Hendrik Heystek
Plant Manager @ ArcelorMittal South Africa
About
Mechanical Engineer with over 9 years’ experience spanning reliability engineering, maintenance strategy, and plant operations within complex heavy-manufacturing and steel production environments.My career has been built around improving plant stability, asset performance, and operational throughput through structured reliability methodologies, strong engineering judgement, and disciplined execution. I specialise in diagnosing underperforming assets and translating technical root causes into sustainable operational improvements.I have progressed through engineering, reliability, maintenance, and operational leadership roles at ArcelorMittal South Africa, gaining full lifecycle exposure to asset management, shutdown execution, and CAPEX project delivery in continuous production environments.Key strengths include:• Reliability engineering and RCM programme development• Maintenance strategy design and execution• MTBF improvement and asset performance optimisation• Shutdown, turnaround, and capital project execution• Contractor and multidisciplinary engineering team leadership• Safety governance and statutory compliance (GMR 2.7(a))• SAP PM and data-driven maintenance performance reportingI am recognised for remaining calm and decisive in high-pressure operational environments and for building accountable, performance-driven technical teams.
South Africa
Johannesburg Metropolitan Area
Consumer Goods
Change Management & Culture Transformation, Operational Excellence & Performance Management, Budget & Cost Control, Contractor & Vendor Management, Multidisciplinary Team Leadership, Plant & Operations Leadership, SAP PM & Maintenance Data Analytics, Continuous Improvement (CI) & Process Optimization, Plant Operations Management, CAPEX & Shutdown Project Management, Asset Performance Optimization (MTBF / MTTR), Preventive & Predictive Maintenance, Root Cause Analysis (RCA), Reliability Engineering, Maintenance Management, Preventive Maintenance, Budget Management, Zone Leader, Capital Projects, Contractor Management
Experience
Plant Manager
ArcelorMittal South Africa
Responsible for full operational and maintenance performance of a bottleneck cold rolling production plant including a continuous pickling line, 5-stand tandem mill, and roll shop servicing multiple works. Key Responsibilities & Impact: • Lead operational, maintenance, quality, and safety performance across the plants • Manage 5 direct reports and over 300 indirect employees across production and engineering teams • Drive plant turnaround strategy improving bottleneck throughput and reliability performance • Manage operational budget accountability and executive reporting requirements • Deliver reliability-driven operational improvements through structured engineering interventions • Align production, maintenance, and CI strategies to improve asset lifecycle performance
Maintenance Manager
ArcelorMittal South Africa
Vanderbijlpark
Led maintenance strategy and execution across multiple cold rolling production lines including annealing, galvanising, and electrolytic processes. Key Achievements: • Managed maintenance operations for three major production plants • Led 8 direct reports and 64 maintenance personnel • Controlled R4 million monthly maintenance budget plus CAPEX and emergency repair spend • Appointed GMR 2.7(a) responsible for statutory compliance and engineering governance • Coordinated emergency zinc pot inductor failure repair restoring production stability • Restructured maintenance teams improving accountability, performance, and culture
Senior Mechanical Maintenance Engineer
ArcelorMittal South Africa
Vanderbijlpark
Owned plant reliability strategy for continuous annealing operations producing approximately 175 000 tons annually. Key Achievements: • Delivered 24% MTBF improvement through structured reliability interventions • Developed helium leak detection methodology reducing furnace leakage and energy losses • Led Root Cause Analysis investigations and shutdown execution programmes • Delivered capital engineering projects exceeding R2 million value • Coordinated multidisciplinary engineering teams as plant zone leader
Continuous Improvement Process Engineer
ArcelorMittal South Africa
Vanderbijlpark
• Led process optimisation initiatives across annealing, tempering, and tinning operations • Delivered measurable energy efficiency and furnace pressure stability improvements • Supported plant commissioning, troubleshooting, and stabilisation activities
Candidate Mechanical Engineer
ArcelorMittal South Africa
Vanderbijlpark
• Completed ArcelorMittal structured engineering development programme • Delivered technical presentations to Engineering Council review panels • Rotated across production, maintenance, and engineering departments
Education
University of Pretoria
Mechanical Engineering
Hendrik Heystek's Contact Information
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