Michael Gilbert Email & Phone Number

Keansburg, Nj, Us

Blackfriars, London, Gb

Blackfriars, London, Gb

Promoted to lead all engineering activities for North America Foods and Refreshment across 8 manufacturing facilities while supporting 11 brands. Builds, leads, and mentors team of Engineering Managers, Engineers, and third-party engineering firms/contractors/OEMs—a division that delivers 300+ projects annually. Accountable for annual NA CapEx budget encompassing all NA IC Brands, Hellmans Mayonnaise, Knorr Foods and Lipton Tea. Technical consultant for Unilever worldwide.Prepares scopes of work, capital estimates and technology identification for major innovations, transformations, cost savings, automation, and capacity expansions. Continually challenge, develop, and roll out best practices to streamline project portfolio and mode of operation across the region. Championed EEM and safety programs to ensure a process of continuous improvement. Collaborates with Site Leaders, Global Engineering, Marketing, R+D, Quality, Planning, Safety, Finance, and WCM to align strategy.

Blackfriars, London, Gb

(British-Dutch multinational consumer goods company; ranked #1 best-performing supply chain leader by Gartner; NYSE: UN Promoted to lead all engineering activities for North America Ice Cream across 6 manufacturing facilities supporting 7 brands. Builds, leads, and mentors team of Engineering Managers, Engineers, and third-party engineering firms/contractors/OEMs—a division that delivers 200+ projects annually. Accountable for annual budget. Technical consultant for Unilever worldwide.Prepares scopes of work, capital estimates and technology identification for major innovation, transformations, cost savings initiatives, automations, and capacity expansions. Challenged, developed, and rolled out best practices to streamline project portfolio and mode of operation across the region. Championed EEM and safety programs to ensure a process of continuous improvement. Collaborates with Site Leaders, Global Engineering, Marketing, R+D, Quality, Planning, Safety, Finance, and WCM to align strategy. Led strategic expansion of Ben & Jerry’s factories. Initiative earned Brilliant Execution of the Year global award (2018) and Unilever Global Golden Compass award for Safety performance. Directed design/delivery of Magnum Pints and Talenti Layers, both recognized as breakthroughs in the industry.

Blackfriars, London, Gb

Led execution of multiple concurrent strategic projects in North America with responsibility for scoping, planning, designing, and delivering projects. Directed engineering resources, third-party engineering firms, construction management firms, and OEM activities to ensure OTIF implementation of all project elements.Drove safety as a first priority among all projects; ensured alignment with quality, productivity, and best practice standards.Conducted project reviews with key global and regional corporate executives on a monthly basis. Directed business-critical factory expansion and technology transfer for Talenti acquisition. Expansion and production startup was executed in <10 months and under $60M budget. Project success was highlighted on Unilever Global intranet. Led Project 1K—an expansion/automation of 3 sites and closure of multiple outdated sites. One of the first in Unilever's history to embark on a project of this magnitude/risk, with limited resources and deliver it on time and under budget. Communicated and collaborated with global and regional product groups to ensure that goals, risks, and sustainability were aligned throughout the project. Modified scope, timelines, and project spend to align with evolving business objectives. Technical and risk analyst for acquisition due diligence. Created strategic plans for incorporation into Unilever North America.

Blackfriars, London, Gb

Category Technology Manager, Unilever Ice Cream, South Burlington, VT, 2011 – 2014 Developed short-/long-term master capital plans for Ben & Jerry’s brand in North America. Delivered all innovations for packaged and novelty ice cream. Managed multiplant capital program, including infrastructure, innovation, cost improvement, quality, safety, sustainability, and capacity expansion projects. Managed capital budget for North America.Established best practices for Ben & Jerry’s operations globally and developed plans to harmonize global manufacturing lines. Increased investment in VT plants by 300% in 2 years. Developed low-cost plan to double production at Waterbury, VT, plant. Served as global technology expert, assisting with problematic line startups and engineering design issues for additional ice cream brands outside of North America (e.g., Brazil Magnum, Brazil pint-cup line install, and Mexico design criteria). Designed, installed, and commissioned Japan mini-cup line with heat seal—the first of its kind for Unilever North America.

Blackfriars, London, Gb

Designed and managed capital plans, project scopes, timelines, and technology solutions for new product development and operational improvements in North America. Collaborated with Marketing, R&D, Planning, and factory personnel to bring forth leading-edge technologies and process improvements. Identified financial, productivity, sustainability, and quality expectations throughout the innovation process with stakeholders. Identified supply chain risks and developed corrective actions to mitigate risks. Magnum: Managed capital budget for product launch. Directed installation of 3 Magnum lines and expansion of 2 factories simultaneously. Directed all engineering activities in U.S./Canada and procured equipment utilizing global suppliers. These were the first Unilever ice cream lines in North America with automated packaging equipment. Launch commissioning curves were achieved, and project was on time/within budget. Exceeded production output and material variance projections. Klondike: Designed and installed first inline chocolate flavoring system for Unilever North America. Delivered multiple technical innovation solutions for Popsicle, Good-Humor, and Ben & Jerry’s novelties.

Greeley, Colorado, Us

Led accountability for all day-to-day operations (processing, packaging, sanitation, logistics, and maintenance) and delivery against performance metrics for manufacturing facility with a 70-member workforce. Created strategic plan that balanced growth objectives with environmental and safety regulatory requirements.

Londonderry, Nh, Us

STONYFIELD FARM (GROUP DANONE)Following Group Danone’s acquisition of Stonyfield Farm (2001), recruited to managed manufacturing budget, 5 direct reports, and a 110-member nonunion workforce. Instrumental in integrating site into the existing Group Danone process/system infrastructure. Saved $1.8M annually by reducing waste and decreasing absolute variance from 4.8% to 1.8%.

South Burlington, Vt, Us

BEN & JERRY’S/UNILEVERConcurrently led manufacturing, engineering, and maintenance, positioned St. Albans factory as Plant of the Year among 12 sites companywide. Managed $17M budget, 12 direct reports, 27 Union and 140 nonunion employees. Scaled production for over 150 new products. Developed the processes for dual flavors, fat-based cookie variegates and the Core product line. Designed and directed start-up of oversees B&J operation in Hellendoorn, Netherlands and Henderson NV.