Chris Leach Email and Phone Number

Supported discrete manufacturing facilities within Air Products, a leader in the industrial gases industry. Led improvements in sales, procurement, and manufacturing starting with process characterization. Implemented enterprise improvement data analytics and administrative standard work to drive business improvement.

Develop and deliver lean systems training to local businesses through Crowder College Training and Development Solutions.

Internal continuous improvement consultant in a $9B, Fortune 400 company experiencing rapid growth. Drove transformation in transportation using system kaizen, value stream mapping, process and measurement standardization, and data analytics. • Increased HR recruiting throughput by 70%, offer acceptance by 33%, and reduced lead time by 50% after mapping value streams and implementing improvements.• Enabled 20% growth in talent acquisition by customer journey mapping to improve the candidate experience.• Deployed data analytics solutions to reduce risk of fatalities, injuries, and litigation by identifying high-risk drivers.• Standardized IT infrastructure reliability measurements to meet targets set by CIO, reducing error rates by 10% and latency by 20%. • Partnered with consultants to enable growth in less-than-truckload business unit.• Increased project velocity by 80% and doubled certifications while leading lean six sigma deployment.

Led lean six sigma deployment across business units producing power systems for defense, aerospace, and medical applications. Enacted productivity gains that led to plant turnarounds to meet financial targets. Embedded systemic lean improvements in existing facilities, consolidations, and green- and brown-field expansions. Managerial responsibility for 20 manufacturing engineers, including four black belts. Established the first kaizen promotion office to support operations management, quality management, product development, contracts administration, and health and safety.• Sustained annual hard savings averaging 1% of revenues per year. Implemented scrap and productivity tracking at all facilities to validate process improvements.• Maintained incremental margins of 5% on legacy program and 20% on newer program by partnering with prime defense contractors. Led over 30 improvement events with defense, space, and medical customers to embed lean as a strategic supplier.• Doubled manufacturing engineering headcount to drive process improvements across business units.• Doubled the financial benefits per project in manufacturing engineering. Certified the entire group in two years.• Delivered results-focused training programs, evolving with the business. Trained 100 green belts and 600 white belts. Implemented cross-functional project reviews and financial validation to support certifications.

Promoted from leading corporate training to business unit deployment while integrating lean manufacturing with six sigma and change management. Drove continuous improvement program after initial deployment with consultants.• Coached 17 black belts to annual savings of $6M.• Coached DFSS teams to capital cost avoidance of $15M.• Pioneered lean manufacturing by completing first kaizen in company in two months.• Trained 50 executives, 200 green belts, and three waves of black belts. Led green belt training for all business units.