Quintin Cornelissen

Dear Hiring Manager/s

Thank you for your time. (and good luck in finding the needle in the haystack)

I hope that put a small smile on your face.

I am probably not the needle you are looking for. I will try and explain a little more about myself below, but I am eager to know more about the goals that are most important, and how soon you would like to achieve them.

I am a mechanical engineer and a problem-solving entrepreneur at heart. Since I was 5 years old, I played or "worked" in manufacturing workshops, and I was able to do the work of an artisan at a very young age. My home was among machinery, and manufacturing/Production is in my blood. My strongest trait is the ability to grasp innovative product design and manufacturing sequences and processes to improve productivity, and improve margins for companies, sometimes with out-of-the-box concepts.

Over the years I have mainly worked with five manufacturing and processing companies, and I have been part of the success story of each of them. Although I have always been the Chief Design Engineer/Project Manager or Production Manager, I have also filled the roles in Financial decision making in key aspect of the business, especially production.

I started as a Design Engineer in 1992, just out of Technicon, at Windmeul Engineering (later Chief Project/Production Engineer), where my father was Workshop Manager. In 7 years, we grew the company from a turnover of R1M, with a R1M valuation and a marginal workshop, to a turnover of R27M and owning new premises in Stokeryweg, Wellington, where the building we designed still stands. No project was too big to handle, and in 1995, we were the main contractor for the largest fish-canning factory in the Southern Hemisphere, Etosha Fishing, in Walvis Bay. Etosha Fishing offered me a position for a very large salary at the time, to sort out any issues and streamline operations over the first year of production. I accepted, but after nine months, the factory was running like a clock, and I rejoined Windmeul Engineering in 1996 and continued until 1999.

My third manufacturing company was Beveratech Engineering, where I joined my father and brother four months after they started the new business in 2009. They had a turnover of R250k for the four months, and R100k in machinery (Basically from scratch). I was managing all projects from quotation right through to the payment schedule. It grew to a R12M turnover business, with an R8M valuation at the end of 2013, and owning part of the new premises they are currently at (48x in 4 years). I was also a co-owner, and the company had the highest ROI and net profit for an engineering company I have worked with. In March 2014, I parted ways, one year after my father passed away in 2013.

In August of 2016, I was approached by Bush Lapa and was appointed as a Design/Production Engineer. Bush Lapa could not keep up with the demand for their Off-Road Caravans. Jannie, the owner of Bush Lapa and also a mechanical engineer, was actually my trainee at Windmeul Engineering in the '90s. BL had 52 employees at the time, producing about 14 to 15 caravans per month, and had a pretty good net profit margin, as Jannie had a good team of workers, and a decent layout. Although quality was paramount, everything throughout manufacturing and production needed to improve and expand, and the task was quite a challenge. I was later appointed as Production Manager, solely focusing on manufacturing expansion, reducing manufacturing costs, reducing labor costs, optimizing space and processes, costing each caravan to the last screw and exact labor cost, and improving the flow, speed, and cost of production, stock levels, while overseeing the new building and expansion projects, as well as the design thereof, and being involved in caravan design and improvements.
Over the next two years, production was increased by 580% to produce its maximum production of 84 caravans per month by the end of 2018, increasing staff by 342% to 178 employees, and reducing labor costs considerably, as well as the cost of manufacturing. We improved net profit by 38%, with a 70% fairly new labor force.

The company also acquired two new premises in this period, as it burst at the seams. It went from R5.9M turnover per month and a R70M valuation to turning over R37.8M per month and a R600M+ valuation.

The latest company I am involved with is a friend of mine's workshop, AML Traders, which we just about 8xed in 10 months, but unfortunately, it is too small of a business with a very limited vision going forward. The business just secured a large bin manufacturing deal with a very large client and I feel it is time for me to move on.

I consider myself an A-player and give 110% when getting involved in a new challenge. I have an extreme hunger for knowledge and improvement. I am available to start immediately. I am open to a contract agreement, part-time involvement or even as a Business Contract.

The rest of my CV after Windmeul Engineering does not include all the functions I performed, as it is a lot of the same, and I will gladly share more in a future interview.

I am eager to understand and hear more about what issues need to be addressed first, and how we can improve the bottom line, profitability, and increase value for shareholders.

Hope to hear from you soon, and have a good day.

Regards

Quintin