Audience Opinion Piece

Please can you give a summary of your role and main responsibilities?
As Chief Commercial Officer at MangoGem, an Advanced Planning and Scheduling solutions vendor, I’m responsible for driving company growth and ensuring customer success. My role involves overseeing sales, partnerships, and customer engagement strategies, while collaborating with our R&D team. I work closely with clients to implement our technology, optimizing their planning processes.

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How long have you been in your current role and what do you enjoy the most about it?
I’ve been at MangoGem for over five years. What I enjoy most is the variety—my role takes me to diverse manufacturing environments, from bustling shop floors to strategic boardrooms. No two days are the same. I thrive on engaging with different challenges, whether it’s optimizing a customer’s workflow or exploring new scheduling cases. It’s incredibly rewarding to see firsthand how our technology transforms operations.

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Looking back at your career trajectory, how have your role and responsibilities evolved in response to the increasing digitization of manufacturing?

Initially, I focused on introducing APS software to change legacy planning practices, bridging traditional manual operations with emerging tech. These days my role shifted more towards guiding customers through digital transformation. I’m a strategist—interfacing with customers and our R&D to align our offerings with trends like AI scheduling and championing smart manufacturing.

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In today's rapidly evolving manufacturing landscape, what do you think are the most pressing challenges that manufacturers are facing?

The most pressing challenges stem from increasing complexity and the need for rapid response. Manufacturers face volatile demand, higher product mix, shorter product lifecycles. This creates a dual pressure: managing intricate, data-rich operations, while minimizing dependency on manual scheduling, tribal knowledge.

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When addressing these challenges, what steps do you think manufacturers can take to secure some quick wins.

Manufacturers can secure quick wins by focusing on targeted, practical steps that align with existing workflows. Implementing modular solutions allows optimization without a full system overhaul. For instance, starting with integration-free pilot projects—such as AI-driven scheduling on a single line or work centre—demonstrates value and builds confidence before scaling up. Too often, I see manufacturers adopt an all-or-nothing mindset toward digital transformation, which potentially can stall progress. By taking incremental, low-risk steps, they can achieve measurable gains quickly.  

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What role does data play in your role and/or solution? How do you help manufacturers leverage data to gain valuable insights and make data-driven decisions?

Data drives everything we do at MangoGem, but we stand out as a small-data system. Unlike big-data AI platforms, we focus on well-structured manufacturing data—isolating production logic from transactional clutter. Garbage-in, garbage-out is a real pitfall, so we emphasize strict protocols for who, when, and how data enters related ERPs and MES systems. This lean approach transforms concise datasets into execution-ready schedules in minutes, not hours. For us, it’s about quality over quantity.

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What emerging technologies are you most excited about in the context of manufacturing, and how are you integrating them into your solutions?

I’m excited about GenAI’s potential to revolutionize manufacturing scheduling models generation. At MangoGem, we’re exploring how GenAI can co-create detailed scheduling models without requiring deep APS expertise. Our parametric planning engine has over 600 configurations, capturing complex manufacturing constraints into digital process twins. Traditionally, this modelling takes time and deep know-how, but GenAI promises to accelerate it dramatically.

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How do you see the role of AI and machine learning evolving within the manufacturing sector, and how is your company preparing for this evolution?

I envision AI and machine learning shifting from predictive tools to prescriptive decision-making systems in manufacturing, particularly for what-if analysis. Soon, they’ll do more than forecast—they’ll suggest the next best move in near real-time. At MangoGem, we’re embedding machine learning into our APS engine to analyze constraints and refine the scheduling search space, making optimization smarter and faster. The future, where historical schedules seamlessly inform today’s plans, is closer than we think.

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What advice would you give to manufacturers who are just beginning their digital transformation journey?

Steer clear of monolithic software systems. Opt for modular solutions instead. The pace of change in manufacturing is relentless—rigid, all-in-one platforms can quickly become outdated, locking you in. Modular and specialized approaches let you adapt and scale incrementally, tackling specific pain points without overcommitting. Start small, prove value, and build from there.

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How does your company contribute to the development of a skilled workforce in the manufacturing sector, ensuring that employees have the necessary skills to thrive in this digital age?

Through hands-on training and implementation support, we empower employees to confidently master automated scheduling and optimization. We help planners shift from daily firefighting to proactive foresight—anticipating and preventing issues.

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Why do you support the 4^th MX.0 Southeast event and what are you hoping to take away from the conference?

We’re proud to support the 4th MX.0 Southeast event, thanks to our partnership with Gemba Systems, our local ally. This is our second time attending, and I’m eager to reconnect with familiar faces. What stood out during my first visit was the event’s intimate, relaxed vibe—unlike those overcrowded trade fairs. It’s a rare chance to have meaningful, one-on-one conversations with high-profile decision-makers. I hope to deepen these connections, share insights on how we can drive smarter manufacturing, and take away fresh perspectives on regional challenges and opportunities —making the journey from Europe well worth it!