Michael Benko Email & Phone Number

Paris, France, Fr

Teaneck, New Jersey, Us

Advising clients as a trusted partner in the areas of best practices and program management for program implementation including data governance and modeling while also establishing PLM as the source of truth for product information across the enterprise.•Providing advisory services focused on transformational programs within the digital thread space for product development and commercialization including business case creation and organizational change management.•Consulting with clients to transform commercialization processes through process mapping, gap analysis, and roadmap creation for implementation along with realization of key outcomes and KPIs.

Bellevue, Washington, Us

Leading critical implementation activities for a growing PLM application (Propel) built on Salesforce in the medical devices and high-tech industries.•Implementing projects from initiation to launch through gathering requirements, software configuration, data migration, conference room piloting, and user acceptance testing.•Employing best practices to aid medical device and high-tech clients to leverage the Salesforce platform to its fullest capabilities.

• Leading product lifecycle management solution re-design for a global quick serve retailer to improve food safety and regulatory compliance.• Optimizing labeling process for multinational consumer foods manufacturer by identifying automation opportunities to save ~2,400 hours of effort annually.• Managing administration of consulting team comprised of project managers, functional consultants, and business analysts including delegating project assignments, deliverables review, and objectives management.• Estimating project proposals for new engagements including resourcing and timeline development.

• Implementing an enterprise wide PLM Solution with leading companies in the food and beverage industry including quick serve establishments, multi-national food producers, and nutraceuticals.• Delivered subject matter expert level training to utilizing product development and modeling tools.• Developed an implementation project methodology to provide a framework for consultants to execute software implementation projects.• Created internal consulting collateral used by colleagues in training users in the areas of Specification Management, Project Management, Product Quality Management, and Analytics.• Built and delivered demonstration use cases to illustrate technical and business process solutions.• Understanding industry regulatory changes (FDA 2016 Nutrition Label Update) and developing guidance to transition clients to the new label design.

Austin, Texas, Us

Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solution consultant focusing on processing industries such as food, beverage, chemical, and CPG. As a solution consultant, my focus is to understand customers business pain and develop a solution to drive value. My skills include building software demonstrations, developing value metrics, and presenting the proposed solution to customers. I frequently interact with many different business units within an organization such as research & development, quality assurance, operations, package engineering, and marketing. My primary goal is to enable companies to achieve their objectives by streamlining their new product introduction process and management of existing products throughout the product life cycle.

Chicago, Il, Us

Managing execution of key initiatives across multiple functions for Heinz Portion Control brands.Major projects managed include:-Reformulation of Heinz jams/jellies SKUs for food service-Packaging refresh for Heinz Food Service jams/jellies and salad dressing-Heinz Food Service Mayonnaise reformulation and processing upgrade

Chicago, Il, Us

Strategic Thinking, Planning, Flawless Execution• Recognized need to expand research & development pilot plant. Conducted various analyses to determine best options. Considered building expansion through construction as well as leasing additional space in separate building. Gained buy-in to ideas. Drafted and presented all options to executive leadership. Resulted in agreement to idea that we need more capacity, but execution on hold due to capital restraints.• Charged with realizing cost savings on food service desserts business via ingredient changes. Developed implementation plan of ingredient change affecting 112 SKUs.Financial Expertise• Routinely managing and monitoring project savings in Heinz Ketchup, Classico, TGIF meals & snacks, Smart Ones, and others. Collected project information from team leads and created tracking system to deliver project portfolio savings updates to Heinz North America board.• Modeled ROI of pilot plant expansion options to construct business case to justify capital expenditure.

Chicago, Il, Us

Cross Functional Team Leadership• Hub of wheel on Six-Sigma Green Belt project to reduce overfill of pasta for Smart Ones frozen meals. Lead and managed team including operations, vendors, and factory workers. Delivered $25,000 in savings.• Acted as change agent on $1,000,000 savings project to change factory culture and work methods through collaboration with operations, quality assurance, and continuous improvement groups.• Worked with marketing, operations, and research & development to brainstorm and develop ideas on ways to reduce costs for a struggling brand. Took ideas and prioritized. Conducted feasibility analysis, shared findings, and gained buy-in. Resulted in significant financial savings while maintaining product quality.Results Oriented• Recognized need to improve analytical and quantitative skills of research & development team. Resulted in developing and teaching statistical process control curriculum to improve product quality standards.• Routinely wrote capital requests for pilot plant equipment which were approved and resulted in expanding sauce making equipment and capabilities for research & development team.• Improved pasta making process for Smart Ones meals by working with quality assurance and operations across two factories to reduce flour waste and create $250,000 in annual savings as well as improved product quality.• Delivered $50,000 of savings to Smart Ones desserts line through factory processing improvement projects.• Scoped and implemented bake loss improvement project for Nancy’s quiche line for $69,500 in savings.

Lawrence Township, Nj, Us

Process engineer for manufacturing solid oral dosage tablets and capsules.

Master Of Business Administration (M.B.A.), Business, Marketing, Strategy, Information Systems, Quantitative Analysis, Organizational Behavior

Bachelor'S Degree, Chemical Engineering