William A. Smith
***** ******* **, 574-***-****
Overland Park, KS 66221 **********@*********.***
Executive Management
Private Equity • Startup • Public Sector
Turnaround Management • Market Expansion • Revenue Generation • Acquisition Integration
Energetic and decisive leader with extensive experience in leading operational and revenue expansion to deliver overall enterprise value. Rapid business turnaround and growth leadership to achieve and sustain financial and business expansion results. Top performer with expertise in negotiating complex customer relationships and closing multi-million dollar contracts. Skilled talent and team builder, focused on driving sustained revenue and continuous improvement. Innovative thinker with quick situation analysis and improvement strategy deployment success.
Core Competencies
Revenue Growth Marketing & Sales Mergers & Acquisitions
P&L Management Strategic Planning Turnaround Execution
Product Innovation Adjacent Market Expansion Multi-Site Leadership
Organizational Development Supply Chain Optimization Cash Management
Professional Experience
Product Quest LLC (Product Quest, Ei Pharm Solutions, EnDev Labs), Charlotte, North Carolina
President and CEO, 1/2017 – Present
Provide executive leadership for $180M Contract Manufacturing and Laboratory operation with three business units and oversee financial and business restructuring.
Lead reset of operations and overall strategic direction to address regulatory and financial situation. Completed customer and SKU rationalization, organizational realignment and implemented financial recovery plan to include debt restructuring. Worked with owners to implement new Board of Directors and restructure debt to reduce leverage from 10+ to less than 4. Oversaw re-implementation of ERP and MRP systems, to include full physical inventory review with $15M write-off of obsolete inventory. Implemented business operating strategy and metrics to ensure business results achieved and aligned to customer and owner needs. Set growth trajectory objectives to achieve EBITDA growth from 9% return on sales to 13% over a 3-year period.
Key Achievements
Reduced customer base from 185 to 77, while raising gross margin from 21%-26% and reduced SKU count complexity from 3,100 to 1,200 in 6 months
Completed physical inventory reset and improved location/count accuracy of Raw and WIP from 40% to >98% and have sustained since reset
Started debt to equity restructure to reduce leverage from 10+ to less than 4, to provide base for capital growth and acquisition
Reduced OH/SG&A by 25% by restructuring and consolidating business functions
Completed organizational restructuring in 6 months to reset talent and structure to new strategic direction
Implemented operational planning model that enabled retail business recovery from 35% to >85% fill rate in 5 months, with defined path to >95%
Reduced cash conversion cycle from 125 days to 75 days in 8 months with renegotiated terms and improved supply chain management
KIK Custom Products, Elkhart, Indiana
President and COO Custom Division, 11/2010 – 1/2017
Oversaw organic and acquisition growth model to achieve 3x EBITDA growth over 5 year period, enabling asset sell to new sponsor.
Recruited to drive overall growth and operational execution excellence to provide path to recover asset value and enable transaction. Developed and owned the full restructuring of the operation and realignment of strategic customer segments. Expanded base contract manufacturing operations into adjacent categories of Services, Turnkey Products and Amenities. Full P&L responsibility for seven facilities and all business functions.
Key Achievements
Increased revenue per unit by 63% over 5 year period in a 6% margin business
Established Sales organization to grow sales pipeline from 80M to 400M units over 3 year period and increased bid win rate from 6% to over 30%, with 10% volume growth per year
Organized Supply Chain operations to secure $11M in procurement savings and centralize materials and order management to achieve >$1M in annualized savings
Realigned R&D organization to drive revenue generation, increasing new product launches from 60 to >100 per year and increasing first year sales from new launches by 15%
Completed three acquisitions over four year period, valued at $100M, and achieved operational and synergy savings to achieve significant equity value
Implemented Operational Excellence program to restructure Cost to Serve model, driving $25M in operating cost improvements
KV Pharmaceutical, St. Louis, Missouri
President/Vice President Operations, 6/2003 – 11/2010
Organized and implemented regulatory compliance recovery and oversaw company transaction to strategic brand company.
Replaced incumbent President to drive regulatory compliance recovery and reestablish profitable operations in preparation for company sell. Full P&L responsibility, including four manufacturing locations and all supporting operations. Spearheaded full regulatory recovery in 14 months resulting in zero FDA observations and achieved full product recertification within three months. Optimized asset base to align to new product portfolio to drive target profitability, resulting in successful business transaction.
Key Achievements
Full regulatory recovery in 14 months with zero FDA observations and full product release
Restructured business model and support staff to reduce operating costs by 68%
Lead business representative in business transaction, achieving 85% of initial ask price
Spun off specialty pharmaceutical product portfolio into stand-alone company
Novartis Consumer Health, Lincoln, Nebraska
Managing Director, Technical Operations, 2/1999 – 6/2003
Managed business consolidation and business partnership integration.
Hired to coordinate plant consolidation plans and restructure business cost base to compete in more competitive markets. Oversaw Technical Operations groups, including Engineering, Product Technology, Quality and New Product and Business Development. Organized integration of product transfers, while launching 34 new products. Restructured product cost matrix and assisted in realignment of organization into product business units, to support optimized product positioning strategy. Multi-facility and P&L responsibility for new business partnerships and joint product manufacturing ventures, including contract negotiations, pricing and business strategy execution.
Aventis Bering, Kankakee, Illinois
Senior Director, Engineering Operations, 6/1996 – 2/1999
Boehringer Ingelheim, St. Joseph, Missouri
Managing Director, Technical Operations, 2/1992 – 6/1996
Baxter Healthcare, Chicago, Illinois
Engineering Manager, 12/1990 – 2/1992
Nuclepore LLC, Pleasanton, California
Process Engineer, 8/1987 – 12/1990
Education and Affiliations
BS Mechanical Engineering, University of Missouri
Six-Sigma Master Black Belt Certification
Product Quest Board of Directors
Consumer Specialty Products Board of Directors
Pharmaceutical Engineering Advisory Board Member
Industry Expert Roundtable Presenter
Global Procurement Strategies
Regulatory Management and FDA Guidance
Stage Gate Development in Product Launch
Work Flow Optimization
Operational Cost Management