Bob Kniss Email & Phone Number

Grand Blanc, Michigan, United States

A contract management and engineering firm providing turnaround, interim operation and engineering management support services to corporations in diverse manufacturing environments. Including, but not limited to:o DeStaCo / Central Research Laboratories – Red Wing, MN & Auburn Hills, MI - General Manager o ABC Group, Undercar Products Group – Grand Rapids, MI - Plant Managero Magna Interiors, Nashville, IL – Engineering Managero Magna Interiors, Spartanburg, SC – Operations Managero Summit Polymers – Nanjing, China - Engineering Managero Revere Plastic Systems – Jeffersonville, IN & Clyde, OH – Engineering and Operations Managero Grupo Antolin – Canton, MI – Industrial Engineeringo Reitter & Schefenacker, GMBH, Schwaikheim, Germany – Engineering Manager, Paint Operationso Andover Industries, Inc., Troy, MI, Andover, OH & Meadville, PA – Paint Engineering Managero Kalfact Plastics, Inc., Greenville, MI – Plant Managero Adac Plastic, Inc., Grand Rapids, MI – Paint Engineer ALL ASSIGNMENTS WERE COMPLETED ON-TIME AND UNDER BUDGET!

Several Locations - 80% Travel

Worked with Navistar management to assist troubled suppliers. Assisting major suppliers whose delivery issues were causing shut downs of the assembly plants. Successful in improving assembly plant uptime.o Michigan Rubber Products, Cadillac, MIo Hawkeye Preferred Tooling Group, Charles City, IAo Goldens Foundry and Machine, Cordele, GA & Columbus, GA

Grand Blanc, Michigan

Founded this full-service supplier of decorated interior and exterior automotive and consumer goods products. Technologies included hydrographics, color fusion, dye diffusion and Class-A - base coat/clear coat paint systems. Responsible for all operations, engineering, quality, sales, accounting, TPS and financial management. Collaborated with automotive coating suppliers in the design, engineering and development of coating systems for OEM’s and Tier 1 suppliers worldwide.

Flint, Mi

(Contract assignment from Chase Bank) Re-engineered overextended steel fabrication and conveyor systems manufacturing company faced with losing financial backing. Delivered organizational development & lean operational strategies of two fabricating plants, 40-man engineering department, and 12+ field operations, nationally, comprised of 2,500 employees. Worked with several skilled trades unions. Sales of over $150 million per year. Reversed a $30 million financial deficit and became debt free with sub-contractors and A/P current. $150+M P&L responsibility.

Anderson, Sc & Auburn Hills, Mi

Recruited to manage joint venture between American (Becker Group) and French (Plastic Omnium) Tier One automotive suppliers to revitalize lackluster plastic molding and Class-A painting operations. Repositioned company for long-term growth and profitability. Started a second plant in order to sequence assembles to BMW. Managed 400 employees with sales of over $150 million per year. Also, spent time in France and Mexico working with the R&D group of Plastic Omnium SA. Lead team that instituted TPS and lean practices. $150+M P&L responsibility.

Flint, Mi

Manufacturer of plastic lawn & garden products and building materials. Managed an aggressive turnaround of this specialty manufacturer faced with tremendous competition, cost overruns, poor market penetration, and faltering sales performance. Managed over 250 employees, with sales of over $120 million per year. Accelerated sales revenues from $6 million to greater than $120 million and improved EBIT to over $30 million. $100+M P&L responsibility.o Lead the sales team in the development of business to the Big Boxes, Distributors and International markets.o Researched competitor products and implemented new and existing product development initiatives o Managed team tasked with developing new products; increased sales from $5M to over $100M in 4 years.o Instituted 5S and other lean practices, also trained entire staff in strategic management principles.

St. Louis, Mi

Designed, engineered and built facility for class-A painting service to OEM’s and automotive suppliers. Generated new business with John Deere, General Motors, Ford, Bombardier, Arctic Cat and numerous Tier 1 and 2 automotive suppliers. Established company as number one painting supplier for John Deere. Forged alliances with paint suppliers for access into new markets, developed new customers and niches. $40+M P&L responsibility.

Deckerville, Michigan,

National leader in plastic automotive ornamentation and various injection molded & decorated second surface acrylics and polycarbonate products. Managed 3 manufacturing facilities with over 500 employees. Full responsibility for re-creating the entire business infrastructure, introducing advanced technologies to improve productivity and profitability, redesigning Tier 1 and Tier 2 sales programs, realigning engineering and manufacturing operations, and supply chain. o Managed the sales team, developed an in-house team to manage non-automotive business and representative agencies to support our automotive business.o Drove management and engineering changes resulting in turnaround from losses to 23% pre-tax in six months.o Conceptualized and developed new mold design for Glass Encapsulation niche, reducing scrap to <1%.o Increased sales from $9.5 million to over $50 million and improved EBIT to over 22% within four years.

Director Operations & Engineering – (5 Plants) - Alma, MI - $120+M P&L responsibility Plant Manager, Alma, MI - $40+M P&L responsibility.Alma Plastics, Inc. – Business purchased by United Technologies Automotive Plant Manager, Alma, MI - $40+M P&L responsibility.ITT Automotive, Inc., United Plastics Division – Assets sold to Alma Plastics Plant Manager, Brighton, MI - $25+M P&L responsibility.MacDonald Manufacturing, Inc. – Business purchased by Textron Automotive, assets sold to ITT Automotive Engineering Manager - (2 Plants) Tooling Engineer Assistant Plant Manager Production ManagerTier One Supplier / Automotive Division of Fortune 100 Company. Managed the flagship plant in this multi-plant division. Processes included injection, compression, transfer, reaction injection, rotational molding and low-pressure structural foam molding, “Class A” painting, vacuum metalizing, mask painting, profile and sheet extrusions and many assembly processes. Successfully reversed major losses and achieved a breakeven within the first year.o With UTA ran the most profitable plant in the division, with the division’s highest quality rating. Instituted 5S and other lean practices, including self-directed work teamso Received the highest SQA rating, at the time, ever given by Ford Interior Trim Group.o Personally recognized, twice, as the “Best Manager” in the Division, by two different Fortune 100 companies.o With ITT ran the best operating plant with the lowest variances, highest efficiency and world-class record for improvements. Instituted 5S and other lean practices, including Self-directed work teams.o Recognized as the “Best” R.I.M./Class-A painting operation in the world.o Worked way up from the manufacturing floor, having had, at various times, responsibility for all tool, facility and process engineering, maintenance, quality control and program/project management.