Zebulon Solutions is an end-to-end product development firm focused on helping companies or individuals design products for manufacturing.Using my experience working closely with startup businesses in the past, I am focused on building operational infrastructure for Zebulon's customers by offering fractional Chief Operations Officer (Fractional COO) service offerings. Ultimately, working to make products manufacturing-ready.

In primarily self-directed position, I am responsible to understand the supplier’s capabilities and the customer’s requirements to effectively interface with sales, product requirements, quality issues, delivery schedules, and fact-finding.SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT AND IDENTIFICATION• Daily interaction with colleagues in Asia to communicate product requirements from the customer for quotation, samples, production or quality expectations.• Request quotes from suppliers and negotiate terms for delivery, pricing, and quality expectations.• When gaps in supply chain are identified, I complete supplier assessments and quality audits to qualify additional suppliers to meet customers’ needs.• Familiar with a broad range of industries and product requirements including LCD touchscreen displays, novel ceramic teapot with automatic brewing, heatsinks for the LED lighting industry, PCBA’s and subassembly for audio industry and extruded/ die cast assembly for winter sporting goods.CUSTOMER INTERACTION• Identify potential clients based upon size, location, industry, and product line – over 90% of my researched recommendations were used by the sales team to make contact.• When doing cold calls, I was able to set up a meeting or get a request for quote 63% of the time.• Work with individual entrepreneurs to a company with over $500M in annual revenue through all of the challenges of new product introduction towards production.• Maintain a database of sales contacts and leads for sales team and current status during bi-weekly sales meeting.SUPPORT PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT• Review drawings for completeness, accuracy, technical and manufacturing challenges with customers and provide feedback where appropriate. • Act in a manufacturing engineering role to identify the cause of assembly challenges• Recommend changes to improve yield and/or capacity at the supplier to increase their throughput.

JSL Solutions was operations consulting firm.I cultivated supplier relationships by creating open and trusted lines of communications where expectations are clearly communicated and supplier are held accountable. I am committed to working with companies or individuals to develop custom solutions that align product and industrial requirements with experienced suppliers to achieve the client’s long-term success.NEW PRODUCT INTRODUCTION•Develop program schedules to manage all details to for transferring products into production•Review drawings, specifications, and bills of materials (BOMs) for production readiness•Understand product requirements and industry constraints to identify the right supplier(s) for the productSUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT•Develop forecasts for each supplier based upon client’s projected demand•Negotiate manufacturing and delivery contracts to ensure clients’ interests are protected•Create metrics for monitoring supplier performance and provide feedback when suppliers drop below targetsSUPPLIER QUALITY•Evaluate suppliers through questionnaires and on-site audits for alignment to client’s product requirements•Resolve quality issues with suppliers to minimize statistical recurrence•Establish quality metrics for the supplier to self-monitor their quality and take appropriate action to prevent defect-escapesPROGRAM MANAGEMENT•Identify and provide mitigations for internal and external risks in bringing up new products in production•Track deliveries against schedule and help suppliers work through challenges to minimize late deliveries•Facilitate communication between suppliers and clients on program statusMANUFACTURING•Developing processes for manufacturing assembly including work instructions and operator training•Identify production inefficiencies using lean manufacturing and six-sigma methodologies•Complete statistical data analysis to identify trends in bottlenecks and defects and provide solutions

Successfully defined a new liaison position between engineering and manufacturing to transition telecommunication aviation products from development into production at contract manufacturers. My regular interactions include engineering teams for new designs, program management on delivery schedules, manufacturing/test engineering on product requirements, and suppliers or contract manufacturers on new product introduction activities and product deliveries.KEY RESPONSIBILITIES*Identify & select new suppliers based upon Gogo’s business, quality, FAA, & technical requirements for new products.*Develop supplier survey to quantify & evaluate a potential suppliers to identify risks and develop mitigations before engagement.*Work with legal counsel to negotiate 3 manufacturing contracts with a projected value up to $3M annually.*Increase average supplier warranty period from less than 12 months to more than 2 years in new manufacturing contracts* Lead all activities for internal production and contract manufacturers concurrently for two new product lines with bill of materials exceeding 3000 components each.*Update and expand Phase Gate checklist to better identify and align manufacturing deliverables for new product release in both Gate 2 and Gate 3.*Establish preventive maintenance cycles on test stations at contract manufacturers for cables and other components*Provide feedback to engineering to better identify product requirements for suppliers on mechanical drawings*Establish kanban inventory system to ensure test stations consumables were always available*Develop MS Excel-based manual MRP file*Lead weekly meetings for critical suppliers for project status, identify action-owners and follow up on tasks to completion*Lead monthly meetings to review supplier delivery & quality performance metrics*Establish regular business reviews with key suppliers to review performance to identify actions to improve business relations.

My role was the bridge between engineering and production to move 2 new products into manufacturing at contract manufacturers. This included identifying production suppliers to support manufacturing of custom metal components an negotiating contracts with the CM's.

Oversee the communication with the supplier & disposition of materials for all defects within 2500 unique parts identified during inspection or production that were caused by one of 300 suppliers.SUPPLIER MANAGEMENT• Identify key suppliers with buyers based upon quality, product cost, and supply risk• Establish weekly communication with key suppliers to review open quality issues and discuss suppliers’ actions to eliminate the source of each defect resulting in reduced repeating issues over 6 months.• Interface with factory managers, quality managers, other supply chain personnel, & colleagues in China, Europe, & the US to resolve quality issues.SYSTEM DEVELOPMENT• Within 2 months of hire developed a new Material Review process to disposition & track defective material within the factory resulting in an inventory reduction of over $1-million within 3 months.• Implement a simple tracking system for key suppliers to systematically communicate issues, track repeating defects, & drive root cause analysis resulting in 10-40% supplier quality improvement within 6 months.• Develop reporting method for assembly issues caused by the supplier resulting in a 4-month project at the supplier to reduce shipped defects.SUPERVISORY RESPONSIBILITIES• Oversee daily tasks of 3 employees to optimize communicating defects to suppliers in a timely & concise manner.• Set daily, weekly, & monthly goals for 3 employees with regards to supplier communication, problem description, & corrective action evaluation.• Train over 50 employees on visual communication methods & how to effectively document a defect to minimize misunderstanding of the identified defect

Manage all quality-related issues for approximately 35 domestic & international suppliers across all product lines; representing over 75 custom components from contract manufacturers (CM) to sub-tier suppliers. I worked both independently & as a team member with development engineering, marketing, procurement, & suppliers.SUPPLIER QUALITY MANAGEMENT• Developed and implemented full supplier quality qualification & management process within 9 months of hire to capture & calculate supplier performance for incoming quality.• Developed clearly defined inspection requirements & expectations to be completed at suppliers & CM to improve communication.• Performed on-site supplier audits to evaluate process controls & determine adequacy of their implementation to ensure compliant product for supplier qualification.PROBLEM RESOLUTION (8D)• Issued SCARs to drive resolution of the problem at the supplier in addition to documenting the issues & identifying the root cause & corrective actions taken by the supplier. Provided support for the supplier for effective actions to be implemented to reduce the likelihood of a repeat problem.• Configured internal database to manage & dirive metrics for corrective actions including the failure analysis reporting system.• Established regular review of open C&PA’s to ensure closure in a timely manner & reduced the average time of closure for a C&PA from 4 months to 6 weeks.PROCESS DEVELOPMENT & FIRST ARTICLE INSPECTIONS• As a result of developing & implementing a 1st article inspection process to ensure tooling was approved systematically with a cross-functional team, initial defect rates from tooling introduced to production decreased from 60% rejected to over 95% acceptance.• Developed internal process to manage incoming quliaty without an inspection department on-site.• Developed visual inspection methods & criteria to appropriately capture cosmetic defects, while not over-inspecting non-cosmetic surfaces.

Oversee daily operations of testing microelectronic hermetically packaged components. I improved yields & cycle times, determined root cause, eliminated failure modes, and lowered overall product cost by working as a team-player in various capacities with the following departments:QUALITY• Developed inspection criteria for incoming inspection using ANSI ASQ-sampling plans• Under my direction supplier quality was improved from 93% to over 96% yield, and reduced escapes from 0.2% to under 0.05% within 2 years by analyzing failures, reporting results, and setting quality goals for each supplier.• Served as a certified internal auditor for compliance to ISO-9001, including developing documentation & processes.• Identified & engaged with an alternate supplier that provided high quality components at nearly 50% cost savings.MANUFACTURING• Improved yields from 55% to 96% and maintained this for 3 years, by isolating root cause of the erratic performance & working with the supplier to reduce part variation.• Simplified the complex traceability process in the MRP system, resulting in 25% fewer required inventory transactions resulting in reduced overall errors, and eased error recovery.• Employed SPC and DOE to control and improve production processes. Verified and released new equipment to production by successfully completing Gauge R&R studies.DOCUMENTATION CONTROL• Authored, reviewed, updated, and implemented many reports, test procedures, and work instructions for new or existing systems.• Knowledgeable of the Change Analyst function in the AGILE documentation control system.PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT & PROJECT MANAGEMENT• Generated summarized test reports for management and customers• Worked with development engineers to design and integrate test stations• Developed a schedule and budget to deliver systems for increased volume and communicated to management the required resources.

I maintained daily SPC on five TO-can and optical subassembly (OSA) testers. If a tester fell out of control, I would troubleshoot the test system to locate the problem in a timely fashion while minimizing impact on throughput. My daily tasks and accomplishments included:• Calibrated 16 test systems, collected control parts, summarized data on 8 sets of control parts by deadline for implementation of new test system at overseas production line.• Adapted existing documentation for implementing new test software for international production lines.• Successfully completed 15 Gauge R&R studies on new test systems for qualification• Implemented upgraded test system in less than 2 weeks after software completion including a correlation study of testers• Applied new control chart software and established control limits for testers.• Identified causes of out-of-control conditions and developed a list of corrective actions for operators to restore control.• Wrote weekly status reports of my progress which was added to the department report and conveyed to upper management.

At time of hire, the 40ppm MICRO printer had 2 months of development complete. After 6 weeks of employment and with no prior knowledge of the industry I became responsible to bring the printer into production, which I successfully completed within five months after taking over development. In reaching the above outcome:• I had weekly interaction with customers on problems and successes of the product. When problems arose I found solutions and communicated them to the customers in a timely manner.• Located suppliers to supply samples to be characterized for potential use in the product. The vendors and materials I selected met the customer requirements and were the most cost-effective options available, so they were used for production per my recommendation.• Delivered prototype products to the Product Test lab for EVT and DVT testing. The results from these tests were used to verify and improve the product prior to production release.• As the projected neared completion, I did statistical analysis for the life-prediction of discovered my changes had doubled the life of the two consumables.• Throughout the development of the product, I had mechanical drawings created as part of the product documentation, updated them as necessary, and reviewed them for accuracy.• After the product passed DVT tests, I completed testing for UL, CSA, and TUV agency certification.

At time of hire, the cryo-refrigerator research lab had a single thermal chamber capable of testing only one unit at a time and data collection was minimally automated. After 6-weeks of employment, I took over management of the lab and during a 5-month period it grew to 3 chambers capable of testing 5 units and fully automated data collection. As team leader my duties and accomplishments included:• As the lab expanded, I interviewed 3 people and the person I recommended was later employed.• Prioritized and delegated tasks of the lab and all of its members including scheduling R&D and production tests to meet deadlines.• Standardized test procedures for products in various stages of development (R&D, pilot builds, and production).• Compiled data and summarized results for engineering and production managers to be included in status reports and documentation of shipped products.• Located materials to be used in product and tested to determine fit for use. With each unsuccessful material, I identified the cause of failure and compiled a list of root causes to define the specifications for the material.• Assembled new temperature controllers and power supplies and maintain all existing lab instruments.• Wrote and debugged simple LabView programs for further automation of data acquisition.