John Datovech, P.E. Email & Phone Number

Richmond, Virginia, United States

* Lead engineering and quality services for a $600+ million global designer and distributor of consumer and commercial electromechanical products * Oversee new product development, existing product stewardship, product safety, regulatory compliance, lab operations, consumer affairs, technical support and departmental data analytics

Richmond, Virginia, United States

* Lead supply chain operations, including: planning, purchasing, customer fulfillment, inventory management, trade compliance, logistics and 3P distribution operations in North America, South America, Asia and Europe* Promoted into this "stretch" role with an executive mandate to grow and nurture a center of excellence for advanced analytics within Corporate Operations that services the broader corporation* Supervise managers in five functional areas: 1) Planning & Purchasing, 2) Trade Compliance and Logistics, 3) Customer Replenishment, 4) Inventory Management, and 5) Analytics* Plan and control operating expense (OPEX) and capital expense (CAPEX) budgets for in-house and third-party supply chain operations globally* Successfully managed the company's end-to-end supply chain through the simultaneous challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic and a new enterprise resource planning (ERP) software launch * Hired the company's first data science professionals to enhance and automate repetitive analytic tasks; used the time saved to deliver analytic solutions to other departments * Increased on-time, in-full (OTIF) rates by 10 to 25 percentage points at four key customer accounts * Reduced excess inventory by 12% year-over-year by applying advanced analytics to forecasting* Implemented a novel approach to purchasing that reduced overall inventory by 35% ($87 million) in 4 months while maintaining fill rates

Richmond, Virginia, United States

* Lead corporate-wide product quality assurance and improvement efforts* Chair the design review committee for all new products under development* Provide final sign-off of all new products prior to production start-up (PPAP ownership)* Develop and direct a corporate initiative to explore data science and advanced analytics* Supervise managers and professionals in four functional areas: 1) Corporate Quality Engineering, 2) Engineering Test Lab, 3) Technical Support/Applications Engineering and 4) Consumer Affairs* Provide weekly updates to the CEO and other senior executives regarding product quality metrics and strategic quality improvement initiatives* Reduced product returns (cost of poor quality) by 15%, resulting in annual savings of over $2 million * Worked with an outside consulting firm to create best-in-class analytic capabilities by: - Benchmarking corporate analytic capabilities against those of other organizations - Creating a roadmap for developing a corporate culture of pervasive advanced analytics - Initiating relationships with graduate-level academic programs in data science/analytics * Integrated quality systems and personnel for the newly-acquired Weston Products division

Richmond, Virginia, United States

* Oversee global product risk management and regulatory (e.g., FDA, UL, CPSC, CE) compliance* Supervise the managers of five departments: 1) Product Assurance Engineering, 2) Engineering Test Lab, 3) Engineering Data & Documentation, 4) Technical Support & Applications Engineering, and 5) Consumer Affairs* Recruit, hire, develop and lead a combined staff of over 40 managers, supervisors, engineers, technicians, customer service agents, technical support representatives and documentation specialists* Own profit and loss (P&L) responsibility for the accessory and replacement parts business* Trained three engineers in product hazard management and forensic engineering techniques* Led a team of directors from the Finance, Purchasing and Law Departments to develop our policies and procedures for achieving indemnification from suppliers for products liability expenses* Designed an accelerated product development process that leveraged supplier resources; led the pilot projects using this new method that reduced time-to-market by an average of 6 months* Relocated and re-built the Consumer Affairs Department, combining it with the Commercial Technical Support Department, to save over $750,000 in annual operating expenses* Introduced selling of replacement parts on-line, generating incremental revenue of $5 million* Implemented new phone and data systems in Consumer Affairs and Commercial Technical Support - Saved $100,000+ annually in labor costs through efficiency improvements - Reduced hold times for customers by 36%

Richmond, Virginia, United States

* Testified as an expert witness and company representative at over 30 depositions and trials* Reviewed and approved all hazard communications on products and in user manuals* Collaborated with the CPSC to develop the first automatic reporting system for a manufacturer - Convinced executives at Hamilton Beach and the CPSC to proceed with the project - Deployed information technology resources to automate the process * Enhanced product development procedures to improve product safety and reduce liability expenses - Redesigned the safety review process for products under development - Instituted the Product Hazard Management procedure - Incorporated lessons learned from issues reported to governmental regulatory agencies (e.g., the CPSC and FDA) into tests that are conducted on products under development* Implemented new policies and procedures in the Engineering Data & Documentation Department which resulted in a 67% reduction in the backlog of product change notices* Enhanced corporate product documentation to include information on all controlled (e.g., food contact) materials* Reviewed and approved over 40 new product submissions from licensees* Supervised two departments with a combined staff of ten engineers, technicians, and specialists

Richmond, Virginia, United States

* Led the multidisciplinary project team that created the corporate Integrated Quality Tracking System for collecting, analysing and disseminating actionable information regarding product safety & quality* Became a Certified Fire & Explosion Investigator (certification has since lapsed, but can be renewed)

Richmond, Virginia, United States

* Examined returned products and determined the root cause of field failures

Richmond, Virginia, United States

* Designed and developed a new toaster model and led production start-up in a foreign factory

Richmond, Virginia, United States

* Served as the company’s liaison with the CTO of Whirlpool Corporation and his staff* Selected suppliers, manufacturing processes and developed assembly work procedures

Richmond, Virginia, United States

* Designed new commercial products and improved the design of existing products* Selected and on-boarded a rotational molding supplier to manufacture a new product line

Coopersburg, Pennsylvania, United States

* Relocated an assembly line from a Lutron factory to a supplier’s factory* Redesigned product components and electronics assembly processes to improve quality and value* Designed injection-molded plastic and stamped metal parts

Master Of Engineering Administration

Bachelor Of Science, Mechanical Engineering, Minor In Mathematics

Activities and Societies: Tau Beta Pi, Pi Tau Sigma, Engineering Department Tutor for students from underrepresented groups in STEM.