Women Reshaping Manufacturing: Siemens Mobility’s Karlene Keene On The Five Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In Manufacturing

In recent years, there has been a significant increase in interest surrounding the manufacturing sector. Historically, this industry has been dominated by male workers, with women constituting only about 30% of the workforce. What is the experience like for women working in such a male-dominated field? What challenges do they face, and how can they contribute to improving the industry? What does it take to establish a highly successful career in manufacturing? Additionally, what exciting advancements and innovations are US companies making in high-tech manufacturing, and what can we expect in the near future? How can the US emerge as a high-tech manufacturing powerhouse? To address these questions, we are talking to women leaders of the manufacturing industry. As a part of this series, I had the pleasure of interviewing Karlene Keene.

Karlene Keene is a Commercial Manager with Siemens Mobility North America. She manages the commercial activities for the Finance Team at their Alpharetta, Georgia facility. She has worked in the healthcare, retail, banking, and financial services industries prior to joining Siemens and holds a B.S. in Accounting from Roberts Wesleyan College.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Before we dive in, our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you tell us a bit about your ‘backstory’ and how you got started in manufacturing?

My previous Finance and Accounting experience in various industries — medical, retail, finance, and insurance — led me to Siemens Mobility. In my last role prior to joining, I worked on a U.S. GAAP to IFRS conversion for compensation and benefits topics. As a result of this experience, I landed my first position in corporate accounting, which eventually evolved into managing post-merger integration activities.

One of the integrations I supported at that time led me to a Global Performance Controlling role within Siemens Mobility Inc. in Louisville, KY. This was my start in manufacturing, and the rest is history! My early experience at Siemens Mobility gave me an important perspective on how a matrix organization works in a global environment.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

At the start of my Siemens Mobility career, I was in my first post-merger integration meeting and noticed there were employees from all different cultures involved. Despite our differences, we were all in one space, focusing on one overall goal.

This was before diversity was a set strategy for many organizations. I saw that diversity was already part of the Siemens Mobility culture, and it continues to evolve within our organization. It was an inspiring moment for me to see a group with such unique backgrounds, interests, and experiences bring their knowledge and passion for what they do to the table.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

My favorite life lesson quote is, “Courage is the power to let go of the familiar.” This quote has often been the way of life for me.

My family migrated to the U.S. from Jamaica when I was nine years old. Although I didn’t understand it at that age, this was my first experience of letting go of the familiar. As I progressed through high school, college, career and life, this quote stayed with me as I challenged myself to continually grow and not get too comfortable.

It is never easy to be courageous, but overcoming the initial fear of the unknown and having the faith and persistence to move beyond it is always rewarding.

Ok wonderful. Let’s now shift to the main focus of our interview about High Tech Manufacturing. Can you tell our readers about the most interesting projects you are working on now? How do you think this will help people?

Ensuring financial transparency of the value flows in the factory helps our functional partners to measure outcomes against targets. My team leverages digitalization to build financial dashboards which provides automated updates daily throughout the reporting month. This supports the leadership team in the factory with real-life data that they can use to assess production output against our target.

Can you share how you are helping to reshape the Manufacturing industry?

I am helping to reshape the manufacturing industry by being a business partner to the functions in the factory. Instead of just reporting the numbers, I stay involved in the day-to-day topics and connect with the factory functions to ensure that potential risks are addressed and mitigated.

I am engaged in factory activities like Quality and EHS management, Supply Chain challenges and resolutions, as well as leadership training and development.

In addition to what you are working on, what other exciting advancements and innovations are US companies making in High Tech manufacturing?

From digital twins to AI in manufacturing, there are a lot of exciting advancements that companies are taking, and Siemens is at the forefront. Not only are we applying these technologies to our own manufacturing processes, but our Digital Industries business helps companies across the globe implement them in order to make their operations more efficient.

From your vantage point as an insider, what exciting developments will be coming out in the near future?

Personally, I am excited about our new manufacturing facility in Lexington, NC. In part, because it will have the latest in rail manufacturing technology, including 3D printing, robotic welding, and precision measurement, but also because it represents the next step in my career journey. I will be relocating to the facility to help open the site and ensure it gets started on the right path!

What are the three things that most excite you about the state of US Manufacturing? Why?

Manufacturing in the U.S. had been declining over the past decade or so, mainly due to companies chasing lower labor costs. As result of COVID-19 and the global business environment, however, it is now becoming more attractive for businesses to do manufacturing in the U.S. Local manufacturing means high worker productivity, easier access to supply chain, and a strong business environment overall. At Siemens Mobility North America, we are proud that our products are American made!

I am excited to see increased investment in manufacturing in the U.S. The focus on digitalization and the accelerated adoption of emerging technologies across the country supports transparency in the supply chain and helps to manage the assets in the factory as well as account for sustainability so that we are using less resources to produce more.

What are the three things that concern you about US Manufacturing? What would you suggest needs to be done to address those concerns?

The following three things concern me about U.S. Manufacturing:

1. Workforce availability shortage — introduce automation and change the perception that manufacturing is a “dirty job.” Companies across our industry should incorporate more training programs, better compensation, and help their employees map out an attractive career path with opportunities for growth.
2. Workforce retraining — connect employees with opportunities to upgrade their skillset to programming and running the machines.
3. Supply Chain shortage — choosing to onshore vs. offshore and identifying suppliers that are closer to production locations.

Based on your opinion or experience, what would it take for the US to become a High Tech Manufacturing powerhouse?

For the U.S. to become a High-Tech Manufacturing powerhouse, the education system needs to be altered to include internships, apprenticeship, robotics programming, along with operations and maintenance training, and more generally, pathways being defined as early as elementary schools for technology.

As you know, there are not that many women in High Tech Manufacturing. Can you advise what is needed to engage more women in these industries?

For women to engage more in High-Tech Manufacturing, there needs to be an expansion of the recruiting networks, meaning employers in the industry need to be more open to hiring for skillsets vs industry experience.

Another way to achieve this goal is to establish women-focused resource groups where the vocal allies are male employees. At Siemens Mobility, we have the WIN@S (Women’s Impact Network @ Siemens) Employee Resource Group which fosters knowledge sharing, mentorship, allyship and engages women across our organization to be their best. In general, building a culture within the organization where everyone has a voice at the table will make a real impact to promote women in High-Tech Manufacturing.

Fantastic. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career In Manufacturing?

To create a highly successful career in manufacturing, you need 5 things:

1. Courage — the ability to challenge the status quo.
2. Adaptability — we have all experienced the constant change and ongoing disruption in the manufacturing and technology industries. We must be agile and ready to respond to these changes, seeing the disruption as an opportunity, rather than an obstacle.
3. Relationship building — finding common ground with colleagues from every level of the organization allows for collaboration even on difficult conversations.
4. Reflection — being able to reflect and learn from what went well and what did not go so well.
5. Continuous learning mindset — this goes along with being able to adapt to change. With technology evolving at such a rapid speed, we must challenge ourselves to continually learn to not get left behind.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

I would inspire a movement of self-care, where people strive to be mentally, physically, and spiritually well. It is only when these areas are being changed for the better, we can show up as our best in life, for our family, and in our careers. We are kinder to ourselves and others when we prioritize self-care, ultimately bringing the most amount of good to the most amount of people.

How can our readers further follow your work online?

https://www.linkedin.com/in/karlene-keene-28b9b87/

Thank you so much for the time you spent doing this interview. This was very inspirational, and we wish you continued success.

About The Interviewer: David Leichner is a veteran of the Israeli high-tech industry with significant experience in the areas of cyber and security, enterprise software and communications. At Cybellum, a leading provider of Product Security Lifecycle Management, David is responsible for creating and executing the marketing strategy and managing the global marketing team that forms the foundation for Cybellum’s product and market penetration. Prior to Cybellum, David was CMO at SQream and VP Sales and Marketing at endpoint protection vendor, Cynet. David is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Jerusalem Technology College. He holds a BA in Information Systems Management and an MBA in International Business from the City University of New York.