NEWBRIDGE, 21 December 2001: by Eithne Duggan. 34-year old Pauline Walsh, from Newbridge, Co Kildare has been awarded the title ‘Woman of the Year 2001’ by the prestigious European trade publication Automotive News Europe.

Pauline is Production Manager at the Ford Genk plant in Belgium, where she has responsibility for some 1,900 staff in the assembly area for the new Ford Mondeo. The publication writes of her role as ‘one of the most important manufacturing jobs in the Ford world’.

A graduate in Mechanical Engineering from UCD, Pauline’s career has included spells at Esso UK, Exxon in the US, ABB in Switzerland and Warner Lambert in Cork, who she joined on completion of her MBA in Lausanne in the mid-90s. She was recruited by Ford to take up the position of Quality Manager at Ford’s Cologne plant in 1999. Her subsequent move to Genk coincided with the launch of the new Ford Mondeo.

This was no easy initiation for Pauline, with Ford bringing the new car up to almost full production in just 10 weeks. During this busy time, injuries at the plant fell by 40% over the previous year. 1,420 Mondeos now leave the plant each day and Genk recently celebrated the production of its 250,000th new Mondeo unit. The three shifts in operation mean Pauline’s 12-hour-days also include a night shift once a week.

In this week’s edition of Automotive News Europe, Hans Schardt, Ford of Europe’s Director of vehicle operations, refers to Pauline as ‘a key member of an excellent team at Genk, which is one of our most important facilities in Europe.’ She is praised by the publication as ‘a youthful manager doing a tough job very well.’ It continues: ‘Walsh’s wry sense of humour is one thing that helps her make an impact in the male-dominated world of auto manufacturing.’

Commenting on her award, Pauline said she was honoured to receive it, not least because she knows there are many very competent and successful women in the auto industry.

"My job as production manager is challenging but it is also exciting and gives me a good mix between hands-on working and introducing longer term improvements," she says. "My job is also made easier by my having a great team of people working for me – the people at Genk plant are very down-to-earth and hard-working, with a great sense of humour – I tell them that they could almost be mistaken for being Irish!"

Pauline lists jogging, gym and music as her pastimes. Married to Rainer, she has a young son Brendan.

©2001knn

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