- Led 49-person org (8 directs: 2 production managers, 6 engineers). Hired all engineers and about 20 operators, and built the team pipeline.
- Built Power Apps training matrix with certifications, role-based operator qualification levels, and push notifications for expirations.
- Raised throughput from 50K to 60K sqft per day for $3.6M annualized improvement and lifted first pass yield to 94 percent.
- Cut scrap from 12 percent to 5.0 percent then 4.6 percent, reducing operator-driven quality escapes and stabilizing customer performance.
Situation
- Six SPC extrusion lines faced performance variability, quality pressure, and growth demands during expansion work.
- The workforce had recently absorbed a major layoff (about 40 percent), creating risk to morale, retention, and consistency.
- Standards were not durable without a real training and accountability system behind the process.
Task
- Own safety, quality, waste, OEE, and daily execution for six lines while commissioning new assets and maintaining stable output.
- Build staffing, training, and leadership systems so performance scaled beyond individual heroes and held across shifts.
Actions
- Managed 8 direct reports (2 production managers, 6 engineers) with an org of 49 total employees through the production leadership chain.
- Rebuilt the talent bench by hiring all engineers and about 20 operators and establishing clear role expectations and qualification levels.
- Partnered with the trainer to build a Power Apps integrated training matrix with certification tracking and push notifications for expirations.
- Sent all engineers through Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt and Green Belt training to standardize problem solving and project execution.
Results
- Throughput increased from 50K to 60K sqft per day, representing $3.6M annualized improvement, and first pass yield reached 94 percent.
- Scrap dropped from 12 percent to 5.0 percent then 4.6 percent, lowering the probability of operator-driven quality escapes.
- Reduced lamination attrition from about 25 percent annual to under 10 percent in the first year after a major layoff.
- In SPC, retained all employees for six months after the initial post layoff transition period.
Learning
- Technical fixes do not scale by themselves. Repeatable results come from hiring well, training deliberately, and running a cadence that makes expectations unavoidable.
- Delivered $5M annual savings through coating and formulation optimization.
- Deployed Power BI KPI center and automated task scheduler raising task completion 20 percent.
- Performed cost and risk analysis for CapEx and process changes tied to plant growth and cost objectives.
- Improved alignment between production, maintenance, quality, and engineering functions.
Situation
- Engineering services work was spread across multiple teams with uneven visibility and execution consistency.
Task
- Deliver measurable savings while improving planning rigor and cross-functional follow-through.
Actions
- Prioritized projects by financial impact, operational risk, and readiness.
- Built KPI reporting in Power BI with automated task scheduling and ownership tracking.
- Standardized cadence reviews across production, maintenance, quality, and engineering.
Results
- Delivered $5M annual savings, improved task completion by 20 percent, and increased project accountability.
Learning
- Reliable execution systems amplify technical improvements and help savings hold over time.
- Cut belt failures 50 percent for $750K annual savings.
- Created SOPs and JHAs adopted across U.S. and EU sister plants.
- Deployed SAP, PI Vision, and Power BI to expose bottlenecks and raise OEE.
- Standardized acceptance criteria with Quality to resolve recurring product issues.
Situation
- Process variability and downtime were driving quality issues, belt failures, and uneven shift performance.
Task
- Reduce recurring losses and build repeatable standards that scaled beyond a single plant.
Actions
- Applied SPC, DOE, and capability analysis to isolate top loss drivers.
- Built shared acceptance criteria with quality and operations to speed resolution.
- Deployed SAP, PI Vision, and Power BI to make constraints and trends visible in daily decisions.
Results
- Belt failures fell 50 percent, annual savings reached $750K, and operating consistency improved across teams.
Learning
- Data visibility is only valuable when tied to clear standards and response ownership on the floor.
- Delivered three consecutive years with no recordable injuries in PSM regulated areas through disciplined safety systems and accountability.
- Reduced lime kiln fuel cost by about $300K per year by improving mud solids control, drying stability, and vacuum system reliability.
- Delivered approximately $500K annual savings by optimizing settling basin chemistry strategy (polymer vs alum) and reducing basin cleanout labor and rentals.
- Reduced overtime and reliability loss using FMEA based maintenance planning, risk ranked work prioritization, and structured work planning rhythms.
Situation
- Led utility and chemical operations in a union paper manufacturing environment covering chemical recovery, water treatment, waste handling, and lime kiln operations.
- The area ran under strict safety and environmental requirements including PSM regulated systems and Title V and NPDES controls.
- With the mill near capacity, basin downtime constrained production, while kiln energy cost and chemical strategy represented major recurring spend.
Task
- Own operational performance across Class 4 water plant, sludge removal, recausticizing, and lime kiln operations while maintaining PSM and environmental compliance.
- Improve safety outcomes, reduce major operating costs, and strengthen reliability planning without disrupting production.
Actions
- Established routine safety reviews, work planning rhythms, and shift accountability checks for daily execution.
- Drove kiln gas reduction by identifying moisture and mud solids as the primary driver, confirming with solids testing, and improving drying stability.
- Modified drum filter wash system to a low pressure fan style nozzle to reduce cake disturbance and allow reduced wash water flow.
- Rebuilt reliability around drum filter Nash vacuum pumps with full PM overhauls, installed suction and discharge pressure gauges, and added seal water flow sensing and alarms to prevent hidden performance drift.
Results
- Achieved three years with no recordable injuries in PSM regulated areas.
- Reduced lime kiln fuel cost by about $300K per year through improved mud solids control and drying stability.
- Delivered approximately $500K annual savings by reducing basin cleanout labor and equipment rentals through settling basin chemistry optimization, with roughly 50% improvement in basin runtime.
- Reduced overtime and reliability loss through risk ranked maintenance planning and more disciplined execution.
Learning
- In regulated, union operations, performance comes from rhythm and clarity.
- When safety systems, work planning, and ownership boundaries are explicit and repeated, reliability improves and cost reductions become sustainable.
- Built trust and accountability with union crews as a new shift leader by combining direct communication, respect, and clear boundaries.
- Delivered about $250K in comptroller-verified savings over two years by fixing measurement-system error and deploying automatic titration controls.
- Delivered over $1M annual caustic savings through Black Belt process redesign that reused extraction effluent instead of treating it as waste.
- Expanded into senior process ownership across strategy, compliance, staffing, and capital initiation in recausticizing and bleach operations.
Situation
- Started as a first-time shift leader in a fast production environment where credibility had to be earned quickly, then moved into process engineering where test reliability and chemical strategy were driving avoidable losses.
Task
- Stabilize shift execution and team trust first, then lead data-driven process improvement projects that produced repeatable financial results and stronger operating control.
Actions
- Set clear shift expectations, reinforced respectful accountability, and improved handoff discipline.
- Performed MSA and Gauge R and R to quantify testing error and targeted dead-load loss drivers.
- Implemented automatic titrators, control plans, lifecycle analysis, and critical-spares strategy.
- Redesigned bleach-stage chemistry flow by reusing extraction effluent through practical piping and control updates.
Results
- Built a cooperative, execution-focused operating culture at the shift level, delivered approximately $250K in verified Green Belt savings, and delivered over $1M annual Black Belt chemical savings while improving measurement confidence and control stability.
Learning
- Credibility and savings both come from the same discipline.
- When standards are explicit, measurement is trustworthy, and controls are built for daily use, teams execute faster and gains hold.
