Chris Gross Email & Phone Number

California, United States

San Rafael, US

Lithos Energy designs and builds advanced lithium-ion battery packs from the ground up for use in high-performance automotive, marine and aerospace applications. We build the things we design and manufacture in-house, in California. We are a growing team of experienced engineers and pride ourselves in our ability to deliver reliable, high quality and safe.

Alameda, CA, US

Manhattan Beach, California, US

At The Happy Labs, health & happiness are at the core of our product development. We prioritize the natural healing properties of plant substances, including CBD. These natural plant compounds stimulate and empower our bodies to provide relief from mental and physical stress, leading to happier and healthier lives. LIVE LIFE HAPPY!

Los Gatos, California, US

Hawthorne, California, US

San Francisco, California, US

Launched multiple products with over 1M unit capacity per month operations. Owned product launch cycle from EVT & DVT through PVT. Managed teams responsible for qualifying and scaling suppliers and contract manufacturers in Asia, plus all program and production schedules during launch.

Austin, Texas, US

Head of Vehicle Assembly, responsible for converting the shell of a painted car into a completed vehicle and delivering it to the logistics team. Managed Production, End of Line Test and Rectification, Factory Maintenance, Manufacturing Engineering, Firmware Engineering and New Product Introduction. Mentored and developed Managers, Associate Managers.

Austin, Texas, US

Managed Battery Assembly and Drive Unit production. Started up Tesla powertrain operations for Model S while managing 8 manufacturing lines and building a team of 270 operators. Managed and developed material buyers and planners through daily shortage meetings and transitioned from prototype suppliers to production suppliers for the Battery Assembly team.∞.

Austin, Texas, US

Responsible for transitioning powertrain programs from pilot build to high volume manufacturing, including the release of the Bill of Materials, validating specifications, defining the manufacturing process flow and qualifying the line. Defined the schedule and reported progress to senior management, developed capacity models, determined staffing plan.

San Jose, CA, US

• Designed, sourced and ramped a new solar cell manufacturing factory in the state of Mississippi in 18 months. Assumed P&L accountability in the management of $5M operating budget. Incorporated an outsourced.
• Effectively managed operations budget delivering results below targeted projections. Achieved executive buy off on product cost model and master plan for staffing and production ramp-up, while strategically sourcing.
• Implemented hardware/software for the Factory Information System & Manufacturing Execution System under budget & on time. System efficiently tracked equipment status, process parameters, engineering and test data; as.
• Successfully shipped first solar cells from the factory on schedule to contract manufacturer.
• Managed Chinese Solar Panel contract manufacturers' operations schedule and executed timely delivery to 3rd party certification testing site and rural India customer site location.

• Achieved progressive career track which included involvement in both strategic planning and tactical execution. Instrumental to the conception, validation and creation of business operations. Oversaw end- to-end.
• Ramped factory from Concept & Feasibility to 30MW. Delivering seamless continuity, aligned operations, and timely production during period of significant growth.
• Within 1 year daily solar panel production grew from 5 to 1000, along with solar cell manufacturing which scaled from 4000 to 600,000 per week.
• Managed MES implementation and factory data collection.
• Led Lean improvement projects that reduced product cycle time by 25% and increased yield from below 50% to 94% by simplifying operations and incorporating up-stream process controls.

• Designed and installed new solar panel manufacturing factory in Santa Clara, CA. Executed space planning and layout for new factory operations. Constructed capacity model, production ramp plan and master schedule..
• Effectively led project initiative to create factory layout which would support 120MW of production. Set up Kanban system to achieve Just-in-time (JIT) production and embedded elements of Kaizen philosophy to drive.
• Project managed New Equipment Introductions for back end solar panel manufacturing equipment. This included resource allocations, managing ECO releases of new drawings, vendor design reviews, factory layout updates.

• Oversaw 24/7 manufacturing operations and guided a 42 person team. Established key performance indicators, operating goals, productivity improvements and cost-reductions. Implemented data collection and reporting.
• Established Manufacturing data collection and reporting: included throughput, yield and defect Pareto
• Ran daily production meetings and weekly operations reviews with Senior Management
• Drove cell manufacturing yield from 17% to 93% though weekly yield meetings with engineering team to uncover root cause and prioritize workflow.

Santa Clara, CA, US

• Drove the analytical work streams of short and long term strategic plans in management of new product industrial/mechanical engineering deliverables. Supported the development of new business and system processes.
• Implemented business process to resolve shipping damages, triggered a substantial reduction in damages, reporting 0% for all new thin film products over a two year period.
• Recognized as "Employee of the Quarter" for outstanding contributions to overall business operations. Implemented process which reduced product cycle time, inventory and product costs.

Mba

Engineering, Industrial Engineering & Operations Research