As Savic Motorcycles’ first COO, Chris Gaspardis has quite a job on his hands. Not only does he have to turn a laborious ‘stall build’ involving multiple technicians and engineers assembling a bike over several weeks into a slick assembly line producing at least one bike a day; he has to ensure that every process, component, nut and bolt is tuned to nano-millimetre perfection – so the C-Series not only maintains but continues to grow its reputation as Australia’s most sophisticated electric motorcycle.

The fact that Chris remains totally unflappable while facing such a long list of variables is testament to his calm confidence – and the faith he has in the Savic team.

“We have such an incredible team of engineers, technicians, and software developers who’ve designed this amazing vehicle,” he says. “Now I have the nice job of pushing these bikes out of the door!”

It’s a little more complicated than that, of course – what with developing work stations for each assembly process, quality-checking thousands of parts, managing suppliers, consolidating inventories, controlling costs, checking compliance – but Chris is not reinventing any wheels, and he has significant runs under his belt.

For the past 15 years, this whip-smart Melburnian has been working for PACCAR Australia, where as Manufacturing Engineering Manager he oversaw various aspects of the manufacture and assembly of 5,000 Kenworth and DAF trucks each year. In this role, he supervised everything from manufacturing processes and controls, to tooling, moulding, and workshop maintenance. But when the opportunity at Savic came along, Chris jumped.

“It’s always been in the back of my mind working with diesel trucks that I’d like to be contributing to the world in a more carbon-conscious way, and I’ve loved motorcycles since I was a little boy,” says Chris, who recently notched up 200,000km on his Honda VFR750F tourer. “Savic really ticks every box for me: it’s manufacturing, it’s high-tech, it’s green, and it’s Australian. Helping to turn this company into a successful automotive business is really a dream come true for me!”

While still a relatively new arrival, Chris’ role at Savic has quickly evolved from building ERP systems for inventory and order management, to developing a closely-integrated series of work stations, workflow schedules, staff outputs, and inventory tracking to build up to five bikes a week – and eventually many more. As well as specialised tooling and workbenches, Chris is creating precise processes and documentation for quality checks, test rides, regulatory compliance, risk mitigation, workplace safety – the list goes on.

“Basically, it’s everything required to ensure that we’re getting bikes out of the door of the highest quality,” he says in his usual easy-going manner, “that our suppliers are delivering parts of the right quality at the right time, and that we’re producing the best possible product for our customers – safely, efficiently, on time and on budget.”

Chris is confident that the Savic team has “both the guts and smarts” to build the perfect bike. “Getting to know the team, I’ve been so impressed by their ingenuity, their thirst for knowledge, how they keep figuring out new things. All with one goal: to get this fantastic bike into customers’ hands. The range of characters who’ve ridden the C-Series – hobbyists, champion racers, commuters, old-school rev-heads – and every single one of them says: ‘this bike’s got the stuff’. To be a little part of that, you know: it makes you feel pretty good.”