Toledo success brings promotion for Pino
 | Pino: Promoted |
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Mauro Pino, a burly, 6-foot-4 Sicilian with a sonorous baritone voice, stood out immediately when he arrived in Toledo as manager of Chrysler's assembly complex there in April 2010. It now appears Pino's fame will spread further.
The charismatic Italian whirlwind was picked by CEO Sergio Marchionne for the Toledo job, and the stakes were high. Chrysler needed drastic improvement in quality there.
Pino, former head of Fiat's plant in Termini Imerese, Sicily, led Toledo's transformation from one of Chrysler's lowest-scoring plants to one of its highest. Within six months, workers had made more than 11,000 suggestions on improving efficiency, and almost 80 percent of them were implemented.
Now Marchionne has put Pino in charge of Chrysler's World Class Manufacturing system -- an adaptation of the Toyota Production System -- in all North American plants. He succeeds Massimo Risi, who will head Chrysler Group's global small SUV programs.
Pino, 52, already knows his way around the country. After arriving from Italy, he and his wife and two sons visited 36 U.S. states and drove the length of U.S. Route 66 from Los Angeles to Chicago.
