Oscar Harris, Sales and Programs Director of Faurecia in South Africa

Oscar Harris has been Sales and Programs Director of Faurecia in South Africa since July 2018. Having obtained an Industrial Engineering qualification from the Nelson Mandela University, Oscar commenced his career of 17 years, most of which has been in the automotive industry. Oscar entered the automotive industry as a Program Engineer which helped him to build up to  a Program Manager, then proceeded to a Plant Manager and finally a Sales and Programs Director for the region of South Africa at Faurecia. Oscar has also gained international working experience, having been in Germany for 4 years before returning to South Africa in 2014.

Oscar’s growth started from deciding to study Industrial Engineering, which is the basis of all basics that can be learnt of running a business model in any industry that is focused on lean management and the monotonous routine of producing components at the quickest and most efficient method per minute. He had a knack for finding and solving bottlenecks through simulating the process before being industrialized. This brought Oscar a lot of satisfaction to see something that he constructed becoming alive and generating employment in return, and also generating revenue.

Oscar’s advice to his younger self and emerging suppliers #ThingsIWishIKnew:

1.  If you are searching for an energized industry to challenge your agility, thinking process and risk management – The Automotive industry is where your heart is;
2.  The industry will teach you to be humble and at the same time when you succeed by stabilizing production plus finding the sweet spot for a process to run by itself efficiently – the excitement and satisfaction is surreal;
3. You will learn every aspect of running a business in a fast pace environment, with challenging tasks thrown at you to keep you awake;
4. You will grow as a person and be taught that you should never give up because if you do, you have lost the challenge from the onset;
5. Every ambitious youngster, with a desire of being in an industry which appraises you on your performance and not by superficial targets. This is the place to be as your work speaks for itself;

And importantly;

6. The automotive industry is the largest manufacturing sector in South Africa’s economy, this is even more of a reason to join the sector to fight in making it the most profitable which inreturn will assist in uplifting the country’s GDP. COME JOIN THE FIGHT FOR ECONOMIC SUSTAINABILITY!