Eric Kurtz Email & Phone Number

White City, Oregon, United States

White City, Oregon, United States

Greater Milwaukee Area

Greater Milwaukee Area

Greater Milwaukee Area

Product development, market research, strategic positioning, life cycle management, and marketing program support of all hardwood, surface preparation and resilient flooring installation systems.

Product development and life cycle management of all architectural resin product lines (botanicals, fabrics, metals, etc. encapsulated in panels of clear acrylic and PETG).Decisive product positioning to win 15% market share over primary competitor in 2009-2010, grow sales by 25% in 2011 and 31% YTD (3/16/12) in 2012.Stage Gate management of product development projects.EVA, ROI, profitability analysis, pricing, budgeting, forecasting, and sales reports resulting in clear alignment of business objectives to maximize profitability.Managed maintenance crew of 2, focusing on PM for all equipment, reduced equipment downtime, manufacturing improvement, capital equipment design, analysis, & layout.Managed all engineering activities, hiring 1 mechanical engineer direct report.Customer design validation.Product design & manufacturability.Improved technical resources reducing customer technical calls by 30%.Managed Samples Department of 5 employeesReduced sample fulfullment floorspace requirements by 67%. Increased overall labor efficiency of samples group by 35% using lean six sigma principles.Conducted sales training on new products, sales tools, and technical documents.Coordinated internal product testing and audits for compliance to standards organizations1 design patent, 2 pending.Built and maintained product & technical documents pages on the web site.Pricing and program development for aircraft wallcovering products.

Responsible for all seating, freestanding desks and tables, files and storage, and room divider product categories. Sales & marketing programs; concept - training & launch - impact analysis.Stage Gate product development, budgeting, and capital authorizations.Driven growth in seating by an average 26% annually, high end desks by 13.1%, and filing by 12.7% since 2005 above industry average growth of 6-8% over the same period.80/20 Focus – reduced seating SKU’s by 80% while maintaining growth curve in overall category, reduced desking line by 55% while reversing decline.EVA, ROI, profitability analysis, pricing, budgeting and forecasting.Dealer and end user research and relationship building.Market segmentation, competitive research, SWOT and gap analysis.

Project Management (led 6 projects):HON Co. Mobius Chair, Series 4700; led development team working with external designers from concept through tooling on time & under budget.Enhanced Chair Control; led design & development team and students in a joint project with University of Iowa.Maxon TL2 Data Center Tile; led dev. team, on time (6 month) & under budget.Modular Data Communication; led concept & development phase.Ergonomic Armrest; led engineering design phase for multiple product lines.Home Office Product Line; led design effort, interfacing with marketing VP. Coordinated Ergonomics Lab; planned & implemented research, testing, equipment, & programs.Patents awarded – 4 utility and 5 design.Presented to CEO, Board of Directors, Marketing, Engineering, & Industrial Design.Presented & represented HON in panel discussion of the Iowa Plastics Consortium.Designed & analyzed complex components and assemblies with Pro/Engineer.Coordinated multiple joint ventures with University of Iowa (PEDE, FIRST, 2 proprietary research projects) and supervised students and technical staff.

Mba, Organizational Change

Bsme, Mechanical Engineering