Mark Kring Email & Phone Number

Responsible for managing both international and domestic supplier quality, and reliability for suppliers such as Caterpillar diesel engines and emissions, Cummins diesel engines and emissions, Alison transmissions, Eaton transmissions, and Dana Axle Company. • Assumed responsibility for several projects that had been outstanding bringing them to closure.• Helped improve quality over 30% on several components by identifying and resolving issues in areas such as fuel pumps and pinion seals.• Traveled to destinations to plants in locations such Mexico to investigate throughput issues and launch defects.• Performed current state process analysis and recommended improvements that reduced overall material, operational, and component costs. For example, a supplier was shipping engines to the plants with block heater wire cores hanging off the side of the engine and once the plant received the engine they were disposing of the cores and placing their own component on the engine.

Responsible for managing quality, reliability, and warranty cost for all manual transmission, shifter components, and transfer cases for all international and domestic cars and trucks. • Averaged 12% overall cost reduction by focusing primarily on improvement of warranty issues utilizing Red X process and working with both domestic and foreign suppliers.• Improved customer satisfaction through working with repeat customers and dealerships to resolve issues, including repurchase of vehicles.• Identified low performing suppliers and made recommendations to management to improve quality performance or seek other suppliers. • Managed build issues for Powertrain components during vehicle launch to ensure first time quality.• Supported quality issues for future product engineering design by problem solving engineering issues using Red X process. • Developed and implemented an electronic request system to request specific warranty parts from dealers for analysis which improved turnaround time and warranty costs. • Developed and implemented formal quality procedures for suppliers to verify assembly of production components with a focus on correcting build issues and overall first time quality improvements.

Responsible for developing and completing GM Powertrain durability and reliability test projects on long term warranty issues. • Tracked, prioritized, and resolved 10 supplier warranty issues that reduced warranty costs by $11.7M and customer satisfaction. • Tracked quality for all Powertrain components for all 2004 through 2007 model years, Trucks, Sports Utility Vehicles (SUVs), Vans, and Crossover vehicles that resolved long term issues and prevented carry over to new vehicles.

Responsibilities included resolving supplier and quality issues at Ypsilanti Transmission and Romulus Engine plants for a host of projects.• Managed transmission quality issues using Red X process and trained other engineers to become Journeymen in Red X.

Responsible for coaching and mentoring new team members on the Red-X process, with a focus ensuring new journeymen and Red-X Masters gained the necessary knowledge to obtain formal certification of the Red-X process.• Successfully completed over 17 Red-X projects resulting in over $10M in process and overall quality improvements. • Received a quality recognition award for eliminating undersized cam journals by identifying the root cause of a long-term issue and resolving issue savings $1.1M.

Responsible for identification and resolution of all foreign and domestic powertrain issues, for both engines and transmissions, covering GM Small Truck and 800 platform Truck Plants.• Identified and resolved problems with the damper bolt on the Inline 6 - cylinder motor during the first launch and supervised the retrofit solution of 1800 captured fleet vehicles.• Supervised vendor resources at Roush Industries that resulted in resolving a major supplier quality issue on the V6 engine.• Identified and resolved Diagnostic Vehicle Test ( DVT ) issues, performed diagnostics on issues with engines, transmissions and Engine Control Unit ( ECU ), perform validation dumps and performed Engine Control Unit ( ECU ) re - flash of vehicles and resolved drivability issues.

Managed production inventory levels within the supply chain by applying Just in Time ( JIT ) concepts for the planning and delivery of materials. • Relocated 89% of the in house fasteners to a local supplier that resulted in a saving of $49K in material costs per month.• Designed and implemented First - in, First - out processes ( FIFO system ) that reduced the level of material inventory.

Responsible for oversight of several quality focus team initiatives that resulted in production throughput and quality control improvements within transmission production assembly process. • By performing a rebalance of jobs that resulted in an overall production throughout improvement of 4% and reduced material and labor costs. • Performed transmission dynamometer diagnostics resulting in first time quality and the reduction of transmission noise by 50%.• Supplier Quality team leader working in partnership with outside vendors to improve quality and resolve issues.

Machinist tool maker

Supervisor \ CNC programmer - US Government

Machinist

Machinist

Machinist \ Production Supervisor