David W. Smith, Operations Management Email & Phone Number

DWS Enterprises encompasses 3 distinct operations, all of which are focused in creating the finest in custom woodworking products. From small urns and vessels, to custom crafted or restored furniture and cabinetry solutions, to full renovation and general contracting services, quality and customer satisfaction are always the primary objective. Launched as an endeavor to continue an aging mentor's work in the industry, I took on the role of continuing his efforts to supply the local community with custom cremation urns. Despite no prior experience in self employment beyond consulting and contracting in my career industry, I found great satisfaction in creating products and providing services to my friends and neighbors, struggling with a recent or upcoming loss. From these efforts, and the demonstrated quality of the products produced, I was asked to create other custom woodworking solutions to a wide range of needs. As needs and opportunities broadened, I found my prior business acumen and manufacturing experience invaluable to aspects of each project, whether it be value stream mapping the production process of urn manufacturing, supply chain assurance of rare-species wood sources, contract negotiation and estimate preparation and finally, follow-up efforts to ensure customer satisfaction after delivery or installation. Self employment has certainly been an experience. Never have I had to wear so many hats simultaneously, never been so proud of work accomplished and yet so humbled to be able to serve my community, and still anxious, in every sense of the word, for what opportunity lies ahead.

Us

I am an effective operations leader with a proven history of helping companies achieve success toward today’s goals, and driving improvement to achieve higher ones tomorrow. For this, three critical areas have to be focused on continuously – performance, people and culture. By putting attention in these areas, improvement in P&L performance is affected as well as realization of the desired cost savings to fund a successful continuous improvement program. When coupled with strong R&D collaboration that includes effective DFMA&T, these operational improvements can be sustained.I utilize an engineering background to apply a logic-based approach and the critical thinking skills I have developed in my career. I leverage a strong, structured problem-solving capability to identify the true root cause of issues and waste sources, then utilize Lean methodologies to affect their resolution. I can support your company as a consultant, contractor or permanent team member to help you achieve your company's next level of performance. Areas of Expertise:Lean Enterprise ManagementVisual Management & SQDCProblem Analysis & ResolutionDMAIC / A3 / KT / RCCMProcurement & Inventory OptimizationSupplier & Customer Relationship ManagementNew Production IntroductionDesign for Manufacturability, Assembly & Testability

Richmond, Texas, Us

Hired to expand Velentium's current non-implantable medical device manufacturing capabilities and initiated efforts to develop implantable medical device production capability.. This included stabilizing the facility, establishing all manufacturing systems for material, performance and financial management, and building an appropriate metric-driven platform to manage all production needs from demand planning to on-time delivery.• Replaced spreadsheet-based material management system through integration of Oracle’s NetSuite MRP module to coordinate material and financial management with Velentium’s prior implementation of that system to manage the company’s personnel and accounting needs. That system’s implementation automated material traceability; a critical requirement for medical device manufacturing. • Completed $100K+ renovation to bring environmental controls within quality system requirements and ensure industry regulatory expectations. The renovation included ISO-7 certification of approx. 600 sq. ft. of cleanroom space, complete HVAC system reconfiguration of 10000 sq. ft. of production space, relocation of the manufacturing engineering department recovering over 400 sq. ft. of prime production space.• Worked with R&D to include assessments for manufacturability and testability requirements of new designs to better ensure targeted CoGS and reduce need for post-regulatory approval revisions.• Took on Program Management role for manufacturing projects, interfacing with manufacturing clients, ensuring timely product deliveries and accurate invoicing in accordance with approved project contracts.

Los Angeles, California, Us

Following reorganization of LivaNova's Operations organization, a number of industry contacts requested training and assistance in establishing an Operational Excellence program, combining identification and implementation of appropriate metrics to drive a continuous improvement program and establish a LEAN manufacturing capability to realize those improvements. Once the Covid pandemic took hold of the U.S. in late 2019, consulting requests migrated to how to maintain manufacturing capabilities/capacity remotely. As the challenges of the pandemic continued, additional requests for supply chain support flooded in. As availability of raw material became completely compromised, starving many customers suffered significant revenue loss. Unfortunately, under these conditions, much of the consulting opportunity dried up,

London, Gb

Prepared all LivaNova sites for consolidation and centralization of global shipping and distribution and optimization of production space utilization, through consistent implementation of Lean methodologies. Served as Operations representative in M&A diligence efforts supporting LivaNova’s Business Development organization.• Developed strategy for centralizing North American shipping and distribution for all LivaNova products targeting reduction in overall warehousing, transfer, shipping and distribution costs by 30% over initial 3 years.• Coordinated initial design and construction efforts for deployment of internal sterilization process for all LivaNova products at Arvada CO site, producing annual cost reduction of >$1MM.• Created positive business case supporting both construction and relocation of North American commercial headquarters as well as Operations expansion at current site in effort to eliminate both immediate and long-term capacity limitations.

London, Gb

In this P&L accountable role, provided executive-level leadership, establishing and trending safety, quality, delivery and cost goals for 100+ staff across all areas of Operations. Drove consistent functional and financial improvement in all operational areas. Stabilized post-merger uncertainty by unifying Operations with common performance objectives, establishing a theme of continuous improvement, and growing a culture of fiscal responsibility, team development, discipline and accountability.• Realized greater than $9MM of integration improvements and annually-recurrent cost reductions. Exceeded objectives by >$500K through aggressive restructuring, lean implementation, procurement/inventory initiatives, and delivering achievement 6 months earlier than anticipated. • Boosted inventory turns by 400% with supplier inventory management and logistics, allowing for overall decrease in inventory valuation of $700K and lowering warehousing footprint of 30%.• Decreased direct material costs by over $3MM per year and improved multi-year, mutually-beneficial supplier agreements through assertive supplier contract negotiations with focus on critical pricing and delivery constraints. • Spearheaded US and OUS Neuromodulation production and distribution site closures and consolidation, lowering $2.9MM in Neuromodulation operating costs.• Led “Houston-specific” efforts for LivaNova’s divestiture of Cardiac Rhythm Management franchise, aiding in arrest of annual corporate loss of over 7%.• Decreased >$250K in annual building expenses through re-negotiating or terminating multiple utility and service contracts.

London, Gb

Managed Manufacturing Engineering staff of 35+ process development, sustaining engineering and test development professionals driving yield improvement, scrap reduction, and efficiency increases; in addition to ensuring consistent product availability and disaster recovery preparedness.• Represented Cyberonics’ Operations organization, post-merger, in development of global operations’ performance improvement plan delivering $80MM in combined strategic cost improvements by EO2018.• Reduced global manufacturing footprint through analyzing shared manufacturing strengths and consolidating manufacturing capabilities for greatest cost performance without compromising to product availability or site-level disaster recovery during post-merger efforts.• Demonstrated benefits of DFM&T through managing transfer and launch activities of “ground breaking” closed-loop feedback technology.• Ensured disaster recovery capabilities for manufacturing and distribution as well as increased overall production capacity by 30%, through development of OUS manufacturing site, which included facility design and construction, equipment installation, process transfer, validation and regulatory approval for all Neuromodulation products.• Identified replacement component supplier and recovered production capability initiated by unexpected end-of-life condition for key component of key product line (~30% product model mix). Analyzed near 100% failure rate indicated during long-term reliability testing and re-engineered solution for restoring production capability prior to material consumption.

London, Gb

Directed all facets of manufacturing and engineering for Cyberonics’ circuit board assembly and test areas. Led small staff of direct and indirect personnel. Delivered substantial capacity increase in production output with improved yield. • Developed improved “universal” testing platform, supporting all planned and legacy Cyberonics’ products, lowering overall test cost per unit with 63% decrease of total test time and 50% footprint reduction.• Engineered 50% reduction in reliability screening process time through deployment of updated equipment and optimized fixturing, while leveraging added programming flexibility, resulting in elimination of long-term HSE issues.• Achieved yield improvement of 67% and capacity increase of 130% as result of $1.9MM recapitalization of SMT facility, replacing obsolete equipment and implementing fully automated inspection that allowed line operation utilizing single operator. • Prepared for expected 5X increase in generator and lead sales, demonstrated expansion capability to quickly ramp production output in all responsible areas by 400% in under 6 months, utilizing increased SMT capacity and improved testing and screening capabilities, with less than 30% increase in direct labor. Additionally, developed business case for utilizing this capacity for revenue generation.

London, Gb

In this initial role with Cyberonics, developed a new-age testing system to facilitate the planned production expansion. This system sustains to this day, to support Cyberonics' (aka. Livanova) product line to address continued growth in the far east and the emerging world.