Eric Ball Email & Phone Number

Austin, TX, US

Kent, WA, US

Austin, Texas, US

• Accountable for Tesla’s software product strategy in manufacturing, including founding the world's most advanced automotive factory in Austin, TX producing 5000+ Cybertrucks and Model Ys per week.
• Led comprehensive software product roadmap definition across all manufacturing functions including materials, quality, planning, process, machine vision, and data.
• Designed and launched four new software products from 0 to 1: HMI software, factory digital twin, drone based scanning and mobile data analysis applications.
• Directed changes integral to launching Tesla's factories. Increased station throughput, increased warehouse high-bay scanning speeds, eliminated dock-door hand scanning and implemented rule-based recipe definitions.
• Coordinated with software engineering teams on technical design requirements, integration patterns and related real-world tradeoffs.
• Participated in all aspects of SDLC: requirements gathering, user story generation, backlog grooming, sprint planning, development, QA, release and support.

Benton Harbor, Michigan, US

• IT MANUFACTURING LEADERSHIP -- Led Whirlpool's IT Manufacturing function and manufacturing execution system (MES):
• Supported operations and modernization of 14 factories in the US and Mexico with a $40M budget, saved millions of dollars annually through material optimization, quality and downtime data collection.
• Accountable for program leadership, software development, change management, datacenter and network infrastructure, controls engineering. Technologies included Ignition, Sepasoft, Kepware, OSI PI, MSSQL, C#, Nutanix.
• Built software that supported the production of Powered Air Purification Respirators for healthcare workers during Covid-19.
• Coordinated project activities across multiple simultaneous site deployments.
• Directed the work of 50+ resources, including ten direct reports across IT and manufacturing.

Benton Harbor, Michigan, US

• OFFICE OF THE CIO -- Expat assignment, reporting directly to CIO:
• Managed the region wide program management office (PMO), including project portfolio management and road-mapping.
• Managed overall IT OpEx/CapEx budget (€100M) for EMEA including forecasting, supplier performance management and communications.
• Defined PMO processes and directed functional PMO resources.CONTRACT NEGOTIATION AND SOURCING:
• Renegotiated and re-planned region wide SAP integration activities, saving over €10M.
• Sourced region wide ERP application services, saving €1M annually.

Benton Harbor, Michigan, US

• IT CATEGORY MANAGEMENT -- Executed sourcing strategies to enable new business and reduce cost:
• Managed end-to-end requirements gathering and RFx for a global re-platform of Whirlpool's eCommerce environment. Negotiated and delivered all relevant contracts, including two global technology platforms, SAP hybris.
• Delivered fifteen software and service contracts for Whirlpool's upgrade to SAP HANA and led multiple sourcing activities simultaneously. Included the selection of Whirlpool's final delivery partner.
• Delivered contracts key to the deployment of SAP at Whirlpool's recent acquisitions, and supported Whirlpool Enterprise and HR portal deployments globally.
• Delivered time sensitive projects which consolidated vendors both in SAP application support and contact center solutions, saving tens of millions of dollars over term.
• Led other sourcing managers and analysts.PROCESS IMPROVEMENT -- Led procurement process improvement using Six Sigma methodologies:

Midland, Michigan, US

• CONTRACT MANAGEMENT:
• Managed over eighty telecom contracts including: internet, legacy and wireless telephony, cabling, satellite, radio and more. Responsible for renewing contracts, negotiation, signing new agreements and advising IT.
• Identified global opportunities to optimize pricing, capacity, and technology in Dow’s telephony landscape.
• Reviewed existing contracts and spend data to prioritize and target specific vendors and services.
• Responsible for North American sourcing strategy and executionPROJECT SOURCING:
• Created proposals for sourcing strategy company-wide and execute those strategies through client collaboration and Dow’s integrated procurement process.

Midland, Michigan, US

• SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT:
• Developed VBA, Oracle SQL and ASPX reporting tools for time record tracking and maintained documentation.
• Supported applications including Cisco Request Center, Tivoli Identity Manager and Niku.
• Automated role change requests from partner teams, updated roles and security access for GRC and legacy SAP systems.
• Led design and development of collaboration tools in SharePoint 2010, supporting 10,000 users in North America and Latin America.ENTERPRISE ARCHITECTURE -- Worked with IT System Architects to evaluate new technology.
• Satellite systems for WAN connectivity in disaster situations

Bachelor Of Engineering (B.E.), Computer Engineering

Computer Engineering