Sullair appoints new MD

Sullair Australia has appointed Fred Funnell as its new Managing Director.

Sullair Australia has appointed Fred Funnell as its new Managing Director. With a diverse background and functional expertise in sales, operations and governance across a broad spectrum of industries, Funnell will be responsible for providing leadership, strategic direction and operational implementation for Sullair Australia. Building on the robust foundations developed by his predecessor, Funnell aims to ensure Sullair Australia continues to operate from a sustainable cost base while offering service levels that delight the company’s end users.

Prior to joining Sullair Australia, Funnell held roles within Shell for 17 years, most recently as General Manager for the company’s bitumen business across the Asia-Pacific region. Here, Funnell redefined business strategy and implemented numerous efficiency initiatives, which resulted in improved operational performance and profitability.

Funnell’s extensive experience within a large multinational company will be of direct benefit to Sullair in the years ahead, with a number of key target areas of the business coming into focus. Sullair Australia’s recent moves towards centralised customer management and investments in efficiency tools - such as customer relationship management software - are of specific interest to Funnell. “We will continue to streamline our business processes and leverage our local manufacturing for major customer projects, while working to deliver levels of customer service that are second to none in the industry,” he said.

With the ISO 14001 and OSHAS 18001 certification recently achieved by Sullair Australia, EH&S performance is an additional area of keen interest that Funnell shares with his new company. “For me, safety is a core value,” he said. “I look forward to engaging with employees at all levels to ensure our workplace safety maintains its world-class standard.”

Originally from Melbourne - with a Bachelor of Science honours degree and an MBA from Monash University - Funnell is excited by the opportunity to lead Sullair Australia. He is on deck at Sullair Australia’s manufacturing centre and head office in the Melbourne suburb of Dandenong, and plans to visit all the interstate offices in early 2012 in order to better understand both the challenges and opportunities for the company countrywide.

“There are significant growth opportunities available to Sullair Australia,” said Funnell. “I aim to work closely with the Sullair Senior Leadership Team over the coming months to refine Sullair’s business strategy. We will identify and target those areas where we can enhance our service delivery and performance. Our customers deserve nothing less.”