Blair Downs Email & Phone Number

Covington, Virginia, United States

• Responsibilities: Responsible for managing and leading both quality and continuous improvement aspects for the plant including, but not limited to quality inspection and control, quality assurance and calibration.
• Reduction in number of annual customer complaints from 17 to 4 within first 3 years. Achieved plant low of only 2 complaints in 2023.
• Launched continuous improvement program at the Covington site which included training of >75% of the employees, supporting and mentoring Green Belt candidates, developing idea generation and tracking system.
• Establishment of 8D process and use of root case analysis (RCA) tools like 5 Why, Fishbone, Human Error, etc.
• Simplification of QMS/EMS systems while reducing the severity and number of external audit findings.
• Development of internal audit, management review, and CAPA processes to improve effectiveness.

Berea, KY

• Responsibilities: Managing 3 direct hourly and 1 non-exempt. Management Representative and maintains both ISO 9001 (QMS) and 14001 (EMS). Manages quality, warranty, and testing objectives for site. Maintains and.
• Supported launch of continuous improvement program (EMLS) at the Berea facility which included facilitating Kaizen events, mentoring and coaching Green Belt candidates, and developing a 3-5 year strategic site plan.
• Supported relocation of brake adjuster process into Berea facility. Lead capability, receiving inspection, warranty, and quality control aspects. Reduced non-value added work in 2 areas by 60-70% within 1 year.
• Lead revamp of quality controls during hubcap relocation to Berea and used SPC data to achieve ~76% reduction in the clutch rebuild frequency.
• Supported project to install an automatic 100% inline gage for CentriFuse in order to achieve acceptable gage R&R results for customer specific drum, as well as improvements in safety, ergonomics, and productivity.
• Supported Rome plant manager in the evaluation and gap analysis of the quality systems in the facility.

Verona, VA

• Responsibilities: Managing 2 direct hourly employees. Management Representative for ISO 13485 and responsible for addressing audit non-conformances. Maintain QMS at the company with particular focus on medical device.
• Training completed in ISO 13485, ISO 14971, and FDA 21 CFR 820.
• Implementation of 8D method for addressing minor non-conformances and internal quality issues.
• Introduced engineers to concepts of MSA and Gage R&R to provide better measurement equipment results.
• Utilization of technical and collaboration skills to investigate, respond, and close out customer concerns.

Longview, TX

• Responsibilities: Managing 5 direct hourly, 2 indirect, 3 non-exempt employees. Management Representative for ISO/TS16949:2009. Maintain QMS at the company and safety within the dept. Handle quality issues from.
• Identified 76 areas of improvement for QA, initiating corrective action on 32% of them within 1st yr.
• Established metric to reduce customer corrective action response time from > 6 mon. to < 3 mon.
• Streamlined receiving inspection activities: 2→1 techs; 24→3 wks for defective product disposition.
• Drove for reduction in calibration checks by 15-20% through removal of non-value added checks.
• Transitioned warehouse audits upstream in the process: quality impact ↑, customer issues ↓.

Longview, TX

• Responsibilities: Kept projects on track for product performance, cost, and milestones. Addressed customer questions & concerns, warranty & field issues, and OEM installation problems. Provided manufacturing and.
• Design engineer & facilitator for project to reduce Voyager seal from 3 pc to 2 pc (Endeavor) Aug ’07 – Sep ‘09. - Annual cost savings for project after completion was ~$750K - 3 potential U.S. patents submitted from.
• Implemented use of statistical tools for testing to obtain effective, accurate, and efficient results.
• Developed new methods for testing and utilized FEA to reduce development cycle time and prototyping.

Greenville, SC

• North American Industrialization Leader for PAX (60% time): Industrialized and qualified process for the PAX extended mobility tire (new product) at Columbia, SC production plant. Liaison and Manufacturing.
• Instrumental in leading efforts to reduce internal PAX scrap at plant from 30% to 5% in ~ 3 months.
• Project lead to develop and qualify development shop machine that cost less than production equivalent.

Greenville, SC

• Responsibilities: Utilized design tools and experience to obtain robust, high quality tires for OEMs. Converted customer parameters for a specific vehicle into a manufacturable product. Addressed manufacturing.
• Selected as first design engineer to establish new OGEP Usine role at Ardmore, OK facility.
• Initiated Kaizen efforts to correct 52 modes of failure in concept to industrialization design process.
• Designed OE fitments for GMC Envoy / Oldsmobile Bravada and GM Utility truck.
• Selected as design engineer to facilitate transfer of BMW X5 OE fitment from Europe to Canada.
• Selected as key user for parametric CAD software based on skill and expertise with tool.

Richmond, Virginia, United States

• Key Accomplishments:
• Developed supersonic draw jet nozzle for new manufacturing process through CFD and lab testing.
• Researched recycled PET and hot-stage microscopy for development improvements for Tyvek®.

Masters Of Engineering, Engineering Management

Bachelor'S Of Science, Aerospace And Ocean Engineering