SIPLACE Announces Leadership Changes in Asia

With effect from 1st July 2010, SIPLACE Singapore appointed one of its pioneer members, Jack Chua as its new CEO. Taking over the baton amidst strong market recovery, Jack credits Siegfried Neubauer, his predecessor for his smooth succession.

In his new position, Jack Chua will manage the sales and marketing arm for Asia excluding China as well as the SIPLACE factory which was set up 6 years ago. "Siegfried has indeed paved the way for the team in Asia. Having worked closely with him and our Munich headquarter especially during the recent market downturn followed by the strong upswing, certainly prepared us to embrace the challenges ahead,” commented Chua.

According to the company, this new appointment has been most timely for Jack as he embarked on his 18th year with the SIPLACE family in July 2010. Starting with the service organization has helped Jack see and appreciate the feedback from customers over the years. This has also led him to pioneering the concept of "Acting Global, Being Local” for the service organization, in order to accelerate the development of new service products for the Asian market.

"Nothing beats knowing your customers,” elaborated Jack Chua, "SIPLACE is able to maintain and even strengthen its already strong position in the market because of its close collaboration with customers. Going forth, this will continue to be the basis to supporting customers in the region. With my most experienced long standing team, we will work hand-in-hand with customers in SEA which includes the recently active Vietnam and India market and further North encompassing Taiwan, Korea and Japan.”

"With Jack’s formidable understanding of the market and his vast experience with the SIPLACE team, it was a natural decision to select him as the new CEO. I am very happy that Jack has taken up the new assignment and I am very convinced that Jack will lead the team to greater achievement,” said Guenter Lauber, Global SIPLACE CEO.

At the same time, from 1st July 2010, Wei Hsien Low who was heading the Asian Purchasing Team will, in addition, also take the lead of the entire SIPLACE Center Asia as its Vice President. Winfried Hau, who previously headed the SIPLACE Center Asia in Singapore, will be in charge of the global SIPLACE sourcing team in Munich.

Wei Hsien who joined Siemens in 1998 has contributed in different functions from Product Marketing, Product Line Management to the recent Strategic Procurement. His most noteworthy achievement is the optimization of the enhancement and profitability of the D-series product line for the global market.

Prior to joining SIPLACE, Wei Hsien was with the Procurement and Engineering team at Hewlett Packard. His past experience in manufacturing and his close cooperation with the sales team and customers gave Wei Hsien a valuable insight into shaping the SIPLACE Center Asia to be even more customer-oriented.

"Increasingly, manufacturers recognize the high dependency on its Supply Chain Management to attaining success. At SIPLACE, having a strong and long term partnership with our suppliers and customers enabled us to streamline our SCM processes. We are grateful that our partners supported us through the rough tide in 2009,” commented Wei Hsien. "With the ever cyclical electronics demand, SIPLACE does not just look at building and delivering machines. We explore the possibilities to give more flexibility to our end customers who are most in need of it. SIPLACE Center Asia based in Singapore is close to the major market of electronics production and strives to react fast and efficiently to the call of the market.”

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