Inalfa Roof Systems was founded in 1946 and now operates a network of more than 2,800 people, making it one of the worlds largest suppliers of vehicle roof systems. From its head office in Venray, the Netherlands, the organisation has developed an increasing focus on research and development, while running facilities in the US, South Korea, China, Brazil, Slovakia, Poland, Mexico, and Japan. Inalfas Venray branch also houses its Global Competence Centre where the concepts for international application are defined, and all new roofing systems for its global customers are developed and tested. From here, new developments are put into production and can be moved to one of Inalfas eastern European or Asian factories as a pilot.
Frank Loeschmann, President and CEO of Inalfa, is a respected veteran within the automotive industry. He discussed his journey to the companys top seat, plus the companys ambitious growth targets for the future ahead.
My career started in the automotive business after studies of engineering. I started in manufacturing engineering, first in Daimler. Some four years later I changed to Volkswagen because of the possibility to get some international experience. At that time, in the early 90s, Volkswagen was growing enormously and made the sentence going global real, so I had the opportunity to go with Volkswagen especially in China, Spain, and in Czechia at that time. It was really a challenge for a young engineer to start their career over there. I took over several positions, first in project management, later on in engineering, as well as manufacturing engineering.
