Gürsel AYKAÇ

- Define and drive the regional customer innovation agenda across four countries, integrating R&D, application expertise, and technical support to accelerate growth in chocolate, cocoa-based products, compounds, and fillings. - Oversee a portfolio of 50+ concurrent customer and innovation projects, translating technical complexity into scalable, value-creating solutions with a combined ~40,000 MT volume impact across the region. - Act as the senior technical escalation point and trusted partner for strategic customers, supporting long-term growth across Confectionery, Ice Cream, Bakery, Biscuit, and Foodservice segments. - Govern the regional innovation and renovation pipeline, balancing priorities, resources, and timelines while ensuring alignment with global quality, food safety, and sustainability frameworks. - Drive capability building and knowledge transfer across markets, embedding best practices in application, process know-how, and customer technical support. - Enable strong cross-functional collaboration between Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Global R&D, converting regional strategy into executable, customer-ready solutions.

- Lead end-to-end R&D and Technical Service activities for Turkey, product development, application support, renovation, troubleshooting, and industrialization across chocolate, cocoa-based products, compounds and fillings. -Act as the primary technical authority and innovation partner for customers in Turkey across core segments including Confectionery, Ice Cream and Bakery. - Manage and prioritize the local innovation, renovation, and customer project pipeline, ensuring alignment with regional and global Barry Callebaut R&D strategies, quality and sustainability commitments. - Drive customer-specific reformulation and optimization projects, including cost optimization, sensory improvement, shelf-life extension, process robustness, and raw material harmonization, balancing performance, cost, and manufacturability. - Own the customer-facing Technical Service, providing on-site and remote support for process optimization, product performance issues, line trials, scale-up challenges, and quality deviations, ensuring fast resolution and high customer satisfaction. - Translate customer briefs, market trends, and commercial strategies into from-scratch recipe and formulation designs, delivering scalable, cost-effective, and high-performing product solutions that support both new business wins and retention of strategic accounts. - Lead industrial trials, factory implementations, and scale-up activities, working closely with Operations, Quality, Supply Chain, Engineering, and Maintenance to ensure first-time-right launches and robust handover to production. - Collaborate with Sales, Marketing, Operations, and Global R&D teams, enabling fast decision-making, strong customer satisfaction, and sustainable growth in the Turkish market. - Deep application know-how: Confectionery: moulding, enrobing, panning, texture and gloss control Bakery & Biscuit: bake-stable chocolates, fillings, inclusions, fat systems Ice Cream: melt profile, viscosity, freeze–thaw stability

- Full production leadership responsibility for the entire chocolate factory, covering ~20 production lines across bar, tablet, wafer, and sensitive children-oriented product categories, including integrated liquid chocolate and cream production facilities with capacity 100,000 mt/year. - Led a large-scale organization of ~1,000 production employees, supported by 6 white-collar direct reports (4 Production Process Managers and 2 Production Process Engineers), ensuring safe, efficient, and compliant 24/7 operations. - Deployed factory-wide Operational Excellence frameworks (TPM, WCM, IWS, OEE, Daily Management Systems, structured loss management), stabilizing performance in a complex, multi-category production environment. - Owned factory-wide production performance, accountable for safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and cost, translating business objectives into executable production plans and daily operational priorities. - Led the design, implementation, and deployment of the Online Condition Monitoring (OCM) system and centralized OCM control room, enabling real-time equipment health monitoring, predictive failure detection independent of human intervention, and data-driven operational efficiency tracking. - Drove the transition from reactive and preventive maintenance toward predictive maintenance, improving equipment reliability, reducing unplanned downtime, and strengthening asset performance management. - Ensured seamless end-to-end integration between semi-finished (liquid chocolate & cream) production and downstream manufacturing lines, securing supply continuity and consistent product quality across all categories. - Acted as the primary interface between Quality, Supply Chain, Maintenance, Engineering and R&D, aligning factory execution with food safety and innovation. - Established disciplined governance, performance review, and escalation mechanisms, enabling fast decision-making, risk mitigation, and sustainable operational results.

- Directed an organization of ~500 blue-collar operators with 6 team leaders reporting, accountable for safety, quality, delivery, productivity, and cost performance across moulding and semi-product operations. - Led end-to-end production and process governance of 5 large-scale tablet chocolate moulding lines operating with 200+ SKUs, ensuring stable performance, quality consistency, and on-time delivery across all shifts. - On top of 5 Molding Line, managed liquid chocolate and cream production line, comprising 2 systems with 12 conches and 60,000 MT annual capacity, supplying downstream moulding and coating operations with minimal variability. - Ensured end-to-end process integration between semi-finished and moulding lines, stabilizing complex chocolate processes and safeguarding sensory and physical product quality. - Owned site-level TPM strategy and led the Reformist Activities (TPM) Committee, steering all TPM pillars (Kobetsu Kaizen, Autonomous Maintenance, Planned Maintenance, Loss & OEE Management) and driving structured loss elimination. - Led the site to achieve the TPM Award – Level 3 and, based on high operational maturity, directly drove readiness toward WCM Level 5, defining actions, tracking execution, and ensuring organizational alignment. - Authored and deployed the TPM Handbook, institutionalizing standards, methodologies, governance, and sustainability of continuous improvement practices. - Applied and scaled Operational Excellence frameworks (TPM, WCM, IWS, OEE & 6 Big Losses, TOC, SPC, PFMEA, DMS) to improve capacity, efficiency, reliability, and daily performance discipline. - Acted as the primary cross-functional interface between Production, Quality, R&D, Maintenance, and Engineering; supported New Product Introductions (NPI) and formulation changes with first-time-right industrialization. - Ensured full compliance with HACCP, GMP, and food safety standards in a high-volume, high-mix manufacturing environment.

- Managing a workforce of ~450 blue-collar operators with 6 shift leaders directly reporting; led end-to-end production and process governance of six large-scale wafer and chocolate-coated wafer lines. - Served as IWS (Integrated Work System) Leader, driving site-wide productivity, loss elimination, and performance management routines across all wafer lines. - Owned site-level TPM strategy and led the Reformist Activities (TPM) Committee, defining the committee roadmap in line with World Class Manufacturing (WCM) requirements, driving execution of agreed actions, and systematically tracking progress to strengthen equipment reliability and operator ownership. - Acted as a coach and capability builder, cascading IWS, TPM, and WCM principles to shift leaders, engineers, and operators. - Scaled proven operational excellence methodologies (Method Study, TOC, OEE, SPC, PFMEA, TPM, WCM) across six lines, ensuring consistency, sustainability, and performance transparency. - Doubled total line capacity by eliminating bottlenecks, optimizing cycle times, and stabilizing critical process parameters. - Improved labor productivity (man-hour/ton) by more than 2x, through workforce optimization, targeted automation, and standardized work practices. - Ensured strong cross-functional alignment between Production, Quality, R&D, Maintenance, and Engineering, translating strategic targets into disciplined shopfloor execution. - Embedded visual management, daily management systems (DMS), and KPI governance, enabling transparent performance tracking and faster decision-making. - Supported new product introductions (NPI) and major process changes while maintaining full HACCP and GMP compliance.

- Leading ~200 blue-collar operators/workers with 3 shift leaders directly reporting, owned end-to-end operations of 3 large-scale wafer production lines, accountable for safety, quality, delivery, and performance across all shifts. - Drove workforce optimization through Method Study, Time & Motion Analysis, Line Balancing, Man–Machine Charting, and VA/NVA analysis, identifying the right automation points and leading related projects; reduced direct production headcount from ~80 to ~35 operators/workers while sustaining operational stability. - Identified and eliminated production bottlenecks using TOC (Theory of Constraints), OEE-driven analysis, and cycle time optimization, increasing line capacity from ~600 kg/hour to ~1,500 kg/hour. - Reduced scrap rate from ~6% to below 1% by applying RCA, 5 Why, PFMEA, SPC, Poka-Yoke, and tight control of critical process parameters (CPPs). - Eliminated waste, breakdown-related losses, and customer complaints, achieving zero recurring quality issues through TPM deployment (Autonomous & Planned Maintenance), CAPA discipline, Quality-at-the Source, and Layered Process Audits (LPA). - Served as TPM Committee Leader, driving structured implementation of TPM pillars and strengthening equipment reliability and operator ownership. - Actively contributed to IWS (Integrated Work System) productivity programs, focusing on loss elimination, visual management, and daily performance management systems (DMS). - Applied, taught, and cascaded World Class Manufacturing (WCM) methodologies, embedding continuous improvement culture into daily shopfloor routines. - Supported new product introductions (NPI) on wafer lines, including process trials, parameter definition, first-run validation, and capability assessment. - Developed and maintained standard operating procedures (SOPs) and control plans aligned with WCM, HACCP, and GMP standards.

- Acted as the on-site Factory Manager during out-of-office hours, holding full responsibility for factory operations, decision-making authority, and operational continuity. - Led the installation, commissioning, and start-up of a new pasta production line, coordinating suppliers, engineering, maintenance, quality, and production teams to achieve on-time and fully compliant go-live. - Took ownership of end-to-end shift management, ensuring safe, efficient, and compliant production across all operational areas. - Coordinated production activities to deliver right-first-time products aligned with required quantity, quality, and timing targets. - Ensured strong cross-functional collaboration between Production, Quality, Maintenance, Engineering, and other departments. - Monitored, recorded, and controlled production processes; stopped and adjusted production when required and initiated corrective and preventive actions (CAPA). - Managed emergency situations during shifts, including first response coordination, first aid execution, and escalation to authorized personnel. - Delivered training programs for blue-collar employees covering HACCP, GMP, ISO standards, Integrated Pest Management, Health & Hygiene, and Allergen Management. - Updated and maintained HACCP plans, supporting food safety compliance and continuous improvement initiatives. - Executed and monitored verification, validation, calibration, and maintenance of metal detectors, checkweighers, and coding machines. - Conducted packaging optimization studies for new products, defining compliant and efficient inner and outer case dimensions.