Guenther Meyringer, CEO, Chairman of the Board, Asseco CEIT

Speaker

Lecture: End-to-end logistics flow automation
The eastern european production market has significantly increased in global attractivness due to the Corona/asian/supply chain crisis while the pressure for cost reduction remains ever increasing. The continuous and extended automation of many parts of the production processes remains a must, but not only for cost reasons but more and more also for labor shortage reasons. Production shift environments become increasingly hard to staff, so all production managers drive for further automation. The logistics flow processes, the movement of material from the warehouses to the production lines and back offer huge potential, but comes with complexities around lack of standardization and a wide variety of handling requirements. Asseco CEIT can offer full end-to-end expertise, experience and capabilities to transform manual and complex process to increase the automation level of production companies.

BIO:
Guenther Meyringer has a strong educational background in the field of Computer Sciences, which he graduated at Technical University in Vienna. Additionally, he completed his M.A.S. degree at Danube University Krems and his postgraduate studies in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning at Columbia University in New York. Throughout his professional career, he has successfully taken on several executive roles in the technology and telecommunication companies across Central Europe. Guenther Meyringer holds the position of CEO and Chairman of the Board. He also serves as the Managing Director of Asseco CEIT CZ in the Czech Republic.

Sigrid de Vries, Director General, ACEA (European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association)

Speaker

BIO:
Sigrid de Vries is the Director General of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA), having taken up position in September 2022. Ms de Vries has long-standing experience working for strategic EU industry sectors – from automobile manufacturers to automotive suppliers, to the construction equipment sector. She has held various external affairs and leadership roles, and has a strong track record in representing industries in times of fast-paced transformation. Prior to her current appointment at ACEA, Sigrid de Vries was Secretary General of the European Association of Automotive Suppliers (CLEPA). She also led the Association of the European Construction Equipment Industry (CECE), and headed the external relations and communications department at CNH Industrial. De Vries previously acted as ACEA’s Director of Communications and Public Relations between 2006 and 2012.A Dutch national, Ms de Vries studied journalism in the Netherlands. She worked for over a decade as a correspondent for a major financial newspaper, reporting from Amsterdam, Brussels and Berlin.

Alexander Matušek, President, Automotive Industry Association of the Slovak republic

Speaker

BIO:
He heads the External Relations / Environment / Social Services department at Volkswagen Slovakia, a.s. In the past, he was responsible for the management of the entire logistics at Volkswagen Slovakia and also held several management positions within the Volkswagen Group in Portugal and the USA. Since 2018, he is the President of the Automotive Industry Association of the Slovak Republic (second term). In 2018, he was elected Vice President of the Federation of Slovak Industrial and Transport Associations.

Robert Kiml, Vice President, Automotive Industry Association of the Czech republic & President, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic

Speaker

BIO:
Dr. Robert Kiml has been working at Kolín Toyota since the beginning of the production of the first generation of cars. Throughout the time, he worked in various leadership positions. He managed the operation of the Paint Shop, the Quality department or the project to start the production of the second generation of Kolín models in 2014. In his career, he also worked in the management of Toyota's sister plant in Poland. He holds the post of vice president in the Association of the Automobile Industry of the Czech Republic.

Roman Kraľovanský, Head of Production Group, Kia Slovakia

Speaker

Lecture: Kia tansformation to electromobility

- current status and challenges from the perspective of Kia Slovakia
- connecting OEMs with the supply chain while meeting customer expectations
- position of the plant within the corporation

BIO:

Roman Kraľovanský started his career at Kia Slovakia in the spring of 2005, when he started working in the maintenance section at the Press shop, and later worked as a maintenance supervisor for the Press shop, Body shop and Engine shop sections until 2009. In 2010, he was appointed Head of the Body shop department, where he was responsible for the production of vehicle bodies. Later, he headed the final assembly of cars for five years. In October 2017, he was appointed to the position of Head of the Production Sub-Division, responsible for the complete production of vehicles from stamping, through their welding, painting, including assembly, to which the production of engines was added in April 2022. As of September 1, 2022, he was appointed to the position of Head of Production Group responsible for the manufacturing group including the maintenance department.

Ivan Hodáč, Founder & President, Aspen Institute Central Europe, Former ACEA Secretary-General

Special Guest & Event Host

BIO:
Ivan Hodač is a Founder and President of the Aspen Institute Prague. He was Secretary-General of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) from 2001 until October 2013. He is the Chairman of the Board at cabinet DN. The Financial Times listed him among the most influential personalities in Brussels politics. Before joining ACEA, he was Senior Vice-President and Head of the Time Warner Corporate office for Europe. Previously he was Secretary-General of the trade organization IFMA/IMACE, Senior Economist at Didier & Associates, and Assistant Professor at the College of Europe, Bruges. He was born in Prague, where he studied mechanical engineering. He completed his education in economics and political science at the University of Copenhagen and the College of Europe in Bruges (European studies).

Vladimír Toman, General Manager, Miba Sinter Slovakia

Speaker

Lukáš Rosůlek, Head of Schaeffler Czech Republic


Speaker

BIO:
Lukas started his career as a trainee at Skoda Auto and has worked in the automotive and industrial sectors throughout his life in various management positions.

He spent almost 13 years at Continental, three of which were as a plant manager of the Manila plant in the Philippines. Upon his return in 2015, he took up the position of plant manager in Trutnov. After the creation of Vitesco Technologies in 2019 and the subsequent spin-off from Continental in 2021, managing director and Country Head of Vitesco Technologies Czech Republic, in addition to the position of Plant Manager in Trutnov, he holds the position of managing director and Country Head of Schaeffler, in addition to the position of Plant Manager in Trutnov.

Lukas speaks publicly on the topics of transformation of the Czech industry, the competitiveness of the Czech automotive industry, and electromobility.