Medical Device Supply

Engineered US Supply Chain from supplier onboarding to setting up logistics.

Applying project management and supply chain skills to expand business opportunities.

The responsibilities of this role included leading projects, managing project managers, and chairing the local project management board. I also helped design the project management organization and was responsible for the COGS reduction portfolio performance.OSTA lacked structure in project management across its 4 sites. Various teams defined the processes, boards, stage gates, checklists and templates to ensure a consistent methodology for the company and give project managers the structure needed to succeed.OSTA also lacked a project management process for operations transfers. A cross-functional team developed and implemented The Master Transfer Process (MTP). This process supported make vs. buy decisions and venue selection decisions as well. MTP used for the first of these notable projects.• Thunderbeat - Olympus needed to establish a second manufacturing site for this strategic product. This international cross-functional team created and executed a transfer-by-duplication project from Japan to Minnesota.o This 2-year project came in on schedule and within budget.o This was the first project of its kind between Olympus Japan and Olympus of the Americas. It established a working relationship that continues to be leveraged. Recognized as the “Pioneer” by the Chief Officer of Manufacturing Management.• Rubber Vent Tube Productiono Implemented new toolingo Enhanced trainingo Used process data to refine specifications.Systemic issues were resolved and backorders subsided.• Automated Label Printing o Achieved compliance to new requirementso Automated the label generation processo Improved process flow• Tube Set Cost Reduction - Olympus’s flagship para-tubing product was being sold at a loss. This project is reducing cost by:o Radically redesigns the componentso Automate production stepso Applied Critical Chain Project Management via ProChain softwareThe resulting costs of goods will be favorable to budget and ASP.

In this role, I served as a bridge between operations leaders during a company integration process.• Drove backorders to their lowest level in years through good teamwork and partnering with critical suppliers. The VP of Sales recognized us for increasing confidence within the sales force. This role encompassed 12 departments and 90 people.• Helped redesign the newly formed (OSTA) to fit into Olympus. The 6 sites that made up OSTA was reshaped so that site-to-site linkages existed by design rather than happenstance. Beforehand, we had just a common quality system to link us, afterward, our very production processes were integrated and our intra-site organizations were framed similarly as well.• Reconfigured engineering teams: some specifically for production and some for new product development support• Established boards to oversee production configuration changes and defined the relationships or escalation conditions between various boards and departments.

Responsible for Manufacturing Engineering, Quality Control and Service & Repairs, the latter of which was a profit center.• The Service & Repairs department lacked procedures, flow, so tribal knowledge was documented, and cross training instituted. The department was also relocated and reorganized. It was set up so that staging points were eliminated and travel distances minimized. A 5S program helped eliminate waste and provide a foundation for future improvements. Service & Repairs became a structured and organized department.• Manufacturing Engineering was understaffed. We increased staffing to better support legacy production, operational configuration change and new product commercialization.• Legacy support included process troubleshooting, re-validation and Lean program management. The production processes of interest are chiefly: assembly, metal cutting and forming, and plastic molding. The assembly processes include gluing, ultrasonic welding, induction welding and fastening. The forming processes include bending and stamping. The molding processes are silicone, liquid silicone (LSR) and thermoplastics.• Operational configuration change focused on improving production flow through new equipment and Lean initiatives. Six sigma techniques were used to optimize processes, enhancing yield and output.

This company produces and markets contact lenses. I spent my first years here helping to expand operations from 50,000 lenses per year to 50,000,000 lenses per year. We hired people to establish and strengthen departments, installed new equipment, designed and built custom equipment, set up new suppliers and enhanced the quality system. The plant was transformed from a low-volume, custom lens maker to a mid-volume production facility employing hundreds of people. Those production processes continue to this day, making a host of lens designs to correct, myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia and astigmatism. The responsibility progression was as follows:• Manager of Automation and Tool Engineering 4/2002 to 10/2005• Manager of Tool Engineering 9/2000 to 3/2002• Product Development Engineer 11/1997 to 8/2000