R ONALD A. NICODEMUS II

**** ****** ***

Fort Wayne, IN 46815

abiv5h@r.postjobfree.com

260-***-****

CAREER SUMMARY / OBJECTIVE

Over fifteen years experience in the Quality Control field supporting the military, government, industrial and

automotive industry.

Desire to become a member of the Quality Team as.

EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Ann Arbor, MI June 2007

Green Belt Certification

BALL STATE UNIVERSITY Muncie, IN 1989 to 1991

M. A. Community Health, Business Management A C A D E M I C S C H O L A R S H I P 1989 to 1991

PURDUE UNIVERSITY West Lafayette, IN 1982 to 1987

B.A. SPORTS SCIENCE, SUPERVISION Dean’s List 1986, 1987

CONTINUING EDUCATION CLASSES:

Green Belt Certified GD&T Training advanced Lean six sigma

Introduction to Design for Lean Six 5 S – The Five Pillars of Success improving Leadership Effectiveness

Sigma training

ESD Training

export control awareness ITAR Training

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

ITT Corporation, Fort Wayne, Indiana 2005-Present

An ISO 9001:2000 certified unionized facility specializing in the development and manufacture of

communication systems for the United States military and Federal Aviation Administration.

Senior Product Assurance Engineer

• Lead Product Assurance Engineer for the NEXCOM MDR program supporting the Federal Aviation

Administration (FAA).

• Partner with Program Management, Engineering, Manufacturing Management, Procurement and

Test Engineering in a team environment supporting the NEXCOM and assisting the SINCGARS

programs.

• Recommend process changes to reduce cycle times ultimately saving time and money.

• Coordinate Failure Analysis meetings with team members investigating root cause of product

failures.

• Prepare reports, including cause of defects, and recommend appropriate corrective or preventative

action to improve product quality and/or reliability.

• Point of contact with internal FAA Quality Reliability Officer regarding various program issues.

• Review and authorize shipping documents prepared by Contract and Shipping personnel.

• Participate in monthly Program Management Review meetings involving the FAA.

Ronald A. Nicodemus II page 2

• Prepare and present Product Assurance slides for presentation during Program Management Review.

• Perform various internal audits.

• Assist suppliers regarding supplied product quality issues.

• Approve of changes initiated through internal Configuration Control Board.

• Developed Quality manual specifically for the NEXCOM program.

• Audit, investigate and evaluate equipment designs, manufacturing processes and manufactured

product to assure conformance to specifications, standards and customer requirements.

• Collaborate with test, inspection and engineering personnel in determining economical points of

inspection, compatible with quality requirements, indicating the extent of inspection required.

• Review and approve inspection and test procedures prepared by industrial and test engineering

personnel.

• Develop reports on various aspects of the product assurance functions including customer

complaints, cost of scrap and rework operations, accuracy of inspection and quality of outgoing product.

• Implement and direct subordinates in implementing the product assurance activities in compliance

with the product specifications

• Establish periodic inspections and tests through the various phases of assembly.

• Review applicable process controls and the performance of quality assurance tests on finished

products.

• Establish immediate corrective action when results indicate adverse or discrepant condition.

• Conduct periodic reviews of various production line departments for conformance with the Quality

Program Plan.

• Product Assurance representative on internal Material Review Boards (MRB).

• Negotiate with customer for acceptance of MRB approved variations.

• Procure and analyze data using Dataview, Excel and pivot tables.

• Collaborated with the IT department and utilizing the DMAIC process, automated the warranty

return database while reducing the cycle time to produce monthly reports from four to two days.

• Developed a database, utilizing Excel spreadsheet, to catalog production defects. Weekly reports are

generated indicating which areas of production are producing the most defects and scrap.

• Utilizing Lean Manufacturing techniques, the warranty shipping process was revised reducing the

amount of steps and handling of each warranty unit.

FORT WAYNE FOUNDRY, Fort Wayne, Indiana 2004-2005

A QS 9000 certified unionized foundry specializing in aluminum sand castings for General Motors.

Quality Engineer

• Developed procedure and capabilities of specific gravity testing in accordance to foundry standards.

This has helped in controlling the amount of gas porosity in final product.

• Championed the Shutdown/Start Up matrix for summer plant shutdown as required by General Motors.

• Issued Quality Alerts and train employees on quality issues concerning alerts. This allowed the

employees to know and understand how to identify defects affecting quality standards.

• Participated in daily staff meetings and weekly foundry improvement meetings.

• Member of the Cost Reduction Committee. This committee was designed for members to brainstorm on

unique and various ways to cut cost while increasing profitability.

• Generated daily scrap report which allowed the corporate office and plant management to know the

amount of production versus scrap which has taken place during the different shifts.

• Collected information to be used in Production Part Approval Process and submitted to the customer for

approval.

• Performed capability study at supplier. This information was useful in understanding the capabilities of

test equipment being used to determine the conformity of castings.

• Developed graphs using Excel spreadsheet and Access database to track the amount of system damage

being found on castings. System damage is one of the highest defects leading to increased scrap.

• Edited and audited control plans when needed. This allowed the foundry to stay in compliance with the

QS certifications.

• Initiated Process Change Requests which allow continuous improvements in the production flow and

processes.

Ronald A. Nicodemus II page 3

• Participated in the TS 16949:2002 training seminar which defines the requirements for a Quality

Management Systems for automotive suppliers.

• Communicated with customers regarding quality concerns and other pertinent requests.

• Participated in Advanced Product Quality Planning meetings with members from engineering, plant

superintendent, plant manager and corporate.

• Assisted Quality Manager in answering corrective actions request, such as 8-D and 5Y, from customers.

POLY HI SOLIDUR, Fort Wayne, Indiana 2003-2004

Specializing in custom fabrication and machining of Ultra High Molecular Weight polypropylene, nylon and

other plastics for the industrial, paper, food, recreation and other industries.

Quality Engineer

• CONTINUING WITH THE LEAN MANUFACTURING PHILOSOPHY WHICH IN TURN HAS ALLOWED INCREASED PROFITABILITY

WHILE CONCENTRATING ON CORE WORK GROUPS.

• PARTICIPATING IN THE QUALITY MANAGEMENT SYSTEM TEAM. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR BETTER PREPARATION AND

POLY HI SOLIDUR IN THE FUTURE ISO:9001 CERTIFICATION PROCESS.

REPRESENTATION OF

• DEVELOPING FLOWCHARTS, IN CONJUNCTION WITH PLANT MANAGEMENT, WHICH WILL IMPROVE PROCESS FLOW.

• Participated in daily production meetings and weekly returned goods meetings.

• Converted quality forms into electronic versions using spreadsheets and databases which saves time

in document preparation and presentation.

• FORMULATED A QUALITY CONTROL ACTION ITEM LIST TO IDENTIFY AREAS OF OPPORTUNITY AND CONDUCT WEEKLY

QUALITY STAFF MEETINGS TO REVIEW PROGRESS.

• DEVELOPED AUDIT FORM FOR THE AUDIT OF IN PROCESS PROCEDURES WHICH PROVIDE FOR ACCOUNTABILITY AND

TRAINING ALONG WITH POSITIVE FEEDBACK TO SUPERVISOR AND WORKER.

• COMMUNICATED WITH CUSTOMERS IN REGARDS TO POSSIBLE NON-CONFORMITIES OR PRODUCT PERFORMANCE.

• Established return policy for non-conforming material which saves the company money in scrapping

material and product and potential late orders.

• Assisted in the PPAP approval for a key customer thus reassuring the customer the product can be

repeated and made according to specifications.

• DEVELOPED AND IMPROVED PRODUCT WORK INSTRUCTIONS AND BLUEPRINTS. THIS HAS DECREASED THE AMOUNT OF

SCRAP AND DOWN TIME IN FABRICATING THE FINAL PRODUCT WHILE INCREASING PROFIT.

• REQUESTED CORRECTIVE ACTIONS FROM SUPPLIERS AND INTERNALLY FROM PLANT PERSONNEL WHILE DOCUMENTING

CORRECTIVE ACTION REQUESTS FROM CUSTOMERS.

• SET UP TEAM TO IDENTIFY LOCATION AND NUMERATE FIXTURES AND TOOLING WHICH ARE USED TO FABRICATE

PRODUCT. ONCE IDENTIFIED, GAGETROL SOFTWARE IS USED TO DOCUMENT THE LOCATIONS AND WORK INSTRUCTIONS ARE

UPDATED TO REFLECT THE LOCATION AND FIXTURE NUMBER.

UNDERSEA SENSOR SYSTEMS INCORPORATED, Columbia City, Indiana 2001-2003

Manufacturer of sonobuoy’s for the United States Navy

Supplier Quality Assurance Supervisor

• Managed the Purchased Material Inspection department, with up to six hourly employees, and trained on

the various aspects of measuring and documenting the quality of incoming raw materials.

• Maintained the files and records of inspections and controlled the flow of material, via identification,

traceability and ISO-9001 requirements, from receiving to the storeroom.

• Worked with Engineering and Purchasing in the Request for Engineering Approval process for first

piece inspections. First piece submissions are required to ensure the supplier is producing the material

according to blueprint specifications therefore, saving the company time in assembly and inspection.

• Reviewed and approved material inspection plans, developed by engineering, on material which

required incoming inspections. This task was required to get the best inspection at the least cost.

Ronald A. Nicodemus II page 4

• Published non-conforming material reports internally and to suppliers.

• Conducted the material review board meetings concerning the disposition of the segregated non-

conforming material. This saved the production line valuable down time and certain failure of the final

product.

• Implemented changes to the Purchased Material Inspection process which allowed better flow of

material and record keeping allowing quick access to inspection data.

• Contacted suppliers regarding the disposition of non-conforming material and requested corrective

actions and return authorizations.

• Participated in weekly Lead to Production meetings for all sonobuoy programs. These meetings allowed

interaction from all departments on issues and updates concerning sonobuoy production.

• Documented the performance of key suppliers and material, using Excel spreadsheet and graphs, which

was reviewed by the Quality Manager and Operations.

• Performed on site audits to various suppliers such as: plastic injection molders, wire manufacturers,

metal stampings and rolling, die cast molders, circuit card and printed wire board assemblers and sub

assembly manufacturers located nationally and internationally.

• Helped train supplier employees, who manufactured sub assemblies in the Dominican Republic, on

new processes using work instructions, photos, blueprints and supplier information notices.

• Updated ERP database when new material inspection plans were developed. This would indicate to

the receiving personnel that the material needed to be inspected.

• Assisted design engineers in the failure analysis of returned product due to failed lot drops.

• Worked with production in troubleshooting material issues on the production line. Investigated

problems and initiated contact with purchasing and suppliers for corrective actions.

• Reviewed, approved and signed the Engineering Change Notices which allowed changes to be made

to blueprints, processes or bill of materials lists. Recommended additional changes when necessary.

• Utilized Coordinate Measuring Machine, Optical Comparator, calipers, micrometers, scales, vacuum

tester, height and flatness gages and other tools to measure material submitted for pre-production

approval.

• Participated in weekly teleconference calls with suppliers. This allowed continuous feedback from

the supplier regarding material issues.

• Interviewed and hired additional inspectors when needed. A skills and written test was used, in

addition to the interview, to help choose the inspector.

• Developed the Non-Conforming Material Report, Request for Engineering Approval and Material

Inspection Plan forms to be used and viewed electronically. These reports were stored on the U.S.S.I.

network which allowed viewing from any internal personal computer.

VALSPAR CORPORATION, Fort Wayne, Indiana 19972000

ISO 9001 certified industrial paint coatings manufacturer

Quality Analyst

1 Evaluated raw materials and documented results such as specific gravity, viscosity’s, percent of

nonvolatile mixture, antistatic conductivity, gas chromatograph and infrared spectrophotometer.

2 Supervised six union personnel in the receiving and sampling of supplier bulk material.

3 Collaborated with Purchasing and Receiving regarding status of incoming raw materials. Verified

compliance of raw materials. Rejected and separated nonconforming raw materials.

4 Generated Supplier NonConformance Reports and issued related supplier charges in accordance with

stated contractual agreements.

5 Contacted suppliers regarding corrective actions to rejected nonconforming materials.

6 Established material control pattern through performance of statistical process control.

7 Served as Element Owner on the ISO Certification team. Performed role of Internal Auditor on the ISO

9001 Team. Contribution resulted in plant wide compliance with established quality standards.

8 Inventory Auditor for plant wide raw materials and finished goods inventory. Supervised team of' six.

9 Worked with union personnel in a just in time environment resulting in over 95% on time performance.

• Coordinated with Research and Development, Manufacturing, and Purchasing departments to establish

and implement continuous process improvements plant wide.

1 Tested manufacturing paint batches to verify conformance with established specifications. Provided

recommendations for resolving nonconforming batch problems.

Ronald A. Nicodemus II page 5

2 Coordinated and oversaw multiple simultaneous lab experiments which analyzed and tested raw material

for compliance with product specifications.

3 Served as member of the Failure Mode and Effects Analysis Team

POWERHOUSE GYM, Fort Wayne, Indiana 19931996

Internationally franchised fitness and aerobic center

Owner/President

1 Managed and oversaw startup of franchised aerobic and fitness facility,

2 Hired promoter to oversee successful preopening membership drive.

3 Led new business initiatives, which resulted in 4,000 members within first 24 months.

4 Negotiated a five-year lease agreement with property management company.

HANDY & HARMAN AUTOMOTIVE, Angola, Indiana 1992-1993

Certified QS 9000 automotive parts supplier specializing in fuel injection rails.

Quality Assurance Technician

• Calibrated and logged results of various gauges plant wide following established schedule.

1 Used micrometers, calipers, taps and dies in calibration process.

2 Submitted quality certifications to

customers.

3 Utilized optical comparator to help establish cause of defects.

NEW VENTURE GEAR, Muncie, Indiana 19911992

Manufacturer of manual transmissions for GM and Chrysler

Quality Analyst

• Oversaw and submitted in process parts to analytical lab ensuring finished goods met established

tolerances and blueprint specifications.

1 Submitted quality certifications to

customers.

2 Worked with union CMM operators to measure significant characteristics on random sample parts.

3 Participated in the GD&T blueprint reading seminar.

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