Hernâni Lavoura

Senior Manufacturing & Quality Engineer with 10+ years driving operational excellence across global automotive tier-1 and OEM environments, including BorgWarner, Rolls-Royce, Bentley and Volkswagen. Track record of leading cross-functional teams, managing premium OEM customer relationships (Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, GM) and delivering quantified results: 91% quality incident reduction, 73% scrap elimination, €40K inventory recovery and 50% bottleneck removal. Combines deep engineering expertise with executive development through an Executive MBA (Porto Business School) and an international programme at UC Berkeley.

Now seeking to leverage leadership into a management role.

Manufacturing & Quality Engineer at BorgWarner Inc. (2019-11 – Present)

Senior engineering role with team leadership responsibilities across quality, manufacturing and customer management for electronic modules and soldering processes.

• Led cross-functional Scrap Task Force as Champion, delivering a 66% reduction in solder resistance welding scrap and 73% in tin soldering within 15 weeks, eliminating two of the plant's top 3 scrap cost contributors.
• Drove a 91% reduction in quality incidents by designing and implementing a new control gauge, directly improving product standards and OEM satisfaction.
• Served as a primary interface for major OEM customers including Audi, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, General Motors, Renault, Ford, Isuzu and SsangYong, ensuring full compliance with customer-specific requirements.
• Recovered €40K in blocked inventory by introducing a new Aftermarket reference, unlocking stalled stock and improving working capital.
• Managed and completed 30+ PPAPs over 5 years, ensuring on time launches and compliance with IATF 16949 and customer quality standards.
• Championed structured problem-solving culture through 8D methodology and data-driven root cause analysis across production teams.

Assembly Process Planner at Rolls-Royce Motor Cars (2017-03 – 2019-10)

Responsible for all exterior assembly processes for series and new model launches, overseeing 20% of the production line and coordinating multi-discipline teams to meet quality, cost and volume targets.

• Played a key role in the successful launch of the Phantom VIII and Cullinan, Rolls-Royce's first SUV, coordinating exterior assembly readiness across engineering, quality and production teams.
• Led process improvements that increased daily production capacity from 38 to 46 units (+21%), directly meeting elevated customer demand targets.
• Secured €250K capital investment from BMW Group leadership to replace ageing label printer infrastructure, building and presenting a successful business case under budget constraints.
• Reduced the plant's primary bottleneck cycle time by 50% and improved ergonomic risk rating from red to green, enhancing both safety and throughput simultaneously.

Process Planner Engineer Trainee at Bentley Motors Ltd (2016-06 – 2016-12)

Recommended by VW Autoeuropa to support a strategic paintshop optimization project aimed at avoiding a costly building expansion.

• Redesigned the full paintshop layout to accommodate new model requirements, avoiding facility expansion, and delivering significant capital savings to the business.
• Eliminated all forklift operations from the paintshop, improving safety and simplifying material flow logistics.
• Optimized consumable management at each station, achieving a 30% reduction in part purchases.

Logistics Process Intern at Bosch Thermotechnology (2015-11 – 2016-05)

• Introduced ergonomic load indicators and a vacuum pallet manipulator to warehouse operations, reducing operator physical effort by 50% and enabling single-operator pallet handling.

Industrial Engineer Intern at Volkswagen Autoeuropa (2015-03 – 2015-10)

• Master's thesis project: designed a trolley system reducing AGV material movements by 75% and proposed transport rack optimisations cutting internal routes by 26% for VW Sharan and Scirocco assembly.

Executive MBA – Porto Business School (2024)

MSc in Industrial Engineering & Management – University of Coimbra (2015)

BSc in Electrotechnical Engineering – University of Aveiro (2013)