Daniel M. Buckner Email & Phone Number

Baxter, TN, US

Charlotte, NC, US

Detroit, US

• Developed, implemented, and improved manufacturing processes and equipment. Created and maintained layouts, process flows, PFMEAs, and operator instructions. Leveraged TRIZ design methods to identify product changes.
• Developed, launched, and maintained site’s first production line with automated assembly.
• Experienced in application of robotics (6-axis, SCARA, cartesian), automated screwdriving and greasing, heat staking and inserts, plastics welding (hot plate, ultrasonic, vibration, spin), machine vision inspection.
• Created a PFMEA approach which has been benchmarked by VW, GM, and FCA as a supplier best-practice. Championed and implemented an electronic APQP document management system. Trained and coached colleagues in its use.
• Contributed key elements of a new global procedure to evaluate and track product manufacturability from initial quotation into production. Employed this procedure to leverage design changes necessary to ensure.
• Standardized assembly quotation methods and employed statistical analysis of task labor requirements, improving error margin of initial quote labor costs to less than 10%.

Columbus, Indiana, US

• Led existing product development teams in resolution of critical technical issues across various product lines, ensuring successful APQP and on-time release. Directed warranty, engineering, and operations teams in.
• Played a pivotal, high stakes leadership role in identifying a time-sensitive solution for a critical safety issue in the company’s new multi-million-dollar flagship product. Co-directed a team of engineers, suppliers.
• Developed a new dimensional variation analysis which accounted for 2D movement and utilized the analysis in the development and validation of a stiffening plate which prevented over $1M dollars in warranty claims from.
• Led global cross-functional team to evaluate unexplained structural cracks in returned composite material products. Coordinated implementation and validation of mold tooling changes, improving part strength and.

Columbus, Indiana, US

• Identified and led business-critical projects requiring unique analyses or having significant business impact. Delivered Six Sigma training and coached project teams in the application and interpretation of Six Sigma.
• Established new test method for evaluating end-of-life product performance that was more accurate than industry standard SAE, ASTM, or ISO methods and allowed company to seize millions of dollars in new sales.
• Created and piloted a process that addressed a systematic design issue affecting thousands of prints and APQP documents and kept it from recurring, thereby reducing unnecessary part inspections, reducing cost for.

Columbus, Indiana, US

• Led development and implementation of products with data-driven decisions which ensured that critical requirements were met. Championed product improvements via cost reduction and failure mode analysis. Developed and.
• Integrated a newly-patented product interface into a developing product design within a one-week field test deadline by leveraging new prototyping technologies, capitalizing on millions of dollars in emerging sales.
• Constructed a new product architecture consisting of existing parts from unrelated product lines, bringing the concept to market in five months, less than half the typical one-year development timeline.
• Developed a repeatable standard process for field return testing and applied it for the largest potential new customer in the market, opening a multi-million-dollar sales relationship.

Columbus, Indiana, US

• Led global cross-functional teams in APQP development of products from concept to launch. Led technical and commercial discussions with global suppliers, operations, and customers.
• Proved statistically that an interface used on several designs in the new product line would not meet specification. Implemented cost reductions that allowed for the purchase of new equipment, ensuring that the product.
• Coordinated raw material vendors, component suppliers, and technical experts in the development of a new material for use in translucent fluid reservoirs within a six-month window after original material was obsoleted.

Columbus, Indiana, US

• Designed, implemented, and improved processes and equipment. Created and maintained APQP documents such as FMEAs and process flows, as well as operator and audit instructions.
• Instituted Cookeville’s first just-in-time Kanban material handling system on a critical production line, reducing on-floor inventory by 80% and changeover time by 50%.
• Adapted off-the-shelf materials so that they could replace proprietary components in chronically malfunctioning electrostatic paint application equipment, reducing scrap and cycle time while minimizing repair cost.

Auburn Hills, MI, US

• Coordinated performance testing and designed test equipment. Analyzed measurement system performance. Led product capability studies and investigations of quality issues.
• Utilized non-publicized software features in custom data logger programming, which reduced measurement data processing by five hours per week and reduced the potential for errors.
• Designed and executed an investigation plan which identified the source of a long-standing consumer noise complaint to be an interaction between mating components from a specific combination of plastic mold cavities.