Production not reaching its potential?
Waste, quality variation and high costs hold performance back.
Lean structures, value-stream analysis and a continuous-improvement culture.Head of Production & Technology · Chemical Industry
Mario Schmalzl
I transform complex production challenges into safe, efficient and sustainable operations - through clear leadership, proven methods and digital process expertise.
Impact & focus
10+
years of experience
~150
team members led
7
method pillars
Operational Excellence Digitalization with process understanding Leadership across cultures
What I solve for you
Production challenges - solved systematically
Digitalization stuck?
MES, IoT and Industry 4.0 are available, but the return remains elusive.
Understand the process, map it digitally, then automate.Leadership consuming energy?
Unclear structures, friction and a lack of direction weaken teams.
Clear goals, roles and communication create ownership.Evidence-based. Field-tested. Results-oriented.
Every decision is supported by a framework combining classic management principles, modern systems theory and behavioral economics.
The seven pillars of my work
Operational Excellence
Not a program, but a mindset: start with what creates real customer value and finish with measurable KPIs. Lean management, shopfloor routines, continuous improvement, value-stream analysis, SMED, 5S and TPM.
Digitalization
Technology must measurably improve safety, quality, cost or speed: MES, LIMS, Industry 4.0, dashboards, predictive maintenance, reporting automation and IoT integration.
Leadership & team
Create the conditions for safe, efficient and motivated work: lead leaders, manage budgets, navigate crises and develop people and teams.
Production management
Master, understand and continuously improve processes through capacity planning, OEE loss analysis, SPC, FMEA and strong interfaces between development, production and maintenance.
Investment projects
Guide complex chemical-industry projects from feasibility study to production ramp-up: CAPEX, scheduling, earned value, risk, EPC commissioning and business cases.
Asset strategy
Maximize lifetime value with maintenance strategy, lifecycle cost analysis, criticality classification, digital twins and sound reinvestment decisions.
Production system
The factory operating system: processes, standards, roles, metrics and leadership instruments, from SOPs and visual management to cascaded objectives.
About me
Engineer. Leader. Builder.
Born in 1987 and at home in Austria's Salzkammergut, I work as Head of Production at Evonik, leading a production team of around 150 people. More than ten years in the chemical industry shape how I work.
Career
Head of Production & Technology @ Membranes and Fibres - Evonik
Strategic leadership of production and process technology; responsibility for safety, quality, cost, delivery, Operational Excellence, digitalization and asset strategy.
Operational Performance Manager - Evonik
Asset strategies aligned with business objectives, lifecycle management, availability, investment planning and international collaboration.
Project Responsible Investment Project Asia - Evonik
Led a greenfield capacity expansion project in Asia and a multicultural team across continents.
Head of Manufacturing Intelligence - Evonik
Built and led a new department for manufacturing analytics, statistical data analysis, process optimization and predictive maintenance.
Process Control Engineer - Evonik
Process optimization, simulation, automation and the interface between production, process engineering and IT.
Freelance Process Automation - Schmalzl Process & Automation
Process optimization, project management and PLC programming.
Automation Engineer - Weiss Automation GmbH
Industrial process optimization, control engineering and commissioning.
Education
Emerging Leaders Program - IMD
Executive education in strategic planning, leadership and digital transformation.
Project Assistant - TU Wien
Renewable energy, dual fluidized bed reactor and pilot-plant start-up.
MSc Chemical Engineering - TU Wien
Focus on process automation; thesis on dual fluidized bed gasification.
Core values
Performance
Trust
Curiosity
Team spirit
Self-efficacy
Learning as a leadership tool
The chemical industry faces fundamental change: decarbonization, digitalization and demographic change. I do not merely observe these developments - I actively shape them.
Leadership starts with trust
The greatest production-leadership challenge is not technology, but people. Reliability, transparency and respect create trust; autonomy creates self-efficacy, motivation and ownership.
Digitalization is not an end in itself
The leverage lies in connecting process knowledge with digital tools. Sensors and AI matter only when integrated into operational decisions and measurable improvements.
Effectiveness before efficiency
First ask what creates value; only then optimize efficiency. Value-stream thinking and Theory of Constraints direct scarce resources to the strongest lever.
Continuous learning · Method library
Leadership & organization
The Effective Executive · Leaders Eat Last · The Infinite Game · The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People
Production & quality
The Toyota Way · The Goal · The Penguin Principle · Atomic Habits
Strategy, decisions & systems
Think Again · Noise · Antifragile · LEAP
Connect
Interested? Let's connect.
I welcome an exchange on leadership, Operational Excellence and new perspectives. The best solutions emerge through dialogue.
Connect on LinkedIn