Hilal Yılmaz
Profile
I'm Hilal Yılmaz, an industrial and management engineer based in Bursa, Türkiye. My work sits where operations, data and decision making meet: I look at how a system really performs, measure it properly and then make it better. I learned this on the automotive shop floor, but the questions are the same in any operation that runs on capacity, flow and people. That is what drew me to digital twins, virtual models that stay connected to the real system and help people decide with data instead of instinct. In August 2026 the University of Oxford invited me to present my framework for translating factory KPI systems into digital twin models at DigiTwin 2026, where I showed that the same logic holds outside manufacturing. That talk made it clear to me that this is the field I want to keep growing in, and a PhD on KPI driven digital twins, ideally together with industry, is one of the paths I'm working towards.
Experience
At Bosch Powertrain Solutions I worked as a production and planning engineer on CNC machining lines for valve and armature parts. By optimising the machining processes we raised availability by 7% and shortened cycle time by 8%, and root cause analysis with FMEA and SPC cut the scrap rate by 10%. At Martur Fompak International, a Tier 1 automotive interior supplier, I first brought more than six new lines to serial production for Renault, Volkswagen, Skoda, Volvo and Tofaş programmes with no launch delays. I then moved into methods improvement and manufacturing systems, where I merged separate Excel reports and conflicting KPI definitions from production, quality and logistics into one Power BI data model. Monthly management reporting for four plants, including Romania, went from about two weeks to three days, and the dashboard became the reference in plant and holding level meetings. I also built Excel scenario models that answered plant managers' capacity, overtime and headcount questions. Since 2024 I have been co-founder of SoleLuna Tech, leading requirements and process analysis for custom business management software.
Skills & Focus Areas
Production and capacity planning, workforce and scenario modelling, OEE and bottleneck analysis, KPI systems and data modelling in Power BI and SAP, lean manufacturing and quality tools (standard work, MTM UAS, PFMEA, SPC, root cause analysis), requirements and process analysis, and digital twin concepts for Industry 4.0. I also have hands on experience with process simulation in DELMIA and CATIA from a research project at the University of Salerno, and I want to take it further. My approach is simple: understand the process first, measure it honestly, then build the digital tool that keeps the improvement visible.
Beyond Engineering
I believe the way I grow as a person shows up in the way I work. The six month Young Executive Academy (formerly YGA) leadership programme and the McKinsey Forward Programme taught me structured problem solving and how to communicate for impact, and I start McKinsey.org Forward Core Skills in October 2026. I'm AI Fluency certified by Anthropic Academy and currently completing Claude Code in Action and the Microsoft Power BI Analyst Professional Certificate. Studying in Italy on a full scholarship taught me to adapt quickly to a new language and culture, and today I keep learning German towards Goethe B2. Running a software partnership and a small handmade design studio next to my engineering work has taught me to plan my time carefully, stay patient when things move slowly and keep going when a plan changes. Those habits matter to me as much as any certificate.