Ford appoints new management team at Struandale

John Cameron, new plant manager, Ford Struandale Engine Plant, PE

Cameron takes over the position from Satya Banda as of 1 November 2014, leading to an all-South African management team heading the facility. Banda held the position from 2012, but has returned home to India to take up a new assignment at the Chennai Assembly Plant.

Prior to his appointment as plant manager, John Cameron held the position of operations manager for the period 2012 to 2014, and programmes and engineering manager from 2006 to 2011. In these roles he was responsible for the planning and delivery of the current Duratorq TDCi and North American Transit diesel engine programmes.

Since joining Ford in 2001 he has held numerous leadership roles within the company covering process engineering, productivity, facilities, controls, production and programme management. Cameron also played key roles in securing the RoCam export programme to South America and the launch of the Ford engine facility in the Philippines.

Operations manager

The management changes have seen Basil Raman taking over the role of operations manager. With 25 years in the motor industry already behind his name, Raman joined Ford in 2005 as a production manager across the various machining and assembly lines.

He was also responsible for the roll-out of the global Ford production system that sets standards to optimise the overall efficiency and quality of Ford's manufacturing operations around the world. Raman has been a community project champion since 2006, and has chaired the plant's transformation committee for the past 6 years.

Neil Stander is promoted to programmes and engineering manager, having filled the role of manufacturing engineering manager since 2007. He started at Ford as a trainee in 1995, and has progressed through junior and senior project engineer positions.

Stander also led a team of seven South African engineers on a 19-month assignment from September 2008 at Ford's global power-train facility in Dearborn in the US. He returned to South Africa in April 2010 to commence with the installation phase of the current Duratorq TDCi engine programme, followed by the additional capacity for the Transit engine launched at the beginning of this year.

Quality manager

Ludwe Kawa is the most recent appointment, having joined the Struandale Engine Plant in November 2014 as the new quality manager. Kawa qualified as a motor mechanic in 1996, and has has spent the ensuing 17 years working in various fields in the local motor industry.

His recent roles, including stints at several Ford supplier companies, encompassed production and quality management, six years as an independent manufacturing and quality management consultant and, most recently as quality and process improvement manager.