INSIGHT
Fastening the future together
A year downrange from the acquisition of BAS Components by PSM International and Lee Timbrell is not an easy man to catch up with. Intercepting him returning from an intensive road trip visiting German customers and en route for his base in South Wales, Phil Matten talked with the newly appointed PSM European managing director.
by PSM International took place in December 2010. I have to admit for the first half of 2011 it was a bit of an anti- climax in that it was pretty well ‘business as usual’, with my role continuing as managing director of BAS. That all began to change rapidly with the appointment of Paul DeMand as CEO in May.” A year on from the acquisition a
I
full integration of BAS within the PSM International organisation is well in hand and, as you read this, will have been fully effected from 1st
January 2012. As part
of that integration and the restructuring of PSM’s global leadership team, Lee Timbrell takes on full profit and loss responsibility for the combined operations in Europe as well as providing global management support for sales and marketing activities. The United States operations of
BAS Components were integrated during 2011. The BAS Ohio facility has been retained as a dedicated technical centre for both inserts for plastics and sheet metal fasteners. The PSM facility in South Carolina now houses sales, administration, customer service and the distribution centre for North America. The US team holds a key responsibility for the PSM operation in maintaining and building close relationships with the design engineering headquarters for key OEM customers. These companies have assembly facilities throughout the world, particularly in Asia, where PSM is strongly resourced to manufacture for and service these operations.
t is a year that has seen substantial business as well as personal changes, Lee Timbrell explains. “The acquisition of BAS Components
“In Europe,” explains Lee Timbrell,
“the PSM operations will effectively be absorbed by BAS but BAS will change its name. I am committed to retaining the three key sites in the UK – the Pembroke manufacturing plant; the Sevenoaks operation which majors on assembly systems and technical support; and Bilston which along with Pembroke concentrates on sales and commercial relations but also encompasses responsibility for R&D and new product development.” Personnel changes are minimal. PSM’s previous managing director has left the company, as has the financial controller from BAS. “Each company took a regrettable senior ‘hit’,” says Timbrell, “because at that level two into one unfortunately doesn’t go. It is a flat, lean structure in which I have a very direct relationship with our technical sales people who also hold key account responsibility. The proactive market approach that saw BAS sales grow more than 60% between end 2008 and 2011 will continue to be core to driving the European business forward and that means investing in and working closely with cutting edge, technically astute sales people. Requiring commercial ownership from the technical sales team, not just in Europe but across PSM global operations is fundamental to continued, profitable growth.” It is hardly a surprising approach for a
man who spent five of his eight years with BAS with operational responsibility for the Pembroke manufacturing operation before being appointed managing director in January 2008. Little more than a year later he had taken direct managerial responsibility for the BAS sales team. That in turn goes a long way to explaining the
80 Fastener + Fixing Magazine • Issue 73 January 2012
level of direct customer contact Timbrell currently has in the European market – although he is also candid enough to acknowledge that his direct knowledge of the business, its future strategy and its process is important in rebuilding European confidence in the PSM brand. At a practical level Frank Hinds now
takes on the operational management responsibility for the Pembroke plant, and Simon Milner becomes European technical manager. “We have a good team,” says Timbrell, “energised and motivated.” The lion’s share of PSM employees,
some 500 in total, are located in Asia, particularly at its manufacturing operations in Wuxi, China, and in Taiwan. China particularly has seen “sweeping” managerial change since the appointment of Paul DeMand, an American based initially in Shanghai but now relocated to a PSM head office in Hong Kong, where its major investor is also based. DeMand, educated as a mechanical and electrical engineer before receiving his MBA in Detroit, spent the two years prior to joining PSM with Kennametal in the US, where he was president of its largest division, for metalworking solutions and services. Previously he held senior vice presidential roles in Johnson Electric, based in Hong Kong, Solectron and TI Automotive. The global senior management team
is flat and lean: comprising just seven people. Chief financial officer Andrew Chan has been in the business for several years. Nick Price is responsible for the North American operation and Raymond Khoo, for Asia. Paul Martin heads global technical management, and Winnie Chan is head of human resources. With
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