller worked for Daimler AG and PeopleMatters.
At Unilever Stiller strives to “establish a common methodology for implementing World Class Manufacturing (WCM) in the European Unilever factories by providing coaching, auditing and training activities,” as well as “supporting the implementation of sites improvement programs and responsible for the Unilever ManEx training in Europe.”
Position: Manufacturing Excellence Manager (Digital Factory)
Company: Unilever
07: Leah Curry...
With a career spanning 41 years, Leah Curry is the President at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Indiana. Prior to joining Toyota in 1998, Curry was at Bristol-Myers Squibb for 17 years.
Studying industrial electronics at Ivy Tech Community College and Chemistry at the University of Evansville, as well as completing a three year TPC training systems apprenticeship in electronics. Curry has also completed multiple technical classes for programmable logic controllers, robotics, hydraulics, pneumatics, electrical and welding.
In 2013, she was selected by the Manufacturing Institute as one of the 122 women recognised with the Manufacturing STEP award for excellence and leadership in manufacturing, she also helps lead the Women’s Leadership Forum as part of TMMI’s diversity initiatives.
Position: President, Manufacturing Indiana
Company: Toyota
06: Stéphanie Rott...
Stéphanie Rott’s career spans 20 years, she is the current Supply Chain and Manufacturing Group Director at LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH). She has worked for the likes of L’oreal in 2001 as a production engineer before joining LVMH in 2004 holding three other positions before becoming Supply Chain and Manufacturing Group Director. These included: Production Manager, Perfumes Factory (Guerlain LVMH), Purchasing Director (Guerlain LVMH), and Supply-Chain Director (Sephora LVMH, Italy).
Position: Supply Chain and Manufacturing Group Director
05: Agata Choma...
Defining herself as an “investor in people, coach, team builder and continuous improver,” Agata Choma Career in the supply chain and manufacturing industry in 2007. Choma has worked for the likes of Parker Hannifin (2013), Schneider Electric (2016), and Autoneum (2019) before joining Woodlands Home & Garden Group first as Head Of Production in 2020. Choma is now the Head of Operations at Woodlands Home & Garden Group.
At Woodlands Home & Garden Group, Choma helps customers to implement manufacturing and warehousing strategies and achieve strategic operational goals “to exceed customer expectations for product quality, cost and delivery, maximising efficiency, optimising production levels and driving operational excellence.”
Position: Head of Operations
Company: Woodlands Home & Garden Group
04: Tracey Countryman...
Currently a Senior Managing Director and Global Industry X Manufacturing and Operations Lead, Tracey Countryman’s career spans 23 years. In that time, Countryman has worked at Accenture holding multiple roles within the organisation.
With multiple years of experience working on end-to-end operational transformation, Countryman focus over the years has been in resources industries including chemicals, oil and gas, metals and mining. She describes herself as a “strong business development professional with a BSc focused in management from Georgia Institute of Technology.”
Countryman helps Accenture clients “drive a step change in manufacturing performance leveraging operational excellence best practices and the latest digital innovations.”
Position: Senior Managing Director, Global Industry X Manufacturing and Operations Lead
Company: Accenture
03: Beena Kothadia...
Results-oriented Beena Kothadia has a professional career that spans over 24 years of experience in manufacturing and quality functions.
Starting her career in 1996, Kothadia has worked for the likes of Sarang Spring andPrecision Camshafts Ltd, before joining General Motors in 2008 as Quality Powertrain, Divisional Manager.
Kothadia’s goals are to achieve global Benchmarks of outgoing quality which surpass customer expectations by engaging with people and her “proven knowledge of process improvement, productivity improvement, and quality assurance.”
Position: Director of Manufacturing
Company: General Motors
02: Pamela Finch...
With a career spanning almost 30 years, Pamela Finch is the current owner of Pamsparty and Global Manufacturing and Supply MDI Manufacturing Operator at GSK.
Finch began her career in 1993, working for the likes of Granutec Pharmaceuticals, Spring Arbor of Wilson (1999), US Department of Commerce (2000), Novo Nordisk (2000) and Kelly Chiropractic Center (2000) before joining GSK in 2002 as MDPI Operator, Certified (Assembly/ Packaging).
With a robust background in leadership, pharmaceutical, technology, healthcare, training, coaching, copy approval, validated computer systems, medical administration and project management, Finch describes herself as never being afraid to “challenge the status quo to evoke positive change for the betterment of business.”
Position: Global Manufacturing and Supply
Company: GSK
01: Radhika Shukla...
Driving digital transformation and innovation in manufacturing, Radhika Shukla is a Certified Azure Advisor and Global Account Director for US Manufacturing at Microsoft.
Her career began in 2002 working for the likes of Amerisoft Corporation (2002), Addon Technologies Inc (2005), HTC Global Services (2013), and IBM (2014) before joining Microsoft in 2016 as Global Account Executive in the auto and manufacturing sector.
With more than 18 Years of experience in the industry, Shukla’s passion lies in helping customers solve their business challenges “through innovative digital transformation solutions and engaging experiences fostering strong partnerships in the tech industry along the way.”
Shukla describes herself as “a dynamic, decisive strategic thinker driven to succeed through teamwork, creativity, innovation and execution in complex business environments.”
Position: Global Account Director, US Manufacturing
Company: Microsoft
