Keith Farmer

*** ******* ***** ***** **** Wayne, IN 46804 260-***-****

acpjs0@r.postjobfree.com

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

Result driven and self-motivated manufacturing, purchasing, and inventory

professional offering 20 years of operations experience in plastics

packaging, food, automotive, HVAC, and textile industries. Committed to a

vision of Lean Enterprise and Continuous Improvement. Creative problem

solver devoted to a team approach in executing new and established

strategies.

KEY ATTRIBUTES

V Purchasing Management - Supplier Analysis and Selection, ERP, MRP,

Negotiation

V Inventory Management - Kanban, Inventory Reduction, Warehousing,

Distribution, Consignment, Shipping & Receiving

V Quality Assurance - Lean Manufacturing, 5S, Value Stream Mapping, Six

Sigma, JIT, SPC

V Process Development - Continuous Improvement, Kaizen, Taguchi DOE,

SMED, Process Flow Mapping, Time Studies, Poka-Yoke

V Operations Management - Safety and Environmental protection,

Production Planning and Scheduling, HACCP, Product Development,

Standard Operating Procedure, Training and Team Building, Plant

Management

V Leadership & Personal Skills - Dependability, Organization,

Communication, Broad Knowledge Base, Analytical Minded

V Business Management - Cost Analysis, Small Business Start-up, Project

Management, Microsoft Excel

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

1 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT - PURCHASING & INVENTORY

. Purchased and forecasted service parts and production components

with a $20M spend. Managed raw material inventory for production

lines averaging a daily value of $2.5M. Sourced materials, created

multi-year supplier agreements, and negotiated price.

. Reduced inventory level from $5.4M to $3.8M while increasing turns

from 10x to 24x annually by developing raw materials and finished

goods inventory models. Established KPI's using statistical

methods which include indicators that show when system changes

should be made. Sustained 95% service levels to customers and

distributors

. Developed a reliable supplier base by reducing the number of major

suppliers from a "price only" buying relationship to several long-

term partnership suppliers committed to quality, reduced lead times

and competitive pricing (15-20% less total cost) reducing total

annual cost by $850K

. Leveraged purchasing power and reduced component costs up to 11%

through vendor development and long-term partnerships

. Created a robust purchasing department and reduced buyer's time on

task by 5% through automated MRP reporting processes and pull

systems, bar coding, mixed-model deliveries and Kanban systems.

Developed policies and procedures to ensure efficient operation of

the purchasing and receiving departments

. Developed inventory optimization strategies to reduce, and often

eliminate, the company's excess and obsolete inventory as a result

of frequent engineering changes and product phase-outs.

Synchronized the change process through effective communication and

close functional partnerships with suppliers, engineers, and

operations managers

. Performed demand planning analysis derived from sales history and

customer ordering patterns

. Engineering buyer for new product development and engineering

changes throughout the product life cycle. Supported engineering

department via supplier selection, prototype samples and production

components

. Established a production forecasting, demand planning & scheduling

system which synchronizes customer demand with product mix to

support 6 distribution centers. Scheduled production equipment and

set staffing levels. Restructured the company's product line

through demand analysis to produce only products with high sales

volumes while eliminating products that are not profitable

. 15% reduction in raw material outages and production downtime by

establishing a cycle counting program

. Established a commodity pricing strategy for components containing

high percentages of copper, steel, and aluminum which tracks market

pricing trends of the raw materials and their relationships to the

anticipated component purchase prices. Analyzed spend and

developed strategies to reduce and stabilize cost through metals

contracts and index pricing

. Managed a production facility warehouse and inventory at 6 food

distribution centers. Synchronized the supply chain to include

forecasting, purchasing, production, finished goods, warehousing,

distribution, and sales for multiple product lines

. Manage the supply chain of vehicles ($7M) to 55 dealerships

including inventory and distribution. Forecast, acquire, and

ensure a continuous supply of vehicles coming from auctions and

wholesalers through effective management of buyers, dispatchers,

service centers, and title office. Analyze sales data, vehicle

specifications and customer demographics to create purchasing

models

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4 PRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS

. Recruited, trained and lead the development of Kaizen teams in a

non-union environment. Empowered individuals to make qualified

decisions and take action while increasing process reliability

. Reduced tooling changeover times on vacuum forming equipment from 6

to 2 hours through SMED techniques. Customer response time reduced

3 days and plant capacity increased 8%

6 QUALITY ASSURANCE

. Aligned customer performance requirements with product quality

specifications (voice of the customer), reducing consumer inquiries

from 33% to 14%. Aligned product specifications with equipment

capabilities which reduced nonconforming product by 14%

. Technical advisor and liaison between the customer and

manufacturing, working adjacent to the vice president of sales

7 BUSINESS AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT

. Effectively managed production operations, human resources and

product quality at a sewing company built exclusively for Vera

Bradley (NASDAQ:VRA) handbag production with a multi-national

workforce of 210 employees

. Designed and built 3 industrial sewing companies from building

acquisition to shipped goods. Configured the production facility

into manufacturing cells using lean manufacturing, JIT and TPS

methods which streamlined workflow through visual management

concepts

. Lead the business start-up of Cleo & Dot, LLC children's clothing

company. Implemented on-line ordering capabilities, recruited and

contracted national sales reps. and developed a sales commission

program. Facilitated teamwork among designers, sales, office and

marketing staff in launching the business

. Capital equipment purchases up to $400K

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Inventory Manager - Buy here/pay here automobile company with 55

dealerships in 3 states

Superior Auto / SAC Finance - Ft. Wayne, IN 2014 - Present

Purchasing Manager - $150M manufacturer of geothermal heating and

cooling equipment.

Water Furnace Intl. - Ft. Wayne, IN 2008 - 2014

Inventory Manager, Plant Manager - $25M holding company composed of 8

business units

specializing in contract sewing, screen-printing, embroidery, and

property management

Equity Management Group - Ft. Wayne, IN 2002 - 2008 (business

closed)

Inventory Manager, Purchasing Manager - Regional coffee roaster ($30M)

that provides coffee, tea and

supplies to retail and office coffee service markets

Cadillac Coffee Company - Ft. Wayne, IN 2000 - 2002

Purchasing Manager, Production Manager - Regional snack food producer

($60M) of potato chips, tortilla chips & pretzels

Seyfert Foods, Inc. - Ft. Wayne, IN 1995 - 2000 (business closed)

EDUCATION AND TRAINING

. Ball State University - Muncie, IN

BS - Industrial Technology Minor: Business Management

AS - Plastics Manufacturing

. APICS - CPIM Certification

. Internal Certification in Lean Manufacturing

. Court appointed mediator

. CPR, First Aid, and Member of Emergency Response Team

. OSHA - General Industry Safety Training

. Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook

. ISO 9001:2008 Internal Auditor

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