Stephen Hepler Email & Phone Number

Canal Fulton, OH, US

Lakeville, MN, US

Orrville, Ohio, US

• People Management:
• Led the pet co-manufacturing quality team consisting of two managers, two assistant managers and two international based members.
• Provided short term and long-term objective setting guidance for the Pet Co-manufacturing QA Department
• Served as interface between JMS and pet co-manufacturing teams to support reformulations and new product development.Quality Lead / Quality Management:
• Conducted Quality Assurance Audits at JMS co-manufacturing locations per defined audit schedule including environmental monitoring, qualification, and food safety plan reviews.
• Developed a quarterly scorecard to track co-manufacture performance on GFSI and internal audit score, CPM and Quality Incidents

Chicago, IL, US

Chicago, IL, US

• Leads the Heinz North America Consumer Affairs Team
• Communicates consumer complaint trends, issues and alerts to Senior Leadership Team and Global Heinz Organization
• Responsible for month end reporting of factory and product performance based on CPMU data
• Oversees 5 direct reports including the Canadian Consumer Affairs Team
• Interfaces and assists in managing 13 call agents and supervisor at the Heinz Consumer Call Center located in North Carolina
• Assists the Heinz Legal Team in reviewing and providing responses to consumers with reported dental, medical or property claims

Chicago, IL, US

Communicates the factory Quality Management System expectations to all personnel and defined stakeholders, and provide training accordinglyProvides technical support to Operations, Maintenance, Sanitation, Logistics, Procurement and Sales/MarketingOversees and leads the implementation of the Heinz Quality Risk Management Process (QRMP) systemManages.

Worked closely with R&D in developing new products based upon customer needs Ensures quality of 40 exclusive Frito-Lay seasoning blends including two of the three largest selling brands Investigates product related defects and assigns corrective actions and preventative measures Responsible for assigning rework to slow and obsolete and rejected materials.

Provided routine quality assurance support to manufacturing personnel Identified defects and develops timeline for complaint reduction on multiple production lines Developed standard operating procedures and training programs in order to reduce line defects Performed weekly CPOP, cleaning, sanitation, and shutdown inspections Supplied information to.

Performed Orientation of QA policies and procedures to new employees Reviewed HACCP pre-shipment papers to ensure compliance to HACCP guidelines Responsible for scheduling and assigning work duties to 10 quality inspectors Successfully assisted in preparing facility for SYSCO and TRICON audits Conducted in-house quality and food safety audits per TRICON.

Bachelor'S, Food Science

Masters, Business Administration