Experience, scope and track record

What I bring

Strengths

Beyond a single plant

My largest P&L so far is a plant of up to 150 people and €20M of revenue. A group with several sites is a different job, so here is what I have already done beyond a single plant, and what I have not.

Track record

Key accomplishments

Career

Experience

1. Sept. 2024 – present

   General Manager · FFG Bags

   Ho Chi Minh City area (Dong Nai factory), Vietnam

   French-led B2B manufacturer of technical bags for international brands: defense, outdoor, urban carry, industrial and medical. Part of a group founded in Hong Kong in 2003, with sixteen years of production in China before moving to Vietnam: company set up in 2020, factory operating since 2023, about 150 people with twelve direct reports, and a monthly output in the tens of thousands of pieces. Revenue up 20–25 % in two years. Mandate: move a small, people-dependent operation onto processes, data and management systems that can carry steady growth.

   • First 90 days. Took over a fast-moving organisation built on individual expertise and put the first structure in place within three months: clearer communication channels, regular management meetings, a first customer-acquisition plan, production monitoring in the annual action plan, and a new website with a refined external message.
   • Strategy and business development. Refined the business plan, development strategy and business model. Clarified the development offer so that the team’s time goes to serious, well-defined projects. Rebuilt the website for search engines and AI answer engines (SEO and AEO). Inbound enquiries rose more than tenfold. Deployed marketing, CRM and PLM tools. Presented the factory’s technical capabilities at Global Sourcing Fair Vietnam and Outdoor Retailer + ODI 2025, backed by bilingual English and French buyer resources.
   • A first customer for a new product range. The first contact came through LinkedIn, a channel that rarely produces leads for us. The customer replied with strict, short-term milestones and requirements outside our usual pattern. We chose to meet them, showed our seriousness through video calls and demonstrations, and secured the collaboration, later strengthened by face-to-face visits.
   • An adjacent market: FFG Industrial. Customer requests for parts beyond the bag (buckles, foam padding, fitted cases, boxes) were read as a market signal. The answer is FFG Industrial, a dedicated engineering offer and brand launched in September 2026 on the factory’s shared team and resources, which helps European and North American SMEs define and source foam, plastic, metal and multi-material parts in Asia. Delivered so far: an FFG-developed rotating buckle, custom foam padding and custom boxes; more projects are in progress.
   • Responsible manufacturing and standards. BSCI social-audit grade raised from C to B in February 2025 and renewed at B in March 2026, through reinforced workflows and documentation and a stronger consideration of every stakeholder’s interests, employees and partners first. Buyers mainly ask for the BSCI result, shared openly and verifiable on the auditor’s platform, and for factory visits, accepted at any time. NCAGE supplier registration (code SSVR1) obtained in July 2025, supporting customers who bid for public defence tenders. Progressive deployment of ISO 9001, WRAP and SA8000 requirements.
   • Factory and lean. Lean, Kaizen and 5S on the shop floor. A new automatic cutting machine added in December 2025, warehouse racking and floor-safety improvements. Factory skills matrix and training plans. Equipment register with machine QR codes and maintenance records. In-house sensors on the stitching machines measure how much each machine runs, a proxy that helps managers spot bottlenecks and machine trouble in sewing lines of up to 40 operators (pilot).
   • Cost and management systems. Cost-structure analysis, budgets and performance dashboards. ERP refocused on core processes. Design-to-cost and design-for-manufacturing applied to new products.
   • Digital operations with data and AI. A lead-management workflow with AI-assisted data capture and analysis, built to absorb a much higher volume of enquiries without adding staff work. Guiding rule: each piece of information is entered once, then reused and tracked. Piloting a structured inquiry-to-approved-sample workflow and Pre-BOM, sourcing and material-availability workspaces, with a human approval at each decision step.
   General ManagerTechnical bagsSoft goodsVietnamBSCILeanDigital transformationAI

2. Mar. 2019 – Aug. 2024

   General Manager · SNOP China (Groupe FSD)

   Guangzhou, China

   Ran the group's business in China through two legal entities, a Tier 1 automotive parts plant and a tooling engineering and purchasing company, plus a sales office in Shanghai, with seven direct reports. Then led the sale of the plant after a group-level strategic reorganisation.

   • Scope. Two legal entities (each with its own accounting and authorities) and a Shanghai sales office, seven direct reports, up to 150 people. €20M plant revenue, plus about €15M (120M CNY) a year of tooling and equipment sourced for European sister plants.
   • General management. Translated group strategy into the local business plan and owned the P&L. Set performance objectives and an entrepreneurial way of working. Defined the local sales and marketing strategy.
   • Operations. Supervised supply chain, production, maintenance, engineering, HSE and HR on the floor and through dashboards built on standards, ERP and BI. Continuous-improvement plans delivered 3–5 % productivity gains.
   • Through Covid and the automotive downturn. Built on the strong team spirit of a plant opened in 2012. Mobilised the team to win more local customers, cut costs and expenses wherever possible, and kept team-building going to hold the collective together.
   • Divestment. Following the group decision, ran the plant sale through to closing. Led the process in coordination with group headquarters and key stakeholders, lawyers and private bankers; met potential investors from the United States, China and elsewhere, and represented the company. Oversaw due diligence, negotiation and transaction documents. Led staff communication and negotiations for a smooth handover. The buyer came from the same industry and every employee transferred with the plant.
   • Group interface. Counterpart of the group VPs for operations, finance, engineering, sales and projects.
   General ManagerP&LM&A divestmentAutomotive Tier 1ChinaStamping and welding

3. Sept. 2017 – Mar. 2019

   Innovation & Technical Cost Reduction Director · SNOP (Groupe FSD)

   Paris region, France

   Created the group's innovation function and led group-wide technical cost reduction, aligned with customer expectations and the long-term strategy.

   • Scope. €10M budget, 10 direct reports, matrix management of 40 people.
   • Innovation. Defined the innovation strategy, budgets (CAPEX, OPEX) and resource allocation for top-management approval. Ran technology and market watch and competitor benchmarks. Led projects in warm aluminium forming, in-line laser stripping and welding on roll-forming lines, hot stamping, IoT and AGVs.
   • Cost reduction. Launched re-engineering, product-complexity reduction, logistics and supply-chain reviews, delivering 4–6 % cost reduction a year.
   • Most advanced project. Warm-to-hot forming of 6000-series aluminium, alloys that are hard to stamp but offer very high properties for car bodies. A two-year study with Renault and Constellium led to a pilot project, which continued after the move to China.
   • Ecosystem. Managed relations with partners and suppliers, trade shows and conferences, regulatory changes and subsidy programmes.
   InnovationCost reductionMatrix managementIndustry 4.0

4. Sept. 2016 – Feb. 2019

   President (alongside operational roles) · FSD Participations

   France

   Chaired the management committee of the company holding employee shareholding in the FSD group, owner of SNOP, SNWM, SMOM and their foreign subsidiaries.

   • Ran day-to-day administration and share movements.
   • Internal communication and promotion grew the number of employee shareholders by 20 % in three years.
   • Prepared and presented the ordinary and extraordinary general meetings, accounts and annual report with the statutory auditor. Represented the shareholders at the group’s general meeting.
   GovernanceEmployee shareholdingCorporate finance

5. May 2013 – Aug. 2017

   Projects Section & Prototype Department Manager · SNOP (Groupe FSD)

   Paris region, France

   Managed two departments: customer projects for Nissan (UK, Russia, Japan), Renault and Dacia, and Tier 1 customers such as Valeo, Forvia/Faurecia and NTN, and the prototype department supplying all group vehicle programmes.

   • Scope. €30M CAPEX and €80M equivalent annual revenue. Six project managers reporting directly.
   • Results. +6 % operating profit between nomination and final buy-off across the portfolio.
   • Prototypes. Parts for the pre-project phases of every group vehicle programme: design counter-analysis, crash tests and OEM assembly-line trials.
   • Leadership. Appointed and coached project managers by workload, customer specifics and risk. Matrix relations with R&D, engineering, quality and logistics, and with sales to align customer and company interests.
   Project managementNissanCAPEXPrototypesOperating profit

Expertise

Skills & education

Figures

Financial results can be shared in confidence in a conversation.