If a cycling, surfing, running CEO struggled with The Sun International CEO SleepOut™, would you survive?
Mercedes-Benz SA's cycling, paddling, surfing, running CEO Arno van der Merwe still found The Sun International CEO SleepOut™ challenge quite daunting. Think you could survive?
Want to know what to expect out of the upcoming The Sun International CEO SleepOut™? CEO and Executive Director of Manufacturing at Mercedes-Benz SA Arno van der Merwe has a few observations to share: “It was actually quite a challenging experience and when you get to the point where you are faced with those conditions - you know the cold and you get a glimpse into another life that’s less fortunate - it was actually quite a challenging experience, more so than what I thought it would be.”
Arno further expands on why his company's participation in the initiative is important: “We always think about how do we connect better to our employees? How do we connect better to society? Something like this is much bigger than what we experience in society. For one night, you get a glimpse of what it means to be destitute.”
Arno is only the second South African to head up the internationally award-winning Mercedes-Benz South Africa (MBSA) plant in East London. He took over the position of CEO of MBSA on the 1st of March, 2014.
Armed with an engineering degree from Stellenbosch University, Arno joined MBSA in 1996 as a logistics engineer, and a year later was promoted to the position of logistics material supply manager. In 2000 he had the distinction of being the first South African in the company to be sent to Germany on ex-patriot contract into a technical line function, tasked with running an international project to stabilise and improve the supply chain from Germany to South Africa. Today the results of this assignment still echo in the subsequent success of the plant as an exporter of world-class luxury vehicles.
Subsequent appointments to the positions of senior manager for manufacturing systems; plant project manager for the introduction of the current C-Class model; and senior manager of Assembly followed, have given Arno the further grounding he needed to achieve his current position.
Currently as CEO and Executive Director of Manufacturing, Arno holds the overall responsibility for the production operations in the plant and is the strategic driver behind the continuous achievement of quality, efficiency and cost targets.
A devoted husband and father of two, Arno cites spending time camping with his family as a worthy break from a demanding job. He is also passionate about other recreational activities such as cycling, paddling, running and surfing.