Forrest Edwards Email & Phone Number

Kitchener, ON, CA

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Responsible for capital budgeting (10-20M), planning and execution for legacy DC network.
• Conducts hiring, performance management and succession planning for Material Handling Engineering team.

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Supports the Distribution Pyramid with timely and effective technical field support
• Oversees escalation management practices to minimize equipment downtime affecting DC functionality
• Oversees the Material Handling Assessment Program to measure and report on the status of material handling system maintenance practices.
• Oversees technical training programs for field based engineers.
• Ensures effective recruiting for field based engineering talent across the network.

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Lead team of engineers to successfully scope and implement automation life cycle efforts at Target's 25 distribution centers. Work closely with broader team to ensure that all external and internal partners are meeting.
• Hire, manage and develop Controls Engineers and Project Leads for distribution automation lifecycle efforts.
• Establish team focus areas and long term strategic vision.
• Responsible for planning and implementation of 10-20 automation lifecycle projects annually.
• Oversee corresponding managed services spend required to support installation and configuration of IT infrastructure.
• Develop and negotiate terms of enterprise automation vendor support agreements.

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Responsible for material handling network design and installation. Collaborate closely with E&F, TTS, Distribution and vendor partners to plan, design, and implement material handling networks that support new and.
• Oversight of design and standards for all existing and future industrial Ethernet networks.
• Responsible for annual planning and implementation of new network installations for lifecycle management projects.
• Ensures remote access for contracted support vendors is maintained at the correct level for mission critical equipment.
• Works with controls engineers and IT network engineers to understand functional requirements of automation designs.

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Responsible for conveyor controls and all related upgrades and support. Maintains subject matter expertise on current install base and responsible for developing 5 year roadmap for distribution conveyor controls systems.
• Develops long term plan and obtains funding for automation controls lifecycle projects.
• Identifies and coordinates evaluation of new conveyor controls vendors.
• Provides 4th level support for all PC and PLC based conveyor controls systems.
• Maintains and oversees additions and changes to standard PLC AOI’s, Faceplates, and HMI Templates.
• Supports all existing pick to light systems hardware, related QNX controllers and provides subject matter expertise to WMS support team.

Minneapolis, MN, US

• Responsible for the coordination of ongoing and emergency maintenance of electrical, electronic and automation equipment within the T555 and T588 regional distribution centers.
• Hires, trains and coaches maintenance personnel.
• Integrates new technology into existing material handling systems.
• Drives root cause analysis of system failures.
• Ensures electrical, electronic and control systems are maintained properly.
• Provides on-call support of home facility and other buildings as needed.

B.S., Aeronautical Engineering

Robotics Nano Degree, Ros, Kinematics, Computer Vision, Opencv, Python