GM Thailand Names First Woman Assistant Plant Manager

General Motors Thailand names the first woman to the role of assistant plant manager.

Juanita Alcantara, now assistant plant manager for vehicle operations at GM’s Rayong facility, is responsible for leading the manufacturing leadership team to execute business goals and achieve excellence in both people and products.

A month ago, GM Thailand named Amnat Saengjan as vice president-manufacturing. He is the first Thai national to hold the automaker’s top manufacturing leadership position in the country.

GM Southeast Asia President Tim Zimmerman says Alcantara is well-qualified to take on the role at Rayong.

“She has ably demonstrated through a series of manufacturing positions excellent leadership abilities and a firm commitment to deliver high-quality Chevrolet vehicles both for the Thai and export markets,” Zimmerman says.

Alcantara began her career with GM as a manufacturing engineer at GM Holden Australia. She has since held various positions involving facility installation, project management and product program introductions.

She moved to Thailand in 2010 and was named GM Thailand quality launch director, responsible for planning and execution of quality systems for all new-product launches to meet customer requirements and program commitments.

She joined Manufacturing Operations as director of vehicle paint operations in 2012 and at the same time became president of the GM Thailand Women’s Council.

Alcantara says when she started working at GM 16 years ago, she was only the third female in the Manufacturing Engineering Dept.

“To get to where I am today, I needed to believe in myself and believe that gender should not be a hindrance to being successful in a male-dominated industry,” she says. “I’m very encouraged to know that GM strongly promotes the professional development of women, and I hope to be a role model for other women at the company.”