Following the formation of the initial leadership team in July 2009, Critical Manufacturing announced a leadership change in June 2010: Francisco Almada-Lobo, co-founder and former Chief Operating Officer, has been appointed as new Chief Executive Officer.
Oporto, June 28th, 2010 – Critical Manufacturing, an enterprise which creates leading edge software solutions for the high-tech manufacturing industries of solar, electronics and semiconductors, is pleased to announce the appointment of Francisco Almada-Lobo,co-founder and former Chief Operating Officer, as new CEO
Reiner Missale, former Chairman and CEO, will continue as Chairman of the Board of Directors, where he will be in charge of the guidance and performance monitoring of the Executive Management team, as well as of strategic partnerships.
Graduated in Electrical Engineering, in the field of Automation, by University of Porto, Almada-Lobo started his career in a CIM R&D institute, and joined Siemens Semicondutores in 1997. Throughout Siemens, Infineon and Qimonda, he gained experience in several manufacturing areas having, in 2004, led the first migration of an MES system in a running high-volume facility. Between 2005 and 2009, he managed the Porto Development Center for Infineon and Qimonda, with implementation of automation projects in the group plants worldwide. He holds an MBA from Escola de Gestão do Porto, and has been COO of Critical Manufacturing since April 2009, where among other areas, he was responsible for the Product business unit.
“We have a highly innovative new generation Manufacturing Execution System that creates real value-added in advanced manufacturing operations. Even more, we have a unique team of engineers with very high IT technical skills and domain knowledge. All we need now is to strengthen our presence in the target markets. The executive management team I’m leading is full of energy to bring Critical Manufacturing to successfully compete world-wide, in the most challenging and advanced manufacturing projects” says Francisco Almada-Lobo
“After a successful start-up phase, it is now time to bring Critical Manufacturing to the next competing level. This requires a strong focus on operational excellence and execution. Being a young and dynamic manager, but having already many years of management experience in manufacturing IT solutions, Francisco is the right CEO to lead the company to the next step”says Reiner Missale, Critical Manufacturing’s Chairman.
Diamantino Costa, Critical SGPS’s Managing Partner, adds “Reiner Missale’s experience and knowledge in IT solutions for Advanced Manufacturing has been essential during the initial phase, and as Chairman his contribution will remain of extreme importance to make this company successful”.
Critical Manufacturing is an enterprise founded from the established business of Critical Software and the inspiration and experience of a team of international renowned industry experts, that creates leading edge software solutions for the advanced manufacturing industries of solar, electronics and semiconductors. The company is part of Critical Group, a private group of companies founded in 1998 to provide solutions for mission and business critical information systems. Annual growth has been sustained at 50% per year on average since its foundation, operating a CMMI Level 5 and ISO9001 Quality System. Critical Manufacturing is based on an experienced services team coming from Critical Group, and established a product team of individuals with more than 10 years experience in high-tech manufacturing. The company comprises over 80 people, with its headquarters and main technical centre in Portugal and additional facilities in Germany. For more information, visit www.criticalmanufacturing.com or contact us at [email protected].
