Dan Acker Email & Phone Number

Lexington, Kentucky, United States

Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States

- Guide a dynamic and multi-disciplined team of 5 software developers and technical professionals in developing software,data analytics, and project management solutions.- Develop, improve, and manage critical dealer applications and tools including websites, telematics, and diagnostics tools.- Champion the use of telematics data for creating value.

Trenton, Georgia, United States

• Accountable for the performance of 17 employees (10 NPI Engineers, 6 Engineering Techs, and 1 Buyer) focused on developing, validating, and delivering production processes for medical components and assemblies to meet.
• Manage the engineering team to support company and department strategic objectives, track and communicate the status of 12 concurrent projects, resolve issues, and manage cost and schedule.
• Program Manager for 1 large product development project(s) including leading the team through DCT, IQ, OQ, PQ, and PPQ builds.
• Supports manufacturing development engineering function as it relates to product development activities.
• Oversee the New Product Introduction (NPI) lab layout, equipment, and utilization to provide the team with the tools necessary to release products efficiently and at the best quality possible.
• Manage CAPEX budget for the department by forecasting equipment requirements to meet customer demand on development projects.

Chattanooga, Tennessee Area

• Mentor 5 Technical Project Leaders responsible for new vehicle development, model year, and running changes of 2 existing vehicles.
• Manage annual OPEX budget of ~$8M by forecasting resource and capital equipment requirements to meet product change requests.
• Establish priorities and distribute tasks to multi-disciplinary direct report engineering staff and matrix-based resources based on priority, workload, and individual skills.
• Lead launch and certification (homologation) for 2 models in multiple export markets.
• Collaborate with Sales to provide technical evaluation of approximately 30 proposals per model year.
• Perform strategic analysis of competitor vehicle content and propose changes to maintain market competitiveness.

• Coordinate development activities regarding all approved model year change points for (3) concurrently rolling vehicle launches (SOPs)
• Ensure print creation, Bill of Materials updates, development timelines, prototype part supply, functional testing and market release are on time and within the budget for new change points
• Align the technical evaluation, approval and implementation of running changes for all Chattanooga produced projects
• Supervise R&D engineering support for Manufacturing, Quality, Purchasing, Sales and Logistics related to improving production, quality and customer satisfaction
• Collaborate with Sales, Purchasing and Manufacturing to provide financial evaluation of proposed changes to create the business cases
• Track and steer legal certification activities for assigned vehicles (EPA, CARB and ECE Agencies)

Columbus, Indiana

• Led 8 managers with a combined team of 42 employees focused on designing, validating, and delivering new turbocharger value packages to meet customers' engine requirements.
• Conceptualize and release engine products for the North American Mid/Heavy duty truck OEM customers by leading the Columbus, IN Integration and Charleston, SC Product Engineering Teams.
• Provide prototype components and testing support to internal and external development teams by leading the Charleston, SC Prototype Shop and Columbus, IN Turbo Laboratory Operations Teams.
• Managed OPEX budget of more than $6M across 4 departments by forecasting resource and capital equipment requirements to meet customer demand.
• Improve team performance by creating specific goal trees for the US Technical Center departments increasing project-related engineering time to over 80% from 70%.
• Drive functional excellence by creating, monitoring, and improving key performance indicators (KPIs) and sharing best practices with the Global Tech Center Organizations.

Columbus, Indiana

• Managed a team of 4 Technical Project Leaders and supporting staff to deliver 6 product platforms across 3 global OEM customers by managing cost, schedule, and resource allocation.
• Determined the scope of future development projects and translated them into formal resource forecasts to provide input into the annual budget.
• Managed $1M+ per program development budget to ensure programs met profitability targets and development cost objectives by controlling prototype, validation testing, and manpower expenses.
• Communicated program and department status to senior management through regular updates.
• Provided technical expertise to development teams to help resolve product durability issues thus reducing specific failure occurrences by 60% over the warrantable life of the products.
• Represented technical functions and coordinated efforts with sourcing, supply chain, and quality teams to address product quality issues with suppliers.

Columbus, Indiana

• Developed 3 platforms concurrently by managing a team of 2 engineers to understand the customer’s requirements then created, validated, and released to production products using a stage-gate process.
• Mitigated warranty and performance risks by leading the development of dFMEA and then modifying the design to mitigate the identified liability.
• Represented technical function and coordinated efforts with sourcing, supply chain, and quality teams to address product quality issues with suppliers.
• Created design solutions within 90 days for product failures identified during internal and customer-led validation tests to increase product reliability before launch.
• Led program and design reviews for senior management and customers to update project progress and highlight risks and mitigation plans.
• Provided turbocharger service engineering support by designing and releasing product service tools, service kits, and procedures for the platforms developed.

Columbus, Indiana

• Led technical engineering support team for EPA 2010 emission product launch by forecasting product reliability, addressing warranty issues, and supporting product recall/campaigns.
• Delivered product-based training sessions for global customer teams to reduce customer downtime resulting from incorrect troubleshooting.
• Led onsite troubleshooting of disabled customer engines by traveling globally to OEM service locations and working with the onsite repair technicians and customer engineering teams.
• Conducted failure analysis by investigating part wear, analyzing engine data, creating fault tree analysis (FTA) diagrams, and conducting cross-functional meetings with area experts.
• Published reports of findings from troubleshooting trips, failure analysis investigations, and call center training sessions.

Charleston, South Carolina

• Ensured that the product (Turbochargers) met design intent in a manufacturing plant-based environment and resolved product design, manufacturing, and quality issues as a technical advisor.
• Devised business continuity plans by performing risk assessments for product non-conformance issues in both manufacturing plant and supplier locations.
• Facilitated product design reviews for new product introductions to ensure compliance with all product testing and manufacturability requirements before launch.
• Led product changes to improve the design for manufacturability (DFM) as well as resolved high warranty concerns by conducting engineering testing and analysis projects.
• Analyzed test and reliability data by using Six Sigma tools such as normality tests, process capability, and 2-sample T-tests in Minitab software.

Huntsville, Alabama Engine Facility

• Resolved complex manufacturing issues while improving quality and reducing cycle time by 15 seconds.
• Reviewed customer complaints and provided temporary and permanent countermeasures.
• Developed and implemented testing strategies in test cells to identify potential product quality concerns.
• Utilized statistical process control along with seeded faults to develop and maintain testing limits.
• Balanced manufacturing processes on the assembly line to eliminate ergonomic and production issues.
• Daily operations leader of 40 to 60 hourly employees and 3 team leaders meeting production, safety, and quality targets during two-shift operations.

Canton, Mississippi

• Installed, modified, and maintained assembly fixtures for multiple vehicle closures.
• Reviewed CMM reports to determine assembly adjustments required to improve part quality.
• Collaborated across engineering departments to resolve vehicle assembly issues.
• Improved dimensional accuracy of vehicle body assemblies to higher than 95% within tolerances.
• Led cross-functional manufacturing teams to solve ergonomic problems.
• Utilized lean principles to improve cycle time and process flow.

Shelbyville, Kentucky

• Utilized the Six Sigma process to solve quality concerns with a minimum of $250k improvement to plant profitability per project.
• Performed failure analysis on machines to resolve durability concerns and improve machine uptime.
• Analyzed manufacturing operations to improve throughput and performance.
• Improved performance and uptime of the compressed air system, wastewater treatment equipment, and overhead lifting devices in the facility.
• Developed capital project plans including specification creation, bidding, and project oversight.

Masters, Operations Management, Gpa: 4.0

Activities and Societies: Beta Gamma Sigma Honor FraternityThe Operations Management (OM) program focuses on the effective management of.

Bachelors, Mechanical Engineering, Gpa: 3.2

Activities and Societies: SAE, Phi Kappa PsiThe Mechanical Engineering program at Georgia Institute of Technology prepares students to be.