Norman J. Nicholson

***** ******* ***** 586-***-****

abnf0y@r.postjobfree.com

Macomb Township, Michigan 48044

SUMMARY

Motivated individual and team player with 15 years of experience in management and business with proven

abilities in product and design engineering, data and program management, possessing a strong background in

manufacturing and industrial environments. Successful history of cost reduction, overseeing projects from

conception through design, and working relationships with international customers.

• Design for Manufacture • Cost Reduction • Budget Development • Negotiation

• Team Building • Mentoring • Process Improvement • Resource

Optimization

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

THE WOODBRIDGE GROUP, Troy, MI 1995-2009

The Woodbridge Group offers innovative foam technologies to supply several business

sectors around the globe. As a Senior Product Engineer, I developed and maintained

customer relationships, was accountable for final design for acoustic foam products, energy

absorbing products and seating foam products as well as Data Management in the

translating of 3D and 2D data using Unigraphics NX5, CATIA V5 and Theorem translators.

Senior Product Engineer 2001-2009

• Developed and designed Prototype Tooling system to supply finished foam product to Ford Motor

Company at low cost with short turn-around timing that saved $10,000 per tool and reduced tool

production time by 75%.

Wrote Prototype Tool Technical Manual that was used in tool construction and sampling at manufacturing plant,

continuing to be used today.

Led Product Design Reviews to address design concerns and suggested Right First Time improvement.

Member of product development team that designed an Expanded Polypropylene Load Floor for the Ford Edge

that led to new OEM business award of $100,000 per year.

Developed and maintained budgets for all modifications to tooling and fixtures as well as design programs.

Member of development team that designed a new 2 nd Row Cushion for the Chevrolet Volt that resulted in a

substantial weight savings to vehicle.

• Interpreted GD&T as received from customer in 2D and 3D data formats.

Wrote DFMEA, FMEA, and Design Verification Plan & Report documents as part of collaborative team in

risk mitigation.

As Program Manager for the Woodbridge Group, I represented the company at regular Lear PDT meetings for

cost savings, negotiated piece price and tooling, tracked all open economics for margin improvement, acquired

customer

purchase orders, addressed quality issues, and reviewed product design for design for manufacture.

Prog ram Manager 2001

• Collaborated with customer engineers to design a complete seat system within the Lear Business Unit for the

GM Truck programs.

• Involved in Lear SAVE program to save company $50,000 per year through Value Engineering to

meet yearly Long-Term Agreement requirement.

Developed and monitored tool delivery schedules and PPAP timelines.

• Led Advance Quality Planning Teams in North America with several manufacturing plants in Canada

and Mexico.

As a Senior Product Engineer for the Woodbridge Group, I program managed several car lines from concept

through

design and mentored engineers in the areas of tool and fixture design.

Senior Product Engineer 1998–2001

• Collaborated with customer engineers and designers from Lear Corporation to develop a manufacturable

complete seat system for the Cadillac STS, Chevrolet Impala, Monte Carlo and Corvette.

Participated in cost reduction team that saved the customer an average of $1,000,000 per year.

Chaired Advance Quality Planning Teams with several manufacturing plants.

Collaborated with Keiper in Germany to design the Saturn L-Series sedan seat system.

Worked with manufacturing plant in Russelsheim, Germany to compile lessons learned from

the Opel Vectra foam design which were applied to the Saturn L-Series seat system.

As a Product Engineer for the Woodbridge Group, I program managed several car lines for Johnson Controls, Lear

Corporation and Magna, designed tools and fixtures and sourced suppliers for seat components and tooling.

Product Engineer 1995–1998

• Responded to customer design concerns on the Chevrolet Malibu, Plymouth Neon, Dodge Viper, and GM

Truck platforms from components to end-item.

Worked jointly with seat designers in areas of final foam design.

Participated in cost reduction teams through Lear COMPASS and Value Engineering that saved $100,000 per

year.

AMERICAN / SCI ENGINEERING, INC., Troy, MI 1993-1995

American / SCI Engineering, Inc. offered contract employment in the fields of engineering and management in

the automotive industry. As a Production Manager, I was accountable for high-volume assembly of Econoline

Van Instrument Panels at Ford Motor Company, managed a team of 40 people in a union environment, supervised

foam and assembly operations for numerous Ford product lines, collected quality data to improve product

processes, and

accountable for payroll and labor reduction costs using the TWO’s Payroll System.

Production Manager

• Conducted cross-sectional team reviews to develop design requirements to improve product quality on the

Ford Econoline Van, Thunderbird, and Mustang instrument panels.

Participated in product development teams to improve foam molding operations of the Ford Econoline Van and

Thunderbird instrument panels.

Controlled warehouse inventory by utilizing the CMMS Inventory System where Just-In-Time Manufacturing was

used.

Negotiated with employees and UAW to achieve an increased daily number of assembled Econoline instrument

panels which became new assembly line standard and reduced Direct and Indirect labor costs.

ADDITIONAL RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

PLASTIPAK PACKAGING, Westland, MI

Plastipak Packaging is an industry leader in the design and manufacturing of plastic rigid containers. As a

Production Manager, I was accountable for 20-ounce and 2-liter bottle production and managed 10 non-union

employees on a bottle production line including skilled and non-skilled labor, collected and used quality data to

analyze and improve product quality, and trained salary and non-salary employees on the operation and

maintenance

of the SIDEL beverage bottle system.

Production Manager

• Active in product design and development of 20-ounce bottle.

Established and implemented process and quality procedures which increased productivity by 25% and reduced

scrap costs by 30% through utilization of statistical process control techniques in the manufacturing process.

EDUCATION

Master of Science in Administration, Central Michigan University Graduate School, Mt. Pleasant, MI

Concentration: Vehicle Design Manufacturing Administration

Bachelor of Applied Arts, Central Michigan University, Mt. Pleasant, MI

Major: Industrial Supervision and Management

Minor: Marketing and Business Administration

COMPUTER EXPERIENCE

MS Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Access, Crystal Report, CATIA V4, CATIA V5, Unigraphics NX5, Theorem,

VisView, Autocad, Ford WERS, Infinium, and Oracle

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