Michael Gedeon

Hendersonville, NC ***** 828-***-**** Cell ac5hdy@r.postjobfree.com

Summary

global manufacturing management

Supply Chain Management Production Purchasing Human Resources Sales & Marketing

Leadership at the Intersection of Profitability & Customer Satisfaction

Contributing Revenue Growth, Performance, and Product Innovation

20+-year career delivering quality & performance improvements in start-up, M&A, high-growth, and mature industries in highly competitive business environments.

Bottom-line, quality-driven expert in new product development, functional & profitable production lines, and training that motivates teams to highest quality and production rates. Knack for finding alternatives to complete the task at hand. Willing to Travel & Relocate.

Stickler for quality and efficiency, using exceptional creativity, problem-solving, and contingency planning skills to ensure delivery that always exceeds expectations.

Leverage exceptional organizational skills, discipline, and follow-through to plan and execute projects from initial concept through resource allocation to completion.

Analytical, decisive manager who incorporates integrity, lean management, and world-class planning skills to ensure optimal efficiency, employee relations, and productivity.

Of Note: First to draw Callebaut’s attention to Mona Lisa Foods while customizing a product for Dawn Foods (a Barry Callibaut customer) for a trade show. They liked it, and then acquired it.

Skills

Strategic Production Planning New Product Development Team Leadership & Development

Efficiency Improvement Lean Management Production Increase Staff Training & Cross-Training

Quality Assurance New Product Design & Launch Regulatory Compliance & Safety Maintenance Supervision

Documentation Reporting & Verification Employee Scheduling/Payroll/Attendance Highest Integrity

Leadership Initiatives

SITE SUPERVISOR • 10/17-Present • Falcon Farms/Petals Distributors, Hendersonville, NC

Regional distributor of cut flowers.

Hire, train, and coach drivers and loaders for delivery of cut flowers to all Ingles stores in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Tennessee. Establish and maintain team spirit and ensure flow of communitions up and down the team/corporate structure. Ensure accuracy, on-time deliveries, and safety.

PRODUCTION MANAGER • 6/2017-10/2017 • Triangle Autostops, Hendersonville, NC

Retail gas station & convenience stores.

Recruited as member of management team; scope of accountability included open/close of store, ordering and documentation, record management, training, inventory control.

PRODUCTION MANAGER • 1993-2017 • Mona Lisa Foods, Hendersonville, NC

Food processing facility offering high-end finished chocolate/fondant products to wholesalers, distributors, brokers, manufacturers, and retailers globally. A division of $14-billion Barry Callebaut with 56 global sites, it is the only gourmet facility in the Americas.

Hired at start-up facility; rapidly acquired increasingly accountable management responsibilities, with direct leadership and P&L responsibility for 56 employees and operating functions throughout $20-million site.

Start-up Strategic Planning & Leadership:

• Key contributor to design of new production lines, new product innovation, product quality, layouts for molds, order picking, shipping, inventory controls, safety, payroll, hiring/training (all staff), purchase of product packaging, marketing strategies. Negotiated all vendor pricing pending owner’s approval.

• Planned production, monitored inventory levels, evaluated sales trends, built inventories running slower, produced items early to meet demands in the peak seasons. Result a 98% on-time delivery rate.

• With loss of key chocolate supplier, took on challenge of testing to find chocolate recipes that would work in our equipment to produce quality product. After success in 3 months, meticulously blended in “unusable” chocolate into existing chocolate to be used in production.

Business Development & Acquisition Contributions:

• Acquired by Barry Callebaut in 2012, met challenge to train a completely new work force in 40 days, with required e-verification.

• Worked with Master Data team to integrate production goals, product weights, ingredient percentages, packaging and shipping weights, and pallet configurations. Incorporated all products into SAP, including 500+ SKUs, to develop % of formulas for raw materials, production rates, packaging materials necessary to establish costs within SAP.

New Product Development & Brand Management:

• Work with corporate on new product developments for international customers, transitioning concepts into actual production. Determine equipment or molds needed, necessary modifications, test runs, labor needed, cycle time/output, cost of product. Provide all production information, ingredient percentages, and best cost efficiencies for packaging to determine product feasibility. Provide samples for marketing. Personally developed exclusive line of cups for customer in Poland.

• Train, cross-train, monitor, coach, and evaluate 50+ employees and supervisors; manage payroll and scheduling (including overtime and vacations). Result Flexibility in scheduling to meet delivery deadlines.

• Continually improve production efficiencies and rates, decrease downtimes, implement lean management and new product innovations, for a continuing sales growth of 15% annually.

• Increased efficiency in running lines, added and trained personnel, added 3rd shift with cross-training, and increased output. Company out-performed 14 other company sites in Americas Divisions to earn Top Achiever Award, 2015, for 16% increased volumes and 98% in-full and on-time delivery rates.

• Meticulously attentive to accuracy of process orders, documentation, product specifications, quality, down to repairs done by maintenance. Audited by and earned accreditation from the British Retail Consortium, the global standard of the food industry, focusing on traceability, GMP accountability, production, ingredient safety & recalls, raw materials, primary/secondary packaging, labeling, and logistics. All suppliers must meet same criteria. Earned grade of A each time we were audited.

• Completed phase 2 of 4 phases of corporate quality culture program (to recognize issues in receiving, production and shipping) involving team spirit, quality, innovation, and responsibility of all employees from production floor up. Have led training seminars for 80 employees.

• In ongoing campaign to improve production, modified line to run product from smaller line. Result 35% production increase while holding labor constant, and allowing us to keep line time open for large customers.

EARLIER CAREER:

• STORE MANAGER, Harlows True Value, Garfield Heights, OH (1990-1993): Merchandising, Scheduling, Point-of-Sales Displays, Department Organization. Improved product mix and inventory control.

• STORE MANAGER, J.A. Conley Company, Chardon, OH (1986-1990): 13-Store Retailer; Merchandising, Scheduling, Point-of-Sales Displays, Department Reorganization. Achieved highest percentage of proper SKUs rung up at check-outs, allowing buyers and company to accurately track goods sold and inventory levels.

• STORE MANAGER/ASSISTANT STORE MANAGER, Turney Department Store, Warren, OH (1980-1986): Aggressive in responding to customer needs and follow-up, trained employees to provide better customer service and facilitate special orders. Markedly increased sales. Created automotive department rivaling larger automotive stores and landing local service garage accounts. Trained staff on loss prevention. Despite being 1st job, entrusted to create a (successful) merchandise mix (SKUs) for trade shows.

Education & Training

Education B.B.A, Marketing, Kent State University, Kent, OH

• Self-financed solid education while performing full- and part-time in business environments.

Certification Coaching Certification, Marbach Program (Corporate Training)

Technology Skills SAP, Master Data, Kronos, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Sage

Foreign Language Spanish, studying Italian

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