Robert Krueger Email & Phone Number

Edina, Mn And From Home In Huntersville, Nc

Our business had a large base of customers already using one family of products, Ion Exchange Resins for specialty separations, and the business concept was to use this customer and knowledge base to open new opportunities using membrane separations as an additional technology. Primary goal was to quickly sift thru large numbers of customers and opportunities to find high value, protectable, separation and process opportunities. Using the best available data, tried to determine if any particular membrane opportunity would work.Also provided internal training to an experienced global technical sales force in membrane technology to supplement their knowledge of ion exchange technology. Most of the personnel that dealt with specialty applications like this were part of Rohm & Haas which merged with Dow in 2009 and were inexperienced with membrane technology.Accomplishments:Lead the development and introduction of a membrane product line replacement to maintain our dominant position in processing maple sap for maple syrup.Coordinated a pilot testing program for membranes in mining applications especially a trial for gold mining. Worked with a specialty membrane system manufacturers to build and place pilots with membrane products.Lead a global team which learned a new product development technique called New Product Blueprinting to explore potential extension of our products further into milk processing applications.Filed two patent disclosures on novel processes with membranes to improve the yield of a uranium mining process and and to lower the cost of a copper mining process. One disclosure, on uranium, mining, has been filed as a patent application in 2014.

Edina, Mn

Responsible for sales plan and sales including pricing of Ultrafiltration Membrane products in North America using a team of technical specialists who worked for me - working with customers. Sales process included converting system builders (OEMs) from competitors products, worked with the OEMs to help them with the capital goods sale of the whole system, provided process design of system to the OEM, support during startup and troubleshooting/warranty support. All work was coordinated with 2 other area business development managers in Europe and Pacific.Also assembled a team of 3 technical specialists from internal and external hires. Did not just manage the team but had a number of customers and field sellers that I served as a technical specialist.Accomplishments:Made the first sales of our Ultrafiltration Membrane Products to North American customers.Successfully converted a number of customers from competitor’s products to those from Dow.Achieved sales plan for the introduction years of our new product.Grew the business from nothing to $3-4 million in sales with the best NUR and gross margin of any of the global areas.Wrote an early version of a design program to aide the sales and specification of systems using our product.

Edina, Mn

In 2005, Dow made an offer to acquire Zhejiang Omex Environmental Engineering, a maker of Ultrafiltration Membranes and Systems in Shanghai China for >$100MM. I served as an R&D and Intellectual Property lead on a due diligence team which helped close the deal in mid-2006. After the close of the deal I transitioned to the role of Global Technology Manager responsible for learning, packaging, and disseminating the knowledge of how the products were applied, sold, and supported with customers. The technology transfer was global in that I took the knowledge to North and South America, Asia outside of China, and Europe.Accomplishments:Helped the due diligence team in closing the deal for Dow to acquire Zhejiang Omex Environmental Engineering. Responsible for R&D and Intellectual Property.Evaluated and valued the intellectual property of ZOEE including research programs - current and planned, trade secrets, and global patent portfolio.Started a continuous stream of technology transfer and feedback to and from our Chinese location - training our commercial personnel for introduction and sales of the product outside Greater China and feeding back additional information and product requirements.Wrote a whole set of sales tools including product spec sheets, features and benefits literature, and first generation sales and technical presentations needed to both sell and support the products with our global customers.

Edina, Mn

This role had a goal of exploring and developing new business ideas in the areas of liquid separation membranes, their applications, service opportunities and affiliated products. Part of a team exploring new business opportunities for other technologies in the Liquid Separations business portfolio such as ion exchange resins and specialty adsorbents. My role on the team was exploration and analysis of specific individual projects - understanding, documenting, and reporting both the business value and technology of product or service opportunities.Part of the team that routinely reviewed and judged all individual projects for either continuation and deeper work, shelving and waiting for later, or canceling and recording the project work and moving on.AccomplishmentsConducted a product and business development program with a multinational appliance manufacturer to build a new higher performing replaceable refrigerator water filter. Worked with testing agencies to secure performance claims, built simulation program to design product, built and tested actual prototype devices for lifetime and performance measurements, and ultimately compiled the entire technology package for potential knowhow licensing. Constructed a business case showing a greater than $100MM NPV provided certain costs and replacement rates could be realized.Negotiated a technology and commercial license with an inventor group from the University of South Carolina for an idea called zero discharge desalination.Compiled extensive technology and intellectual property reviews, product performance and specification data, and business data on ten producers of ultrafiltration membranes used for water treatment, 6 of which were potential acquisition targets.Shorter analysis of reverse osmosis and general membrane manufacturing cooperation with other producers, specialized water analysis sensors, remote system monitoring technology and services, and other water processing related ideas.

Edina, Mn

Prior to 1999, the web presence of our business was basically non existent. So that year, we commissioned a business wide effort to produce a website containing all the information that customer would need to work with us and our products. I led the effort to design, write, organize, and ultimately release the membrane related information for our website. Also served as part of a team that produced the strategy and tactics of how, why, and what information would be presented on our website. At the time, our competitors had either no or only rudimentary web presences as well. By the time we finished, all our competitors had produced websites as well.AccomplishmentsPersonally wrote a large number of technical pieces on membranes, some of which are still used on the current Dow web site.Met the time goal of having the web site go live.Part of the promotional team that pre-taped and hosted a launch webcast for customers and technical press.Website satisfaction was measured as “the best” one year after launch by a business wide, third party administered, customer satisfaction survey.

Midland, Mi And Edina, Mn

Became the Group Leader for the North American Water Treatment Technical Service & Development Group of the Liquid Separations Business at Dow. The group members, located across North America, offer technical support for Ion Exchange and Liquid Membrane products. (11)Transferred to Minneapolis, MN, the location of the FilmTec Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dow Chemical Company. Continued in the role of Group Leader for the NA Water Treatment TS&D Group. During this assignment, we changed the group’s business model to include charge-for-service.

Midland, Mi

Transferred to Midland, MI to become Research Leader managing a group of 5 in the Liquid Separations Pilot and Market Development Plant. Research was conducted on flat sheet, tubular, and hollow fiber membranes for reverse osmosis, ultra- and microfiltration, and unique separation applications. Work was scaled up to production facilities in Minneapolis and Nakskov, Denmark.

Walnut Creek, Ca

Became the Project Manager for the New Gas Separations Group working on new opportunities for Dow in membrane gas separations. Areas considered included vapor recovery, membrane stripping, hydrogen separation and alkane/alkene separation.

Pittsburg, Ca

Returned from Germany to work on the Generon II Air Separation System as the Project Manager for the Module Manufacturing & Development Group (4 plus production technicians). Group worked on new hollow fiber module fabrication techniques and defined the manufacturing process used by Generon Systems including a 30 day manufacturing trial required as part of a joint venture with BOC. Work resulted in two U.S. Patents.

Rheinmuenster, Germany

During the 1980's, Dow developed membrane technology to separate air into streams enriched in its component gasses – high nitrogen streams and high oxygen streams. This technology was commercialized in North America first and I led an effort to introduce and commercialize the product in Europe, while being stationed in southern Germany. The systems were used to produce high nitrogen streams for flammable tank inerting and fruit preservation.Responsibilities included technical service and design, aiding the sellers with presentations, sales tool support and training, system manufacturing with local mechanical shops, field support for startups and trouble shooting, etc. During the two year assignment, I achieved nearly $3MM in system sales. Systems were sold for offshore oil production, chemical plant and oil refinery flammable tank inerting, and fresh fruit storage.

Pittsburg, Ca

Dow scientists developed and patented a new class of urethane elastomers with unique properties versus other urethanes of the times. They were thermoplastic, could be made conductive with additives, were safer for in vivo uses, blocked IR radiation, and were extremely strong and tough. The polymers were prepared from completely aliphatic precursors which made them safer than those prepared from aromatic precursors. These polyurethanes were intended for use in medical devices, electronic packaging and lamination films. My task was to economically build a pilot facility to produce pre-commercialization quantities of the polymers for market testing and downstream product development.Recipes and laboratory methods for making the polymers were transferred from Dow researchers to the pilot facility. Using reactive extrusion technology, a pilot plant was designed and built and a few hundred pounds of polymers were produced. Two of the products were successfully commercialized under the Pellathane trademark and were subsequently produced by facilities that Dow acquired from Upjohn.

Walnut Creek, Ca

Worked on the Generon I Air Separation System introduced as a commercial product for Dow in 1984. Worked on Device Manufacturing, Application Development, and Field Testing both inside and outside Dow Facilities. Also worked on Air Force and Navy government contracts for aircraft fuel tank inerting systems.