Mesut Selam

Project and Quality Manager

Istanbul, Istanbul, Türkiye

About

I've spent over 20 years in automotive plastic injection mold manufacturing, working across both project management and total quality management — usually at the same time. For most of my career I was at Karel Kalıp, where I managed 30+ mold projects simultaneously for 4 OEM customers, built and certified the company's QMS from scratch, and led a two-year lean transformation program that saved over 7,000 man-hours through tools like Kaizen, SMED, VSM, and TPM. Following my time at Karel Kalıp, I've been providing technical consultancy services with Murat Selam under the Selam Mold (www.selammold.com) umbrella — connecting buyers and suppliers of plastic injection molds, and offering training and consultancy in project management, total quality management, and lean practices. I'm currently open to a full-time senior role in project or quality management, ideally in an automotive Tier-1/2 supplier or precision manufacturing environment.

Experience

  • System and Quality Development Manager at Karel Kalıp Sanayi A.Ş.
    Oct 2017 - Jun 2023 · 5 yrs 9 mos

    ·Achieved QMS certification and led customer & supplier audits with zero major non-conformities. ·Directed IT team in ERP troubleshooting and information security governance, aligning systems with QMS requirements. ·Led the URGE Business Excellence Project (2 years, 18 lean modules, 32 consulting days) — generating 7,000+ man-hours of operational savings through VSM, 5S, Kaizen, SMED, TPM, and standardized work.

  • Karel Kalıp Sanayi A.Ş. (13 yrs 2 mos)
    • Manager Project Management
      Aug 2012 - Aug 2017 · 5 yrs 1 mo

      Managed 7+ OEM accounts, overseeing 55 new automotive projects and 450+ plastic injection mold productions. ·Led project team using PMI / PRINCE2 / ISO 21500 methodology: scope, cost, and schedule control from initiation to closure. ·Coordinated 150+ molds and 3,000+ hours of mold tryout operations; handled complex tryout troubleshooting with OEM customers.

    • Quality Assurence Manager
      Jun 2005 - Aug 2017 · 12 yrs 3 mos

      ·Established QMS infrastructure from the ground up and led the certification process. ·Conducted and managed customer and supplier audits across operational and support departments with consistently excellent outcomes.

    • Project Manager
      Jul 2004 - Aug 2012 · 8 yrs 2 mos

      ·Acted as customer-facing representative, translating OEM expectations into executable project plans across 5 phases (Initiation → Closure). ·Maintained full project traceability via obeya meetings, open issues lists, risk registers, lessons-learned logs, and activity network plans.

  • Planning and Reporting Specialist at Karel Kalıp Sanayi A.Ş.
    Feb 2002 - Dec 2003 · 1 yr 11 mos

    ·Developed project traceability coding system and installed project realization database for reporting and improvement. ·Built customer commercial tracking system and managed progressive payment reporting based on project realization.