Juha Arola

As Chief Operating Officer of AEM, Juha Arola is responsible for AEM’s worldwide Manufacturing and Operations. He leads the manufacturing strategy and execution at AEM while working closely with the leadership team to accelerate AEM’s growth globally. 

Together with his regional teams, Juha ensures an effective partnership and strong alignment across the Business Units and Functions for a highly organized production, quality products that are safe and reliable, timely deployment of AEM’s next-generation systems using the best-in-class technologies and processes. As a seasoned practitioner and expert on the various Lean Manufacturing principles and tools, Juha takes on an instrumental role in meeting the critical challenges and future trends within Operational Excellence and raising AEM’s Production Excellence standards. 

Juha has extensive experience developing and driving successful complex manufacturing operations for Final Assembly and Test, Plastic Injection Molding, and SMT. His deep knowledge and expertise across various fields provide a high level of valuable technical insights and best practices, which are critical for business success.

Before joining AEM, Juha served as the Chief Operating Officer at ESCATEC, leading the ESCATEC Group Operations in Asia, Europe, and the UK. He joined ESCATEC as its Nordic sales manager and was subsequently appointed as General Manager of two of its facilities in Johor Bahru. Juha has also held several high-level management positions at industry-leading EMS and OEM companies, accumulating a wealth of experience in leadership and operations.

Juha believes in hands-on leadership. He is passionate about developing, training, motivating, and coaching his team members to meet their targets.