Richard N. Smith, Pmp, Ala is a Owner at Richard Smith Business Consulting. He is proficient in Spanish. Colleagues describe him as "Richard is a self-motivated, forward-thinking and also a very intelligent person who has a lot of knowledge in his field. He has exceptional expertise in leadership at coaching. He consistently demonstrated a solid work ethic at General Motors plus a dedication to success. He is dedicated, methodical and very capable. I had the opportunity to work with him from 2013 to 2019. He was my Global Mobile Equipment Manager, during his management I learned a lot and I could implement several new technologies and procedures for GM South America related to the mobile equipment. He is a very easy going person, knowledgeable, team player and analytical. Besides results-oriented, he is hard-working and highly committed to accomplishing objectives. He would add value to any organization that he worked for. Richard earns my highest recommendation." and "Rick Smith is great project manager and outstanding in driving innovative technology to implementation. I worked with Rick for seven years when I was a Global Group Manager and General Motors Fellow at GM R&D and Rick was a Project Manager at GM Powertrain and GM Manufacturing Engineering. Rick drove the implementation of two major innovations: (1) an advanced plant floor system initially focused on maintenance that expanded to real-time optimization of all GM Powertrain plants and (2) software and business process to optimize the use of mobile assets (fork lifts, tuggers, etc.). While I led the research team to invent tools and algorithms and develop software, Rick and his team managed business processes, roll-out and collaboration with plants and IT. The results were spectacular: $100MM+ savings, improved quality and an advanced plant floor system that is still in use today in 24 GM plants. But Rick was not just the implementation PM, he also co-invented with the R&D team (e.g., he received a trade-secret award). For his outstanding contributions, he received the coveted “Most Valuable Colleague Award” for playing a key role in driving innovation into the corporation. Furthermore, Rick implemented telemetry technology for material handling equipment to improve plant safety and productivity now implemented at 16 plants with an estimated annualized savings of $6M USD realized, and a 70% reduction in equipment collisions. I highly recommend Rick for Project Management Leadership roles; in particular for driving innovation across the goal line. Please don’t hesitate to contact me, if you have any questions."