Chris Eckhardt Email & Phone Number

Southfield, MI, US

Ludwigsburg, DE

• Lead the elimination of a 13.5M part backlog to tier 1 & aftermarket customers
• Optimized MRP (SAP) & second sourced materials virtually eliminate production impact during Covid while reduced inventory loss from 6.2 M → 0.85M
• Increased production output from 1.4M → 1.9M p/ week & labor efficiency by 38% by eliminating NVA process, 1st pass rate, PM completion, & installing strategic WIP to mitigate equipment reliability
• Reengaged & motivated a discouraged workforce through transparent communication, weekend OT reduction, performance recognition & trust by working side by side with the team

Ludwigsburg, DE

Auburn Hills, Michigan, US

• Lead the turn around underperforming manufacturing site losing tier 1 business
• Developed a strategic plan to align operations with daily/weekly/monthly KPI’s
• Identified and eliminated waste & loss in numerous operational areas by leading at the gemba including reducing direct headcount by 9%, returning all customer scorecards from red to green, overtime reduction of 68%.

Hanover, DE

• Increased sales 27% by increasing on time in full delivery (82.9%98.3%)
• Reduced scrap 84% by reducing variation through tightened tolerances in mixing and assembly
• Increased add value by developing in house fabrication services & onsite customer support

Saitama City, Saitama, Tokyo, JP

• Recruited by Director of Operations to create and implement a sustainable manufacturing system to achieve daily production requirements and eliminate customer back orders.
• Eliminated over $100k in past due orders in less than 2 months through detailed capacity analysis and a strong focus on increasing capacity without investment through SMED, TPM implementation, & scheduling.
• Identified and eliminated waste and loss in numerous operational areas, including a 21% direct headcount reduction, a 91% reduction in overtime, a 48% reduction in scrap and 8% 1st time pass rate improvement
• Installed a sustainable manufacturing system to achieve TS16949 certification, reduce loss in casting, and increase on time delivery with zero past due deliveries
• Identified and eliminated waste & loss in numerous operational areas:o 21% direct headcount reductiono 91% reduction in overtimeo 48% reduction in scrapo 8% 1st time pass rate improvement

Durham, North Carolina, US

• Lead the production control department which included material planning & scheduling, logistics & offsite warehouses, new model engineering, and a team of 250 associates
• Large project leader of the first simultaneous automatic transmission ramp up & build out at AWNC with less than 0.03% obsolescence and 100% on time customer delivery.
• Directly improved AWNC’s profit by reducing costs by 2.8M within the first 6 months by: o 96% reduction in emergency freight cost o 17% reduction out of stock conditiono 6% reduction in import logistic costo 21%.

• Responsible for all aspects of Keihin North America operations including five manufacturing locations and more than one billion in sales.
• Relocated to lead the largest North American facility move from red to black within six months
• Strong focus in die casting excellence (36 HPDC cells, 32-Al, 4-Mg, 8 GDC cells) which naturally improved machining & Assembly OEE.
• Increased casting technical skill, tightened casting tolerance to reduce variation, implemented advanced technology to identify root causes, daily analysis of defects at each cell.
• Implemented a standardized MRP system across all locations significantly reducing inventory loss (2.1% →0.35%).
• Developed “Sustainable Keihin” incorporating Lean/TPS training, zero waste to landfill at three locations, energy management systems and community service standardization at all locations.

• Provided overall leadership for a tier 1 automotive supplier with annual sales of $380M and nearly 500 FTE.
• Achieved highest score in Honda’s safety, quality, cost, and delivery evaluation out of the top 64 suppliers
• Reduced quality escapes by 77% from 2009 – 2012 (2.3 PPM) and scrap by 90% by creating and empowering cross-functional focus teams that focused on root cause elimination utilizing the PDCA cycle.
• Directed new model development engineering that successfully launched seven major new products in two years with zero delays or defects to the customer while exceeding internal cost and quality targets.
• Provided mentoring, development, and growth plans for all associates to ensure workplace satisfaction & succession planning resulting in the NC-ESC Workplace Satisfaction Survey increasing by 12% from 2008 – 2011
• Promoted exceptional community involvement with participation throughout the organization, logging 1,600 hours of volunteer participation in the first year.

• Lead the manufacturing, training, production control, & continuous improvement departments with 11 direct reports and 235 indirect reports.
• Achieved Honda’s highest quality award by initiating an associate-level quality circle system competing against 50+ suppliers and achieved 100% participation by all associates six consecutive years (2008 – 2013).
• Introduced production improvement teams that aligned the technical, quality, and production departments and achieved a sustained 6% increase in capacity in nine months (above original line rate).
• Celebrated 10 years with 100% on time delivery of mass production and service parts by clarifying responsibilities and implementing visual systems throughout the facility.

• Lead the manufacturing department which included automated and manual assembly lines operating on three shifts with 7 direct reports and 180 indirect reports.
• Initiated and implemented lean manufacturing principles and tools resulting in significant improvements and allowed our acceptance into the NC Association for Manufacturing Excellence and the Honda Lean Network.
• Implemented one-piece flow by combining several stand-alone lines, reducing processing time by 84%, manpower by 25%, and work in process by 80% and led the ISO 9001 & TS 16949 implementation teams.

Ba, Psychology

Education record