Andrea Cawley joined the plastics sector with Comar Inc. almost a decade ago. She was apprehensive about joining as she did not have a background in engineering or manufacturing, but she thought the role seemed interesting.
"In my view, diversity of ideas, experience and backgrounds is what is really critical for the plastics sector, so bringing my experience and knowledge from investment banking and the drive and motivation of being self-employed is what brought fresh thinking to my role in Comar," said Cawley, who has a primary university degree in economics and a master's degree in European economics.
As the commercial director for Comar in Wicklow, Ireland, Cawley handles client management, business development, human resources, quality and operations.
"During my tenure, I have grown revenue through creating a vision for growth and leading the company through the transition required across all the key areas of the business. … In 2022, I was part of the team that navigated the company through all stages of the company sale to a U.S. buyer," she said on LinkedIn, referring to the acquisition of Automatic Plastics Ltd. by Comar.
Her greatest achievement has been "leading our operational excellence team at Comar in Europe to become an award winner in operational excellence."
"I am passionate about OpEx and continuous improvement," she said. "For this award, we were in a category full of serious players; the surprise and delight when we won was a definite highlight."
Cawley is a member of the Institute of Directors, an organization for networking, sharing knowledge and developing professionally, and she is an ASQ Certified Six Sigma Green Belt: "I am proud of that as not coming from an engineering background definitely meant there was a fear factor."
On her LinkedIn page, Cawley said her key strength is "agility in strategy," which is "essential in an ever-changing global economy." She added that she excels at "rapid analytical thinking and decision-making."
Asked what surprises her about the plastics industry, Cawley said the lack of diversity: "I think this needs to be a major focus to ensure originality of thinking."
She added: "I think it is critical that we promote, encourage and build awareness about gender diversity in the sector. It is such a positive to have diversity of thought and ideas in any organization."