Play ongoing key role in the rapid growth of this company during its expansion into North America. Overcame cultural barriers to serve as a key member of executive management team ensuring all operational, financial and customer commitments are achieved. Build and manage North American design engineering, process engineering, quality assurance and test/validation departments. Customers include Toyota, Nissan and Honda. Howa USA Holdings is an international Tier 1 automotive supplier and Japanese-owned company; manufacturing interior systems for global automakers.Plant ExpansionCritical player in growth of Howa from one plant to six in North America.Focused Leadership Overcame cultural boundaries to bring the North American region to the aggressive target performance level expected. Award Winning CareerGlobal Quality Award, Infinity Q50 Program, 2016.Relationship ManagementPresented to customers, providing clear solutions that offer better technology and quality, to quickly resolve complex customer situations. Talent ManagementAttracted premiere talent through recruiting, mentoring, training and employee development. Built team and provided business and technical leadership for all projects. Program ManagementLed group in concept development and design maturation for Toyota, Nissan and Honda programs. Managed customer and internal review process. Drove quality and performance.New Business DevelopmentAwarded new business awards from Toyota, Nissan and Honda by creating innovative strategy and resource plans that pursued new customer business.Supply Chain and LogisticsDeveloped and sourced quality suppliers. Worked with packaging supplier, optimizing packaging for a cost-effective solution to move products from the Tier 2 supplier to OEM without damage.Continuous ImprovementIncreased productivity through strategic process efficiency and procedural improvement while meeting challenging customer cost reduction targets.

Draexlmaier expanded the capacity of its South Carolina facility due to incoming General Motors and BMW business. Recruited to oversee implementation of equipment for facility and manage engineering department. Directed all aspects of plant operations for the manufacture of assemblies as well as new programs, and Lean processes. Launched new and improved existing products and processes. Created and rolled out strategies across quality, engineering and safety that reduced cost of poor quality and rework. Managed $1M budget and team of 25.Draexlmaier is an international automotive Tier 1 supplier. The NA operation manufactures interior systems, wiring harness, electrical management systems and plastic components for global automakers across premium segment.Operational ExcellenceAchieved zero PPM at launch, $0 cost due to poor quality and no customer plant shutdowns. Bottom-line GrowthGrew business by improving process efficiency, flow of material, and on-time delivery.Metrics-Driven ProcessesCreated process that assessed equipment/capacity to implement production requirements while tracking changes, effectively controlling the entire process. Served as a critical element in plants performance goals to meet cost, quality, delivery while maintaining safety. Equipment MaintenanceLed engineering technicians and facility maintenance in ensuring equipment was functioning properly and predictive maintenance was performed according to schedule. Risk ManagementDeveloped a risk assessment and contingency plan for every production project, task, tool or equipment prior to initial build and work instruction release.Program Set-upEstablished a quality management program that saved $1M+ in operation costs annually.Top-tier TeamsTurned around underperforming team, recruiting and training engineers to support business needs.Global Training InitiativesSent engineers to plants in Austria and Mexico, creating a seamless production flow.

In this start-up (Proterra and Fisher Coachworks), played critical role in the development and launch of an electric vehicle (mass transit bus) from concept to market reality. Set up production process with training program for new hires. Led technical development of all mechanical systems. Proterra was a leader in the design/manufacture of zero-emission electric buses; and a new entry into OEM Electric Mass Transit Bus market.Start-up OperationsBuilt start-up production facility in SC from the ground up with process completion and full product validation of an electric bus.LeadershipTrained team of engineers through design and development of mechanical system for production release and launch of product through physical build phase while identifying supply base. CommercializationBuilt an electric vehicle that passed certification at a government-sponsored facility.

In this Japanese-owned, Tier 1 automotive supplier, led technical development for Honda and Nissan interior programs to drive profitability. Traveled frequently from Michigan to Tennessee plants to ensure process alignment and customer success.High Performer RecognitionSelected by senior management to participate in V-UP (Six Sigma) project for Nissan. Completed technology and investment/integration, and customer/strategic impact projects. Achieved innovation technologies savings totaling $5M. Quality ImprovementSaved $2M by leading a quality improvement initative; reduced plant PPM defects.Customer InteractionInterfaced with customers, quality, product engineering, purchasing and manufacturing, delivering on-time, quality of product through devlopment of the product delivery process.

Hired into an environment focused on rapid growth with a geographically dispersed team, led technical development for Mazda interior program and developed technologies for other key OEMs. Magna is a Tier 1 Automotive Supplier. Start-up LeadershipStart-up of division and production facility and process completion through prototype phase for Mazda. Tooling release achieved on-time.Multicultural TeamsCoordinated/communicated efforts and worked with Asia on-site team 24/7 to assist customer engineering team through all stages of program including expert reviews.Opportunity IdentificationImproved process and performance improvements, reducing costs and redundancies.

Recruited to share best practices. Faced with significant time constraints, quickly took leadership role in developing Tier 2 for assembly of all interior components; while optimizing support structure. Within a challenging economy, assessed, redesigned and managed all functions from styling concept to launch to deliverables. Managed team of engineers for Ford and General Motors interior programs; Reported to executive management. Award-winning PerformanceLaunched Ford GT program for 100th year anniversary celebration of Ford Motor Co. Patented multiple lightweight and structural interior components that led to a SPE award for performance. Global Process ImprovementLed engineering team (US and India) from concept to production launch in two years. Developed and patented manufacturing process that produced 40% lighter weight and 30% lower cost system. Program DesignSet and managed team targets for process in Sweden facility for use on Volvo instrument panel. Patented technology for instrument panel that improved quality and reduced costs.ILLINOIS TOOL WORKSSales Account Manager and Product Design Engineer │ Sales Growth │ Customer ManagementIncreased sales revenue by 10% annually for GM and Delphi. Created company's first commercial use of specialized stamping for use in HVAC/airbag applications increasing sales by $2M annually. Illinois Tool works is a a Fortune 500 company and Tier 1 automotive supplier.