Provided Operations leadership for new Ford Explorer (U625/611) door panel launch, Holland Southview Plant. New launch needing improvements in throughput and scrap. Extensive emphasis on line balance on palletized assembly line. Coaching supervisors in being effective to achieve daily improvements in throughput. Daily Scrap review / action focused on top pareto items in vac wrap and assembly areas.Continuous Improvement leadership in Grand Rapids plant.

Core ResponsibilitiesProvide leadership to plant management team, responsible for financial P & L. Continuous improvement of all operational Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s). Operational leadership in growing sales from $43M in 2018 to $110M in 2020. Key Accomplishments• Strong KPI improvement through disciplined use of daily Focus Room and monthly review. Improvement over the last 4 years: TIR – 55%, TPPM – 91%, PPLH – 56%, DOH – 14%. • Closed / consolidated GR Leon Plant. Improved Safety, Quality, Labor and Scrap during last 3 months of ops. Moved 14 machines, 145 tools; Mexico (9-20) / Holland (5-125).• Implemented pouring foam buns (vertical integration) for Polybond headliner substrates. Reduced scrap by 65% during launch. • Upgraded equipment for better process control and increased automation to reduce DL cost. • Lead bi-weekly Project and Six Sigma reviews on major projects for timely execution.• Successful sale and carve-out of headliner and visor business from JCI.• Managed timing for successful implementation of new PLEX MRP system.

Johnson Controls, Headliner Operations; Provide leadership to production teams and functional support for our Headliner process and Overhead System assembly facilities (initially ~ 800 employees, currently ~ 200 employees). Manage and improve operational key metrics working with all functional groups. Key AccomplishmentsProduce 1.4 million headliners annually supplying Ford, GM, Chrysler, Mercedes, Toyota, and Mitsubishi (over 4 million at high point). Successfully integrated 4 headliner facilities under one management team. Led 3 production managers. Focused on key measure improvement (safety, labor efficiency, delivery, scrap, quality).Part of leadership team that improved Maplewood business metrics (scrap, quality, profitability) enough to change JCI leadership opinion on whether or not we should be in the headliner business. Outlook planning focusing on equipment capacity and staffing.Manage staffing requirements with Production Supervisors and operational expenses.Effective in downsizing salary and hourly team and utilizing existing team to match shrinking sales.Led Manufacturing Engineers for a period while Maplewood operated without a Tech Manager. Managed purchase burden spending against budget for plant. Day to day repairs, equipment improvements. Provided structure for cross functional team by instituting regular “Key Measure Reviews” to monitor and address actions associated with attaining or exceeding key measure goals. Cross functional team owns actions and progress.Reduced headliner process scrap 38% by utilizing 6 Sigma and Kepner-Tregoe problem solving tools to reduce variation and improve our process as well as supplier’s process. Improved safety SIR rating by 33%, No lost time cases. Introduced SafeStart program to replace the STOP program. Hold timely reviews of all injuries and near misses. Effective use of Lean principles allowed reduction of; inventory, floor space, and material handling.

Johnson Controls, Battle Creek, MI Core ResponsibilitiesProvide leadership for all functional areas including managing the production team for Mercedes Door Panels (~ 200 union employees) as product ended production run and plant prepared to shutdown.Key AccomplishmentsMaintained positive attitudes with employees through difficult news of temporary plant shut down through open and honest communication.Held operations key metrics solid, improved in some, through a difficult time in the plants history (Safety – improved 39%, Quality – maintained, Scrap – maintained, Delivery – 0 missed shipments, Efficiency – improved 5%).Led plant team to win Manufacturing Excellence award for 5S and Problem Solving.Instituted weekly 8D review meetings dealing with top quality issues to increase focus.Worked with Michigan Works and the Unemployment agency to provide employees with knowledge on their benefits through the state when plant closed.

Manage Continuous Improvement / Value Analysis Coordinators for 14 Johnson Controls Interiors Plants. Promote consistency between plants in continuous improvement.Key AccomplishmentsExceeded Interiors Cost Reduction Goal both in Fiscal Years ‘02 and ’03.6 Sigma Greenbelt program was implemented to utilize the DMAIC process to maximize and sustain cost savings / quality improvements. Participated in kaizen workshops across all Interiors plants / facilitated improvement of high visibility plants and programs.Developed JCI Visual Management standards and coordinated implementation for the 14 Interiors plants.Organized and presented group communication meetings and summits for Interiors Continuous Improvement organization.

Provide leadership to the production team for Mercedes Door Panels. Develop the team of supervisors. Work with the managers of the functional areas to improve the business objectives.Key AccomplishmentsHeld several Kaizen workshops to reduce the size of our workforce (40+ people) through improvements to product flow and line balance (14% improvement in labor efficiency).Decreased scrap rate through cultural, process and equipment improvements. Instituted daily scrap reviews with all functional areas. (39% improvement)Placed Emphasis on Safety. Initiated the DuPont STOP Program. Instituted job rotations to combat incident rates for CTD issues. Reduced recordable injuries by 78%.Utilized initiatives to improve our quality (NOAC, “3 in a row, 5 in 15”, 6 sigma projects). Acting Plant Manager for 8 weeks during Plant Manager’s leave of absence.Enforcement and monitoring of all major facility operating systems; QS, ISO, TPM, TPS, Kaizen, TQM and SPC.

Manage and provide leadership to a cross-functional launch team that included Quality Eng., Manufacturing Eng., Product Eng., Validation Eng. and Tooling Eng. Was front line contact to customer after program was awarded to Johnson Controls.Key AccomplishmentsFrontline customer interface for several programs and maintained good customer relationships throughout.Pontiac Aztek Program – Managed Door Panel, Floor Console and Garnish Trim Teams. Johnson Controls first interior in Mexico.Improved EBIT by more than 32% from business award to Start of Production. Spent 12 weeks in Saltillo, Mexico at Start of Production to ensure a successful launch between Duroplast, JCI and GM. Assumed responsibility mid launch for 2 Overhead System programs that were in crisis mode, brought them both to successful (0-100-30) on time launches.

Managed product-engineering success for sunvisor programs from sold business to production. Role required coordination of drawing releases, tooling build, and validation of product. Key Accomplishments Received 3 United States Patents for innovation in sun protection.Member of team that developed the 1st sliding visor for Prince / Johnson Controls.Managed the development of a new snap in visor attachment feature for Ford and GM.Product Engineering representative for a separate business group dedicated to lower cost methods of producing sunvisors.