Alabama Productivity Center works directly with businesses, organizations, and government agencies throughout Alabama to increase efficiencies, provide cost-saving solutions, and improve overall productivity while creating positive experiences for students. Link: http://apc.ua.edu

Rehired as part of leadership team chosen for converting brownfield property in Fairfield, Alabama, into Alabama1 (AL1)—a manufacturing, service, and distribution hub for steel customers in the South.• Refurbished or upgraded brownfield QA equipment, including Instron flexure machine and GRADEX particle size analyzer.• Championed QA team members towards proactive safety, open-mindedness, collaboration, and innovative problem-solving.Link: https://www.platinumequity.com/news/how-35m-renewal-of-alabama-refractory-plant-is-a-remarkable-story-for-harbisonwalker/

Directed tasks, analyzed risks, and solved problems to support customers of advanced composite products. Supervised quality leads and quality technicians in six buildings across multiple shifts.• Co-led plant towards quality management system success, which was continually validated to ISO 9001:2015.• Reduced dielectric testing time by 89% while increasing the precision and repeatability of dielectric results.• Coordinated equipment calibration across six buildings. Cultivated a proactive safety culture.

PLANT CLOSURE: https://thinkhwi.com/harbisonwalker-international-fairfield-alabama-plant/Provided leadership, customer service, and problem-solving to meet or exceed expectations of internal and external customers of refractory products. Led local quality assurance team toward sustained excellence. Utilized modern quality assurance tools appropriate to situation. Interfaced with raw material suppliers regarding correction actions.• Guided transition of plant from ISO 9001:2008 to ISO 9001:2015. Prepared plant for two external audits prior to layoff/closure, receiving zero major and minor non-conformances. Aided corporate team with internally auditing sister facilities.• Oversaw innovative sustainability to reduce consumption of raw materials, netting $600,000 in annual savings.• From 2017 to 2019, decreased finished goods scrap from 5% to 2% by improving control of brick formulations.

Provided friendly and dependable customer service to Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen, Tesla, and many others in regard to metal stamping, metal assembly, and e-coating. Ensured incremental innovations occurred during product lifecycles. Supervised team of quality auditors across three production shifts. Managed corrective actions and systematic 8D problem solving. Maintained statistical process control.• Cultivated fruitful relationship with key customers. Achieved and maintained satisfactory monthly PPM ratings with biggest customer, Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, for two years straight. • Worked with Mercedes-Benz U.S. International to optimize e-coat production, netting $30,000 yearly savings.

Ensured and facilitated anodization and fabrication services. Oversaw APQP documentation and implementation. Tracked and trended cost of quality key performance indicators (KPI). Oversaw and managed corrective actions and systematic 8D problem-solving efforts.• Led feasibility process and engineering change process.• Orchestrated calibration of measuring instruments and devices.

Analyzed quality of “class A” metal body systems to better provide world-class service for Volkswagen Group of America, Daimler Trucks NA, and Unipres USA. Utilized customer feedback to improve quality. Coordinated with other departments to mitigate production risks. Studied and interpreted statistical data to aid decision making. Created visual aids to communicate quality issues to management.• Worked with customers to close out 8D problem-solving in a timely manner.• Improved surface quality of “Class A” metal stampings via measurement data.

Appraised instrument panel quality to exceed customer expectations of Honda Manufacturing of Alabama and Mercedes-Benz U.S. International. Mitigated and later eliminated conditions causing rework and scrap. Issued quality alerts to bring attention to emergent areas of concern. Validated PPAP submissions for prospective and current suppliers. Audited supplier facilities for capability to meet and exceed Tier 1 and OEM requirements.• Produced yearly cost savings of approximately $50,000 for Acura MDX instrument panel line.• Evaluated supplier quality for domestic launch of Mercedes-Benz W205 sedan platform.

Facilitated expertise as lead engineer for flow-accelerated corrosion program and license renewal/aging equipment management program. Managed projects of varying sizes ($700,000 to $1.2 million). Coordinated repair, replacement, and maintenance prevention projects.• Trained suppliers on expectations of occupational and nuclear safety and health. • Utilized internal and external benchmarking to improve quarterly performance.

Offered continuous improvement value to variety of teams at plant. Served on engineering training team in 2009-2010, leak management and predictive maintenance team in 2008-2009, and E-FIN team in 2007-2008.