Josh Strate Email & Phone Number

Little Rock, Arkansas, United States

Westminster, Colorado, United States

Plymouth, Minnesota, United States

• Responsible for recommending and leading process improvement projects within manufacturing, while working closely with upper management to ensure the successful completion and execution of projects
• Generated designs and lead fabrication of production equipment fixtures and sub modules to improve, update, and repair existing manufacturing equipment
• Diligently lead process layout and design projects to reduce operational costs and improve product quality
• Responsible for equipment selection, factory acceptance testing, installation, and checkout of new equipment purchases ensuring that all necessary standards were adhered to
• Created and wrote standard operating procedures, setup guides, and troubleshooting guides to ensure to maximum uptime on manufacturing equipment
• Provided key training, as a subject matter expert, to mechanics and production operators on new equipment operation, troubleshooting, and best practices

Plymouth, MN

• Meticulously created detailed quotations for the consumer foods division, with a close attention to detail to ensure accurate costs and the successful management of the allocated scope of work to achieve the quotation.
• Directly managed the development of the technical concepts in collaboration with sales, technology, engineering, and commercial services to ensure accurate costing and the successful completion of projects
• Succeeded in the understanding and verification of the costing and feasibility of combining detailed customer specifications with standard equipment designs
• Managed the creation, proofing, and signing of quotations, ensuring that they were technically and commercially sound

Westminster, CO

• Successfully performed projects for food, carbonated soft drink, beer, and dairy industries; which required keeping up to date with current manufacturing processes
• Responsible for elements of quoting for full project budgets and ensuring the projects fell within the budget after customer approval, ranging from individual machine quotations to full project bid walks
• Performed diligent calculations for utilities, system design, and other process requirements
• Conducted site audits to verify and analyze existing infrastructure and utilities; as well as compared the existing utilities available to the required utilities for new equipment and/or processes
• Generated scope of work documents and mechanical requests for quotation packages, which required close attention to detail and knowledge of machine capabilities to ensure the efficient and successful execution of.
• Created detailed as-built and conceptual layout drawings for high speed product packaging industries with a close attention to detail to ensure accurate drawings and successful completion of project tasks

Hamburg, MN

• Directly managed a variety of administrative and operational functions within a fast paced environment with a focus on increasing productivity and efficiency within the organization
• Maintained a positive rapport with vendors and contractors, which resulted in a more positive working environment in addition to monitoring project budgets and timelines
• Designed and implemented detailed project plans, which focused on tracking progress, and maintaining all product documentation, which requires superior organizational abilities
• Successfully defined project scopes and schedules, reviewed bill of materials, developed project budgets, and ensured all projects had the appropriate insurance/certifications in place prior to construction

Waconia, MN & Chaska, MN

• Directly supervised and managed plant technical interns in both Fall 2014 and Summer 2015, providing guidance and overseeing their daily tasks and core significant system design projects
• Oversaw and completed designs for a new manufacturing facility, which included the facilitation of the infrastructure equipment analysis and selection
• Completed line designs and analysis for manufacturing lines in the new facility, from the initial concepts through the start up as the lead project and facility start up manager
• Performed ergonomic analysis and redesign in order to improve employee safety, designed several bulk material handling systems for viscous compressible liquids, fine powders, and extruded rubber
• Played a lead role in a plant noise reduction project, which reduced noise levels by 95% in addition to reducing downtime by 35% through the completion of bulk material handling projects
• Coordinated technical and administrative tasks within the organization which included analyzing and solving daily manufacturing issues in addition to implementing long-term manufacturing goals