Michael Hellmann (52), currently Head of MBC Engineering & Manufacturing Beijing Benz Automotive Co., Ltd. at Daimler Greater China in Beijing, will take over management of the site and production at the Mercedes-Benz Düsseldorf plant on 01.01.2021.
“We are in a comprehensive transformation and are very happy that we have been able to persuade Michael Hellmann to support us. We will benefit in particular from his experience in production control in an international environment and in cooperation with various plants,” says Marcus Breitschwerdt, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans.
“In Michael Hellmann we are welcoming a very internationally experienced colleague to head our plant in Düsseldorf. His wide-ranging knowledge in the production environment and his experience from the Passenger Car unit, along with the positions he has held abroad, mean that he is perfectly qualified to develop the plant and take it into the future,” adds Dr Ingo Ettischer, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans Global Operations.
Michael Hellmann started at what was then Daimler-Benz AG in 1988 as part of his vocational university degree course. Following several positions as a planning and operating engineer at our Rastatt and Sindelfingen plants, from 1998 onwards he took on various management functions in production and planning at the Brazilian location of Juiz de Fora. In 2002 Hellmann returned to Germany as Head of Production Planning at the Bremen plant. At the Bremen site he was then responsible for a series of different assembly and logistics units. Since 2017 he has headed Engineering & Manufacturing at our passenger car production location in Beijing.
“I am very much looking forward to my new role as the Plant Manager at the Mercedes-Benz Vans plant in Düsseldorf and to working with the highly motivated team. The plant has a very strong position in the international production network and represents the management of complexity, a competent team and the highest quality. We will continue working to ensure that we meet our customers’ requirements,” says Michael Hellmann.
As the Plant Manager at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Düsseldorf, Michael Hellmann will be responsible for operations. He is also the on-site representative of Mercedes-Benz AG and therefore the face of the company in the region. In his new function he will drive forward further development at this location. He will succeed Dr Armin Willy (57), who will be leaving the company after more than 20 years at his request on 1 February 2021.
Following various management roles in the supply industry, in 1999 Armin Willy joined the then Daimler-Chrysler AG at the Sindelfingen plant as Head of Finish, Large-Scale Production. Alongside various further management roles his tasks there included responsibility for Production, Press Plant and C-Class and E-Class assemblies successively. In 2009 he took over as Head of Quality Management at the Tuscaloosa site. Following a further position at Mercedes-Benz Cars Quality Management in Sindelfingen, in March 2016 he moved to Düsseldorf, where he has been the Plant and Production Manager of the plant ever since.
“We thank Armin Willy for the trusting cooperation and his commitment in the past years, in which he has further extended the strong position of our plant and not least effortlessly led the team through all the challenges at the site. We wish him all the best for the future,” says Ingo Ettischer.
Armin Willy, Plant Manager for the Mercedes-Benz Düsseldorf plant: “I would like to thank the entire Düsseldorf team wholeheartedly for the excellent and constructive cooperation. The passion and professionalism with which the Sprinter is built here day in, day out, has inspired me and filled me with enthusiasm every single day. The plant is on an outstanding footing for the future and I am sure that it will continue to develop further over the years.”
SOURCE: Daimler
