Industrial leadership. Personally accountable.
Create clarity.Set priorities.Secure impact.
From the first clear view to meaningful results. Through experience. With accountability.
Interim Management. Restructuring. AI in industry.
I take responsibility when leadership is needed, structures must change and AI needs to deliver practical value. With entrepreneurial judgement, clear priorities and hands-on execution.
Klaus Pichler · Based near Graz, Austria · Working across Europe

From the shop floor to executive leadership.
From first-hand experience.
01 / THREE AREAS. ONE COMMITMENT.
Take responsibility.
Make change happen.
Industrial experience. Entrepreneurial judgment. The possibilities of AI. Combined in hands-on implementation.
Interim
Management
Leadership. When it matters.
Managing director, COO, Operations Management, Project Management or Quality Management – interim responsibility tailored to your needs.
Restructuring
Across all industries. Adapt. Improve. Move forward.
Align structures, processes and resources with changing requirements. Strengthen productivity and economic performance.
AI in
industry
From potential to practice.
Connect industrial experience with AI. Identify useful applications, assess options and support practical implementation.
Automotive
Packaging
Mechanical & plant engineering
02 / INDUSTRIAL INTELLIGENCE
Industrial experience.
Amplified by AI.
Make connections visible. Assess options. Guide implementation. Human judgment remains at the heart of every decision.

HUMAN EXPERIENCE × AI
From operational data.
To informed decisions.
Identify bottlenecks.
AI connects orders, setup times and available capacity. This helps identify where the product mix puts pressure on production.
Technology expands the possibilities.
You remain in control.
01OPERATIONAL DATA
- Orders & product mix
- Setup times & scrap
- Capacity & bottlenecks
02AI ANALYSIS
- Connect the data
- Recognise bottleneck patterns
- Compare product-mix scenarios
03HUMAN DECISION
Prioritise capacity and orders.
Review assumptions. Assess feasibility.
Take responsibility.
Consider output, effort and contribution together. High utilisation alone does not indicate profitability.
Illustrative examples · no live data · no automated assessment · AI-generated figureIdentify potential
Start with the operational task and expected benefit.
Test in practice
Test a focused use case and assess its results.
Embed in daily work
Connect technology, workflows and the people involved.
03 / Selected project experience
Lead change.
Deliver impact.
From my professional career. Defined responsibilities and concrete assignments, from a new plant to an orderly closure.

GREENFIELD · POLAND
From greenfield to a high-performing automotive supply plant.
Development and successful ramp-up of an injection moulding plant with extensive in-house manufacturing within 18 months.
RELOCATION · STYRIA / EUROPE
Closing a site. Maintaining responsibility.
Strategically driven plant closure with production transfers to Romania and Germany.
Explore the project ↗RESTRUCTURING · INDUSTRY
Supporting effective restructuring.
Successful support for a restructuring at an industrial company.
Explore the project ↗STRATEGIC PROJECTS · AUTOMOTIVE
Turning strategy into manufacturing concepts.
Delivery of strategic projects across Europe and development of new manufacturing concepts in the automotive industry.
Explore the project ↗These anonymised examples describe my personal professional experience. Company names are omitted to maintain confidentiality.
04 / Klaus Pichler
Understanding a plant.
Having taken responsibility for every stage.
Klaus Pichler
Founder · KPI Industrial Transformation
Build.
From the initial location concept to a functioning plant.
My career began as an apprentice on the shop floor. Today, I combine more than 25 years of industrial leadership with technical and commercial expertise.
I completed my education, particularly my degree programmes, while remaining in employment throughout – demonstrating the resilience, discipline and determination to see things through that also shape my work in demanding business situations.
I know the entire lifecycle of a production plant from personal responsibility: from greenfield development, ramp-up and operational leadership through to restructuring, production relocation and an orderly closure. As a CEO and COO, I have shaped these phases myself and borne their commercial, technical and human consequences.
This experience shapes how I approach your challenge. Having built, managed and closed plants means looking beyond the immediate bottleneck: What will a new manufacturing concept mean for day-to-day operations? Which dependencies emerge during ramp-up? What must a restructuring preserve so that the site can regain its performance?
What sets me apart is this experience across the entire lifecycle – from the first development plan to the final site decision. I combine the shop-floor perspective with executive responsibility and personally guide implementation: in discussions with owners and banks, within the leadership team and directly at the production equipment.
Industrial experience meets AI. My work connects industrial leadership with practical AI applications. The starting point is the operational challenge: where can AI improve analysis, support decisions or make work easier?
M.Sc. Business Management · Dipl.-Ing. Mechanical Engineering
Certifications and qualifications in:
- Quality management: ISO 9001 and IATF 16949
- Information security management: ISO/IEC 27001
- Energy management: ISO 50001
- Leadership, sales management and project management
05 / Working together
Understand quickly.
Act decisively.
A clear process provides direction. We agree the scope, authority and on-site presence to match your situation.
- 01
Understand
Review numbers, processes and people together. The assessment typically starts during the first one to two weeks.
- 02
Prioritise
Identify the key levers. Agree objectives, actions and responsibilities.
- 03
Deliver
Take responsibility on site or support your management. Review progress regularly.
- 04
Embed
Strengthen leadership and governance. Transfer knowledge so the business can continue independently.
06 / INSIGHTS FROM PRACTICE
What makes
the difference in practice.
Personal contact
Create clarity.
Open up possibilities.
Together, we clarify where you stand and which next steps make sense. Personal, confidential and grounded in first-hand leadership experience.
I normally respond personally within 24 hours.
+43 676 632 88 42office@kpi-transformation.comPrefer to choose a time directly?
Book an introductory callOpens appointment booking on Cal.com.Fernitz near Graz · Austria & Europe
