Stephan is the global leader of McKinsey’s Basic Materials Practice and leads our work in the Asia Pacific region. He is a trusted advisor to leading metals-and-mining companies around the world. He supports his clients predominantly on strategic, supply-chain, productivity, and operations-transformation-related topics.
Stephan’s expertise and passion lies in applying the “theory of constraints” in asset-heavy industries. His teams achieved groundbreaking success in removing bottlenecks from complex supply chains by applying rigor and advanced analytics.
During his tenure at McKinsey, Stephan has done some pioneering work in the area of sustainability, co-writing “An Australian Cost Curve for Greenhouse Gas Reduction” in 2008.
Before joining McKinsey, Stephan taught applied mathematics to graduate students at the Technical University of Berlin while attaining his PhD in non-linear programming.
Published work
“Succeeding in the AI supply-chain revolution,” McKinsey & Company, April 2021
“How AI-powered solutions can help optimize smelters,” McKinsey & Company, March 2021
“The potential of advanced process controls in energy and materials,” McKinsey & Company, November 2020
“Remote operating centers in mining: Unlocking their full potential,” McKinsey & Company, October 2020
“The mine-to-market value chain: A hidden gem,” McKinsey & Company, October 2020
“The business of sustainability: Putting it into practice,” McKinsey & Company, October 2011 (PDF–258 KB)
“Making energy productivity pay off,” The Australian Financial Review, May 2010
“How companies manage sustainability: McKinsey Global Survey results,” McKinsey & Company, March 2010
“An Australian cost curve for greenhouse gas reduction,” McKinsey & Company, February 2008 (PDF–275 KB)
Past experience
Technical University, Berlin
Teaching assistant, applied mathematics 1993-98
Education
Technical University, Berlin
PhD, mathematics; Masters, mathematics and economics