TIMOTHY J. NICHOLSON 248-***-****

***** ********* ** acas9x@r.postjobfree.com

FARMINGTON HILLS, MI 48336 (Linkedin URL / Public Profile)

SENIOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT MANAGER

Senior Manager with expertise in Product Engineering, Manufacturing and

Process Planning, Project Management, Cost Estimating/ Finance and Sales

with new business acquisitions. Possess strong knowledge of plastics and

metal forming operations along with the inner workings of North American

and Asian Pacific OEM's. Proven ability to:

. Reduce product costs by $100K.

. Effectively conduct business with German, Japan, and China

organizations.

. Leverage excellent Technical, Financial, Communication, Interpersonal,

Negotiation and Decision Making skills.

. Develop military and civilian vehicle systems.

CORE COMPENTENCIES

Project Management - Managing resources within timing and budget

constraints.

Engineering Manager - Managing engineers and designers in product

development.

Product Design Development - From concept to production (Auto: plastic and

metal interior and exterior systems; Defense: weapons systems integration

with turret drives and functional controls).

Office Director - Responsible for the profit and loss of a satellite office

involved in product development.

Problem Solving - Collaborating among experts and leading teams to

solutions.

Financial/Costing Analysis - worked in a Finance department for a

Controller

Process Development/Improvement - Managed the start-up of two new plants

with new processing equipment and plant layouts.

Global (cross-functional) Team Leadership - North America, China, Germany

Supply Chain Management - Support the technical and business arrangements

with suppliers involved with product development.

KEY ACCOMPLISHMENTS

. Winner of the BAE Systems 2010 Chairman's Bronze award (selected among

226 teams) for innovation achieving a cost savings of $3,700 per vehicle

and a weight savings of 150 lbs. per vehicle.

. Managed the build and installation of new equipment for an OEM. RESULTS:

Equipment placed in production within budget and on time.

. Exceeded profit margins as a Director of a Satellite office by 20%.

.

EDUCATION

NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY (Evanston, IL), June, 1983

BS in Mechanical Engineering (Minor in Biomedical Engineering)

UNIVERSITY OF DETROIT (Detroit, MI), June, 1991

MBA (Concentration in Finance; GPA: 3.6/4.0)

PROFESSIONAL HISTORY

KONGSBERG AUTOMOTIVE - Novi, MI Sep/10 - Current

Senior Project Manager

Responsible for the product development of Interior Seating and Vacuum

Brake Line Assemblies from concept to launch.

Key Accomplishments:

. Lead in managing putting an entire new manufacturing process into an

existing Kongsberg Mexico facility with equipment being designed and

built overseas for Ford on time and within budget. The project was a

$0.75M investment with $400K in tooling. Saved the company $25K

annually in testing costs by in-sourcing the testing with $5K

investment.

After successfully completing the facility project, I lead several new

interior product development projects for various Tier 1 Automotive

customers ranging from $4-15M in revenue. These included Seat

Heaters, Headrest & Armrest Assemblies, Seat Mechanism Cables

(Manually and Electro-Mechanical) to release recliners or fold/tumble

seats, and lumbar mechanisms.

BAE SYSTEMS (U.S. Ground Combat Systems) - Troy, MI (Aug/08 - Jul/10)

BAE is the sixth largest defense contractor in the world.

Senior Project Engineering Manager, Project Weapons Lead, and Lethality

Supervisor

Managed all aspects of engineering projects during development, production,

field support, and system upgrades. Project responsibility for meeting

performance requirements of customer specifications and contract within

cost and schedule constraints.

Key Accomplishments:

. Conducted trade study to upgrade the firepower of the AAV (Amphibious

Assault Vehicle) for the US Military. Developed alternatives for the

vehicle with associated lifetime costs and development timing.

Results were presented to the U.S. Marine Corps with a very favorable

reception.

. As a Lethality Supervisor, managed thirteen Engineers and Designers,

lead the concept integration development of the CROWS II (Remote

Weapon Station) across all variants for the new JLTV military combat

vehicle. RESULTS: Optimized mount design (150 Lbs. lighter and

$3,700 per vehicle savings) and exceeded all performance targets. BAE

awarded a 2010 Chairman's Bronze award for this work.

. As the Weapons Lead, managed four engineers and two designers to

complete integration development of the CROWS II (Remote Weapon

Station), as well as, the current M1114 Turret integration including

the GPK with gunner stand development.

FORD MOTOR COMPANY (IMSI Contract) - Dearborn, MI (Oct/07 - Jun/08)

Senior Project Manager

Launched an entire new vehicle (Lincoln MKS) in the Dearborn Product

Development Center and at the Chicago Assembly Plant.

Key Accomplishments:

. Resolved product development issues resolved on all functional areas

of the vehicle such as electrical, exterior, chassis, interior,

climate control, powertrain, and diagnostic trouble codes. Developed

interim and permanent corrective actions as part of the root cause

analysis.

. As a member of the Chief Nameplate Engineer's team, I provided

leadership to get issues resolved in a timely fashion to minimize risk

in the pre-production builds and meet PSW timing deadlines. Used WERS,

AIMS, GEMSS, DTC, Communication Systems and MPL soft wares to support

Ford formal sign-off events/documents.

TACHI-S ENGINEERING U.S.A. INC. - Farmington Hills, MI (Mar/06 - Aug/07)

Senior Project Manager

Developed complete Honda automotive seating programs working inside a

Japanese company. Developed/achieved business plan R&D budgets.

Championed all commercial, engineering, and launch activities.

ALCAN AUTOMOTIVE STRUCTURES - Novi, MI (Oct/03 - Mar/06)

Senior Project Manager

Key Accomplishments:

. Achieved timing and cost targets in managing the task of bringing new

manufacturing equipment from Austria to Quebec, Canada to manufacture

aluminum bumper beams for GM. Successfully managed the equipment

build and validation of the equipment in Austria and helped to manage

the installation in the new manufacturing plant in Quebec. Involved

in an all aluminum IP Beam.

. Presented project status in regularly scheduled customer meetings.

Gave project status updates to Alcan Division V.P. in Germany.

Successfully negotiated both cost and timing and assisting in

developing a strategy to successfully support a business case. I

received tutoring in German for almost two years.

PLASTECH CORPORATION - Dearborn, MI (May/02 - Oct/03)

Project Manager involved with multiple plastic products. The company went

into chapter 11.

Managed plastic component/assembly development for automotive customers on

time and within budget through manufacturing prototypes and into

production.

LEAR CORPORATION - Pontiac, MI (Jul/01 - Feb//02)

Engineering Group Manager

Involved in the execution of the design & release of complete seating

systems for the Full Size GMT 800 Truck. Managed seven Design & Release

Engineers.

Key Accomplishments:

. Quoted Lear ED&D costs for approval and negotiation at GM Purchasing.

Resolved engineering issues and the presentation of current and future

MY engineering issue status to GM & Lear upper management. Coordinated

and participated in key customer events at the Chief Engineer and VLE

management level at GM.

. Executed GM Engineering Work Orders through the GM Change Approval

Board. Involved with Delphi in seat airbag testing at their facility

in Toledo, OH. Made seat design changes to meet airbag functional

performance criteria.

MAGNA INTERNATIONAL - (May/98 - Jul/01)

Sales Account Manager - Farmington Hills, MI

Involved in new business development with Cami automotive in Complete

Seating and Interiors.

Key Accomplishments:

. In conjunction with V.P. of Sales & Marketing, establish goals and

develop strategies to achieve goals. Involved in the negotiation and

managing piece price, tooling cost, ER&D cost, customer Long Term

Agreements, and other contract imperatives. Assist in resolving open

financial issues.

Director of Project Management - Vehicle Systems Div. Dearborn, MI

Directed a satellite office employing eight Project Engineers, three CAD

operators and one administrative assistant.

Key Accomplishments:

. Accountable for the financial results (P&L) of which the profit level

exceeded expectations for FY99. Involved in new business development

with quotations and presentations to the customer while effectively

directing the efforts in completing a Concept Vehicle feasibility

project involving structural sub-assemblies.

JOHNSON CONTROLS, INC. - Seating Division Plymouth, MI (Jan/93 - May/98)

Project Manager

. Resolved commercial/technical issues on a complete seat system.

Financial / Costing Manager

Managed five Cost Analysts in the Cost estimating and Financial Analysis

Department to support new business sales for Automotive Interior Systems.

Key Accomplishments:

. Supported the sales organization in preparing presentation quotation

documents with cost estimates for Injection Molding Assemblies.

FORD MOTOR COMPANY - Dearborn, MI (Dec/87 -Dec/92)

Project Engineer, Design Release Engineer, Product Planning Analyst

TITANIUM METALS CORPORATION - Pittsburgh, PA (Jul/83 - Dec/87)

Process Engineer involved in the titanium metal forming plant operations

from ingot stock to plate, sheet, bar, and tubing products.

TECHNICAL SKILLS

Pro-E CAD / Product View / FEA / DFMEA / Microsoft Office Tools / Oracle /

WERS / AIMS / GEMSS / Earned Value Management / Systems Engineering

Training / Kongsberg CROWS II Weapon Training /Fundamentals of System

Architecture / Root Cause Analysis

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Effective Business Writing Seminar/PMP Certification Seminar/

Manufacturability Training/Business Negotiation

ASSOCIATIONS

Society of Automotive Engineers Detroit Chapter and President of

Neighborhood Association

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