Michael Puhalla Email & Phone Number

Detroit, Mi, Us

Detroit, Mi, Us

Plymouth, Michigan, Us

Served as comfort expert leading & mentoring global cross-functional teams of internal business units, suppliers, & OEM customers to ensure Adient product portfolio met or exceeded Adient, OEM, & end-customer expectations by implementing a data driven approachRebuilt Adient Comfort Engineering division & developed Adient Test Lab Process that demonstrated gaps in current process & provided 30-60-90 & 5-year plan to leadership that created a proactive culture of accountability, ownership, & integrity to provide best-in-class engineering services to global customers increasing knowledgebase to drive new business growth & reduce waste Appointed to Adient Fighter Dev group reporting directly to VP of Engineering providing comfort expertise, marketing direction, & counter-competitive intel driving new innovations in seating, foam, trim, & subcomponents to enhance the Adient product portfolio Served as comfort expert & voice-of-customer for FCA/Stellantis, GM, Nissan, Toyota, Honda, Polaris, & specialty customers through program lifecycle that exceeded customer expectations & met key milestone requirements to ensure successful launch resulting in several OEM awards & commendationsMentored & coached two comfort engineers & one comfort technician along with several interns in all aspects of human-centered design, product evaluation, usability, & data-driven decision making Responsible for Comfort Division program management, budgeting, & forecasting—routinely leveraged finance & program management experts to ensure 100% on-time/on-budget testingOversaw development on product & consumer research database to aggregate & analyze trends in product portfolio & competitor products to enhancing competitive advantageDeveloped comfort system criteria for thermal, massage, lumbar, adjustable bolsters, cushion length extender, etc.

Southfield , Michigan, Us

Successfully drove all phases of product-development cycle for robust foam products from concept-to-launch by establishing timing, maintaining budgets, designing, prototyping, testing, & supporting production by integrating engineering, suppliers, manufacturing, & the customer that exceeded expectations of Hyundai, BMW, & TeslaCoached & mentored team of 5 foam engineers (India COE) & 10 designers (Philippines COE) in engineering & design of foam, metal, & plastic components to ensure all products were robust & met customer requirementsChaired 2019 Lear Innovation Ventures Innovation Challenge & coached ‘Team Notio’, a diverse group of students, to victory by developing a product that will disrupt the Autonomous Ride Share industry & secured internshipsPresented quarterly root-cause analyses (A3) to global engineering team to address & prevent ENG/MFG issuesRegularly engaged by advanced engineering & Crafted x Lear to consult on comfort, craftsmanship, & performance

Southfield , Michigan, Us

Directed comfort development for programs (GM, FCA, Ford, Tesla, Hyundai) & consulted on human-centered design on special projects with a strong focus on innovation & leveraging technology within & outside of the automotive industry to enhance UX to increase competitive advantage & drive business growthAssisted in the development of INTU, 3D printed foamless seatback, patented an engineered tunable textile that enhances occupant comfort & performance, & routinely vetted new technology suppliers• Improved consumer clinic efficiency, consumer experience, & data quality by leveraging technology to reduce clinic data analysis time to zero (300% improvement) by constructing automated seat KPI dashboard – launchpad to Lear ‘GO FAST’ benchmark strategy for RFQs to support new business ventures Assisted in the development of intuitive EV charger to enhance UX, decrease discomfort, & prevent injuryExceeded GM comfort targets & successfully launched 2019 GM Large Truck programDirected comfort design to deliver highest rated Corvette seat in program history per GM Leadership TeamSupport Tempronics JV developing thermal protocols for seat heating/cooling & optimized UX of complete systemRoot-Caused & resolved Mercedes comfort quality issue at Lear, Tuscaloosa Plant ensuring on-time product launch Cut costs over 50% by implementing ComforTec Lab Quality Process & drove ComforTec Lab profits to $250k+ YOYLed 2018 Lear Global Innovation Day & presented Innovations in Quality to 100k+ global employees

Assisted in development of agile proprietary multidisciplinary predictive master data management technology to enhance human performance & prevent injuries Researched & targeted potential customers & developed presentations to showcase NeoAnalytica strategy to enhance bottom line Prepared & presented joint venture partnership strategy with partners to drive new business development Adapted proprietary process to reduce quality issues within Automotive Industry & presented technology to FCA

Oversaw & mentored approximately 50 students performing below p5 & developed data-driven human engineering behavioral approach to ensure State of Michigan requirements & social goals were metAnalyzed student data & constructed KPI dashboards to track attendance & performance to predict risk, & communicate results with school district leadership & State of Michigan officials Implemented individualized student success plans that enhanced course pass rate & graduation rate to over 90%

Ann Arbor, Michigan, Us