Stephen Hauber is the new managing director of tesa UK, in one of two senior management changes, which also sees Steve Plastow move to Copenhagen to take charge of Nordic operations.
Last year tesa UK achieved sales performances well ahead of target, whilst the business as a whole has just broken through the €1 billion sales level for the first time. Mr Hauber said, ‘My first challenge is to ensure that our success continues on the same level, and that involves, as a prime mission, to continue making a measurable contribution to the drive for innovation in British industry.’
Over the last 15 months the business has been repeating the message that production efficiency and bottom line benefits can be achieved by manufacturers’ working with suppliers to identify and implement process improvements, supporting innovatory ideas and techniques.
The company has pioneered an approach known as ‘tesacohesion’, which means internally focusing on the quality of all customer-facing services whilst externally delivering them based around the four P’s – people, products, processes and performance.
Mr Haubers view of the potential in British-based manufacturing industry is drawn from wide-ranging experience of global markets, including time spent in China, Turkey, the USA and Eastern Europe. His background includes a degree in business re-engineering and marketing, taken with a module in Mandarin.
As a product manager for masking products with tesa, based in Hamburg, Mr Hauber had responsibilities for a significant sector of the company’s business spread across the Americas, Europe and Asia. With the added benefit of two and a half years as sales manager in the rapidly expanding Turkish market with a stint in Budapest, he has first hand experience of both emerging markets and mature markets within Eastern and Western cultures.
‘The UK has a strong record on innovation and that is where the benefits of our tesacohesion policy are most helpful. We’re not interested in just selling rolls of tape, we’re committed to getting close to a customer’s business, understanding their markets and helping them to identify process improvements and product developments that impact directly on the bottom line,’ said Mr Hauber.
As evidence of the company’s belief in innovation, he points out that 50% of tesa’s worldwide sales come from products introduced within the last five years and that the business includes a substantial research and development division which employs some 250 staff.
Mr Hauber continued, ‘For me, innovation is definitely the key. Identifying process improvements, developing new products and having the confidence to sell those benefits. UK manufacturers have plenty to offer the rapidly expanding markets I have personal experience of, such as Turkey and China, where the industrial base has grown at a rapid rate.
‘Our mission is to help companies identify and implement step changes in their methods and processes. That is our strategy and the tactics we use are defined by the tesacohesion approach. It’s much more than a concept, it’s a set of operating policies that deliver measurable benefits to our customers.
‘Working alongside UK manufacturers I believe we can help them to streamline manufacturing process and foster the innovations which will be the future of the sector.’
