Firstronic Electronic Management Team

John Sammut - President & CEO

Prior to joining Firstronic, John served as CEO of Live Sports Radio LLC for 3 years, a private-equity backed business. He also served as President and CEO of EPIC Technologies, LLC, a multinational EMS company for nearly 10 years. He led the Company’s growth from $3 million (through its predecessor business, CCI), to nearly $300 million in annual revenue, while achieving industry-leading levels of profitability. In 2006, he was the recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award in the Technology category for the Midwest Region. Prior to joining EPIC, he was responsible for TMW's investment platform strategy in electronics manufacturing. He joined TMW's company Electro-Wire Products in 1990 as Manager of Market Development Engineering for the EMP division of Electro-Wire which achieved revenue growth from $6 million to $30 million by 1992. John was also responsible for European Business Development from 1993 to 1995 during which Electro-Wire acquired a German electrical distribution system manufacturer with annual revenues of $120 million. Prior to joining Electro-Wire, he held several positions at Ford Motor Company from 1986 to 1990. He holds a Bachelor of Science degrees in Electrical Engineering and Industrial Management from Lawrence Technological University and an MBA from INSEAD, the European Institute of International Business.
Jochen Lipp - Chief Operating Officer (COO)

Jochen joined Firstronic’s Board of Directors in 2013 and was named COO in 2017. Previously, he served as CEO of IBL Technologies. Jochen has both electronic and business degrees, and has spent over 20 years in the EMS industry, serving as COO of EPIC Technologies for half that time. While at EPIC, he was part of a team that grew the company from 250 employees in one factory to over 2,700 employees in six factories with sales of nearly $300 milli on. In recognition of that effort, he and John Sammut were jointly awarded the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2006 Award in the Technology category. Prior to joining EPIC, he was associated with Alcoa Fujikura, Ltd (AFL) as Operations Manager, where he was responsible for launching their electronics manufacturing operations in Juarez, Mexico in support of automotive industry customers. He was earlier responsible AFL’s electronics manufacturing operations in Germany and also launched two manufacturing facilities in Hungary.
Wally Johnson – Vice President, Supply & IT

Wally Johnson joined Firstronic in 2013. Previously, he ran a supply chain consultancy. In that capacity, he led a project to implement greater use of Lean philosophy in Firstronics' supply chain. He was earlier associated with Spectrum Assembly, Inc. as vice president sales and marketing. He also served nine years as vice president of supply chain and IT at EPIC Technologies and held a variety of senior supply chain management positions at both Visteon and Ford Motor Company. Wally holds an MBA degree in Finance from The University of Michigan, an M.S. degree in Computer Engineering from Wayne State University and a B.S. degree in Electrical Engineering from Michigan State University.
Jeff Orchard – Chief Financial Officer

Jeff joined Firstronic in 2016, brings 35 years of manufacturing finance experience and has held finance management positions in several industries in the West Michigan area including automotive stamping tool and die and plastic parts manufacturers. He holds a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Accounting from Michigan State University.
Sandy Kolp - VP of Business Development and Program Management

Sandy has over 20 years of experience in the contract manufacturing industry and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing Sales from Ferris State University. Previously, she was VP of Quality and Program Management. Prior to that, she served as Director of Quality, Director of Program Management and Grand Rapids Plant Manager. She earlier held positions in planning, program management, and quality. Prior to joining Firstronic, Sandy was the Quality Manager for an EMS company in Gaylord, MI. With her Six Sigma Black Belt certification, Sandy brings a strong commitment to ensuring efficient operational processes in line with a Quality Management System that must support diverse customer requirements. Sandy believes that when quality is continually embraced by everyone, it results in a cultural transition to an atmosphere of continuous improvement.

"We arm our people with a clear purpose and direction. If you provide them with systems, tools, training and techniques that they can apply to their daily activities to effectively take ownership of workplace and process improvements, and continuously improve the value of products and services that we delivery to our customers, then great things happen. That’s called Manufacturing!"
Guillermo Ortiz Pérez – Director of Quality

Guillermo joined Firstronic in 2018 as an Advanced Quality Engineer. He was promoted to Continuous Improvement Manager in 2019 and assumed his current role in 2022. He was earlier associated with Foxconn and Honeywell in a variety of engineering and technical roles. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Systems Engineering from the Universidad Autonoma de Ciudad Juarez and a Master’s degree in Total Quality Six Sigma from the Universidad Regional del Norte. He is a Six Sigma Black Belt.
Bill Place – Human Resources Manager

Bill joined Firstronic’s Grand Rapids, MI facility as Human Resources Manager in 2019. He brings a wealth of HR experience both at the single facility level and at a multinational level in technical companies.

Bill is a member of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) and holds an HRCI Professional of Human Resources (PHR) certification and a SHRM Certified Professional (CP) certification. Additionally, he pursued studies in international business and marketing at Davenport University.
Maurice Hellebuyck – Account Director

Maurice has been in the electronics industry since 1986 and has held positions within production management, document control, quality engineering, program management, and engineering. This gives him a balanced understanding of customer challenges and process controls. His leadership and background, coupled with his technical expertise will ensure all aspects of your engineering projects will be attended to with competence and diligence.
Becky Lutz – Account Director

Becky Lutz joined Firstronic as Account Director in 2015. In this role, she serves as the strategic account lead for key accounts, responsible for launch, organic growth, financial performance and customer satisfaction.

Previously, she served as Strategic Account Manager for EPIC Technologies. She was earlier associated with Jabil Circuit and PG Design Electronics as a Program Manager. She received her Bachelor of Science degree at Ferris State University.
Keith Kolp – Grand Rapids Plant Manager

Keith joined Firstronic in 2011 and has over a decade of production management and process development experience in both electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and OEM production environments. Previously, he was the Grand Rapids Production Manager and has significant training and experience in Lean manufacturing and other manufacturing process improvement techniques. Throughout his career, he has been heavily involved in continuous improvement initiative implementation. His manufacturing experience includes production environments assembling a wide range of mission-critical products.
Brad Albert – Director of Commodity Management

Brad joined Firstronic in 2010 and held positions in supervisory and staff positions in production, production planning, quoting and purchasing, prior to being named Materials Manager. Prior to joining the Company, he worked in a supervisory role in the construction industry. He received a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from Ferris State University.
Kelly Hiller – Customer Account Manager

Kelly joined Firstronic in 2007. She has nearly a decade of experience in cost accounting-related positions and, as a result, brings a strong focus on efficiency and eliminating non-value costs to her customer management position. Her professional experience in broad range of companies gives her the ability to quickly address customer needs in a fast-paced environment. She also serves as Firstronic’s representative in the MIDevice Consortium, which is focused on providing integrated supply chain solutions to the medical industry. She was earlier associated with Industrial Vacuum Systems, Inc., Baudville, Inc. and Blue Water Travel Inc. She holds a business management-related degree from Baker College.

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