Sales Manager
Resume:
LAWRENCE E. GROFF
Springfield, MO, 65802
abmec8@r.postjobfree.com
PROFILE
Extensive business experience including managing in multinational
corporations with diverse cultures and operational philosophies. A proven
record of building customer support and satisfaction by providing desired
deliverables while meeting or surpassing the operational needs / metrics of
the business. Key experience includes:
* P & L Responsibility.
* Total business strategic planning and development of business growth
strategies.
* Formation of strategic alliances with customers and suppliers.
* Meeting / surpassing increasingly challenging operational metrics /
focus on results.
* Fostering an environment that recognizes and promotes continuous
improvement.
* Recognizing talent, building a team capable of taking on new and
difficult challenges.
* Successfully managing in both expanding and shrinking markets.
* Managing multiple plant sites.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
The Carlisle Companies are a multi-national company with annual sales of $2
billion. Carlisle Power Transmission products is a division with annual
sales of $140 million. The Springfield plant accounts for 50% of these
sales and focuses upon difficult to make highly engineered products to
numerous customers worldwide. The Springfield plant produces 25,000 unique
SKU's and supplies "in process" materials to other facilities.
Plant Manager - Springfield MO
Responsible for all manufacturing of the Carlisle Power Transmission
facility in Springfield, an annual operating budget in excess of $60
million with 40 salaried, 280 hourly and 40 contracted employees.
. Introduced and implemented lean manufacturing concepts with a focus on
reducing indirect labor (reduced 20%) and improving quality (external
customer returns were taken from > 500 ppm to <150ppm).
. Implement a bottom-up driven philosophy for continuous operational
improvement. Validated annual savings exceeded $1,000,000 in each of the
last two years
. Developed and began implementation of a 5 year program to restructure the
facility layout to improve operational effectiveness along with increased
capacity while reducing the manufacturing footprint by 25%.
. Changed the manufacturing model from one of long lead-time / long volume
production runs to reducing lead-time by 50% with production runs of a
lot size of one.
Camoplast is a multi-national company with annual sales in excess of $300
million. The Traction Group is the largest single group in terms of sales
volume with worldwide sales exceeding $120 million operating 3
manufacturing plants in North America, 1 in Finland along with a research
and development center in Quebec. The business split is 75% OEM with 25%
aftermarket. OEM customers include Bombardier, Caterpillar, John Deere,
Yamaha.
Group Operation Director - Plattsburgh NY
Responsible for all group manufacturing operations and the equipment design
group located in the research and development center, annual budget in
excess of $100 million.
. Obtained Gross Profit levels of 45%+ and Operating Profit levels of 10%+.
. Implemented a Continuous Improvement Program called ACE (Achieving
Competitive Excellence) that has resulted in annual savings exceeding
$1,000,000 per year for each of the past two years. This is a bottom up
approach driven by the equipment operators
. Implemented a "culture change" initiative to move toward high performance
empowered teams to embellish and support the ACE program.
LAWRENCE E. GROFF
Page 2
Bridgestone / Firestone is a multi-national company with annual sales in
excess of $17 billion. The Agricultural Tire division which operates as
though it were a wholly owned subsidiary has global sales in excess of $350
million. The Des Moines manufacturing facility manufactures and
distributes 95% of the 950 agricultural products offered by Bridgestone /
Firestone.
Director of Manufacturing - Des Moines IA
Responsible for all operations of Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. manufacturing
facility in Des Moines, an annual budget of $280 million and 200 salaried
and 1250 hourly associates.
. Reduced operating costs 16% during a 20% decline in total size of market
and increased market share from 40% to 50%.
. Initiated "Vision Project" to create a long-term vision for Des Moines
location. Engaged outside consultant to interview 50 employees to
identify issues. Process improved relationships and expanded focus to
include the whole Agricultural Tire division.
. Expanded and refined "management policy system" through all levels of the
organization. In addition to focus on "problem area" attention was given
to "day to day" operational issues. The following are significant
impacts to the operational metrics of the facility:
o Taking a proactive approach to injuries and workers compensation
issues, workers compensation costs were reduced 60%.
o Through the use of root cause analysis and assignment of focused
taskforces' field adjustments and warranty claims were reduced
38%.
o By focusing upon "indirect labor", through job refinements and
job combinations or eliminations productivity was improved 7%.
o Operating costs were reduced by 9% by focus on the operational
metrics of the factory.
Operations Manager - Des Moines IA
Responsible for all production, plant engineering, maintenance and support
activities for the facility. Managed staff of 155 salaried and 1350 hourly
personnel and an annual labor and overhead budget of $126 million. Major
focus of assignment was resolution of issues associated with conversion
from a 5-day operation to a 7-day operation.
. Led pilot plant implementation of a corporate wide ERP initiative within
a tight 3 month deadline. Identified and modified operational areas and
systems that needed to be changed to match new software functions.
Pilot became the standard for the corporation and saves $1 million
annually.
. Led development of an educational program that allowed associates who
worked a 24/7 schedule to obtain a BA/BS. Negotiated with a local
college to waive tuition payment until tuition reimbursement was received
by student.
Prior positions
Held various Management and Engineering positions in the
Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc. Corporation at several locations in North
America including: Des Moines, Iowa; Akron, OH; Wilson, NC and Los Angeles,
CA. Many assignments required extensive travel within North America,
Europe and Japan.
Additional significant Accomplishments at Bridgestone/Firestone, Inc.:
. Developed a basic preventive maintenance program that could be
implemented in any Firestone tire producing facility, making minor
modification to fit the facility's needs and operating environment.
. Developed a maintenance operation evaluation and performance measurement
system.
. Justified, specified, selected and assisted in the implementation of the
computerized maintenance information and control system for the entire
corporation.
UNIVERSITY OF IOWA, Iowa Iowa City, IA
Visiting Professor
. Taught a section of the business policy course that was required for
graduating seniors. Course focused on the formulation and implementation
of business strategies.
EDUCATION
MBA, Masters of Business Administration, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA
BS, Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering, Michigan Technological
University, Houghton, MI
Registered Professional Engineer - State of California
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