Michael Hinz · Hanover

Since 2005 I have taken on plant management, production and quality in the food and cosmetics industry — on a fixed term, with responsibility for results.

Graduate engineer in food technology, 35 years of management experience. I step in when a position is vacant, a site is not delivering or a transfer is due — and I work so that my successor can take over.

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Portrait of Michael Hinz — Dipl.-Ing. Michael Hinz
Walderseestraße 9, Hanover

Profile

born 1959 · Hanover

EducationGraduate engineer in food technology
Experience35 years in management, 21 of them as an interim manager and consultant
RolesPlant management, head of production, head of quality, general management, CEO
FocusProcess optimisation, change management, restructuring, plant transfers
SectorsFood, food supplements, cosmetics, personal care
TerritoryGermany, Netherlands, France

I have been a production man since the start of my career and became an entrepreneur across the stations of my working life. My leadership style is open and direct, with empathy and a clear inclination to decide. What I build should keep running without me.

Two routes

interim management or consulting

I do both. The question is what your situation needs.

As an interim manager I stand in the lineI carry responsibility for the numbers, lead the team and decide. Three to eighteen months is usual. The route when a position is vacant, a site is not delivering or a transfer is due.
As a consultant I stand beside itI analyse processes, workflows and organisation, submit an assessment and support the implementation without taking over management responsibility. The route when you need an independent view — for the management or for investors.

What both routes share is the outside perspective: I am not bound by long-standing considerations. And I work so that the knowledge stays in the company when I leave — in several assignments I selected and trained my successor together with the management.

Assignments

from 2010, without a gap

2025–26Director of OperationsPrimal State Performance, Berlin+25 % filling
2024Plant management, consultingGerresheimer Bünde850 employees
2023Consulting, processes and organisationFreshnuts, Bad OldesloeValue chain
2021–23Project managementKneipp, OchsenfurtTransfer from Paris
2020–21Plant and technical managementNature’s Choice B.V., Etten-LeurSAP rollout
2019–20Coaching, plant managementApetito, RheineOEE, lean
2018–19Head of productionActive Nutrition International, Voerde24/7 operation
2017–18Head of productionBeromin, BaesweilerTwo plants
2016–17Head of quality and product developmentActive Nutrition International, Voerde15+ manufacturers
2016–17Plant directorRAPS Fresh, VersmoldCoaching
2015–16CEOEuropean Convenience Food, Borken4 companies
2014–15Plant directorPowerBar, Voerde+30 % output
2013–14ConsultingBarteroder Feinkost, AdelebsenProcess design
2012–14Consulting, project managementGeorg Lemke, BerlinRestructuring
2011–12ConsultingGlockenbrot, REWE Group, FrankfurtFrozen strategy
2010–11Plant managementBarteroder Feinkost, AdelebsenProcess design

Client size from €20 to €700 million in turnover and from 40 to 2,500 employees. Sectors: food, food supplements, cosmetics, personal care, pharmaceutical packaging. Assignments from 2005 to 2010 are available on request.

Consulting assignments

topics · clients not named

Short assignments from a few weeks up to four months, mostly on behalf of investors and management boards. I list these without naming the client.

Restructuring reports for investorsAnalysis of production workflows, recommendations on the cost structure
Plant structure across several sitesMaster plan, review of operations business plans, portfolio and SKU analysis
Delivery performance under pressureProcess and workflow analysis, assessment of the staffing structure, immediate measures and medium-term strategy
Raising the quality levelIFS certification at a higher grade

Services

four routes

Interim management, direct mandateEngaged directly, with no intermediary
Interim management via providerEstablished working relationships with interim providers
Consulting on processes, workflows and organisationAnalysis and implementation, including reports for investors
Project managementTransfers, ramp-ups, plant concepts