Quality Assurance Supervisor

Kathryn (Katy) H. Soto

**** ******* ***** **. *** #2 Rancho Palos Verdes, CA 90275 720-***-**** ******@*****.***

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

*/**** – present Toyota Motor Sales, Torrance, California, Public Affairs Specialist

* Media contact concerning safety and quality inquires of company products & vehicle recalls

* Logistics and event support at Toyota sponsored environmental and safety seminars

* Auto Show support for environmental and safety related displays/press conferences

* ESQ website administrator, including PHV and CSRC micro sites

* Responsible for maintaining and adding new content to the ESQ department’s website – content includes “deep dive” into Toyota’s environmental, safety and quality programs and vehicle systems

* Manage website projects to revamp website layout/design: worked directly with web developers in ESQ website redesign(s), creation/redesign of CSRC website, and PHV Dashboard

* Prius Plug-In demonstration program vehicle data management

* Coordinated installation of Vehicle Performance Loggers into 132 program vehicles throughout United States

* Coordinated weekly download of vehicle data from TMC website and distribution to research partners

* Adapt research reports for display on PHV Dashboard on ESQ website

* Child Passenger Safety Technician

* Liaison between Toyota and Child Passenger Safety communities

11/2007 – 9/2010 Toyota Logistics Services, Inc., Long Beach, California, Production Supervisor

* March 2010 to September 2010 – Quality Supervisor of 3 hourly associates responsible for ensuring production associates are following established SOPs for vehicle accessory installations and conducting weekly vehicle audits for reporting to headquarters.

* Reviewed audit defects and issued demerits and re-training as outlined in union contract and Quality Performance Policy.

* Coordinated centralized training of new accessories for all facilities across United States.

* Conducted weekly quality meetings with Team Leads and Supervisors to review previous week quality defects and damage reports.

* Daily reconciliation of Quality Audit tracking database.

* Raised average facility audit score from 87% to 92%

* September 2008 to March 2010 – Port-Of-Entry (POE) & Final Quality Assurance (FQA) Supervisor: Supervised 70+ union associates responsible for vehicle movement from First-Point-of-Rest (FPR) to production shops & FQA to truckaway/rail loadlines. Supervised 8 union associates responsible for final inspection and installation of mandated materials and Monroney labels on all Toyota and Scion vehicles.

* Responsible for managing inventory levels in FPR and coordinating consolidation efforts to prepare for ship discharges

* Organize training program for temporary associates and manage temporary associate work contracts

* Managing compliance with quality storage guidelines for all vehicles stored at the port

* Managed 7 off-site vehicle storage yards during high inventory levels

* November 2007 to September 2008 – Parts Supervisor: supervised 9 union associates in delivery of vehicle accessory parts to production floor.

* Reduced on hand inventory from $1.8 million to $800K (reduction of kanban levels and eliminating obsolete inventory).

* Took part in kaizen to adjust parts delivery truck schedules which resulted in reduced daily overtime of parts associates.

* Implemented various Just-In-Time parts delivery processes.

* Analysis of fast moving parts contributed to redesign of FQA building to incorporate efficiency with ergonomics (fast moving parts in the “Golden Zone”)

1/2007 – 11/2007 Toyota Logistics Services, Inc., Portland, Oregon, Vehicle Logistics Trainee

* Training with logistics department to gain experience with coordination of ship discharges, loading/offloading damage issues, truck/rail shipments, Tendered/Non-Shipped reports, auto show units, and deviations.

* Training with production department to gain experience with production supervisor duties, parts department, and Kaizen.

3/2004 – 1/2007 Banks and Gesso, LLC, Lakewood, Colorado, Permitting Assistant

* Worked with project managers in environmental permitting and compliance projects for mining and industrial land uses.

* Performed research for condemnation projects and other litigation support.

* Bookkeeping and other administrative duties: A/R, A/P, payroll, health care benefits and other general office management.

2/2002 – 1/2007 Barnes and Noble College Booksellers, Golden, Colorado

Colorado School of Mines Campus Bookstore, Sales Associate/Asst. Manager

* General management duties: opening/closing store, delegating tasks to employees, organization of store displays.

* Store website management.

* Campus apparel & gifts inventory management.

6/2003 – 8/2003 U.S. Department of Transportation, Washington, D.C.

Agency: National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Intern

* Assisted safety defect specialists with formal investigations.

* Analysis of trends in consumer complaints regarding vehicle safety defects.

* Responsible for preparing Issue Evaluation reports on potential vehicle safety defects.

EDUCATION

1/2005 – 12/2006 University of Colorado at Denver, Denver, Colorado

* M.B.A., International Business emphasis

8/1999 – 12/2003 Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado

* B.S. Engineering (Mechanical Specialty) Minor: Economics & Business

SKILLS

Operating Systems: Windows XP/7, Mac OS X

Engineering Software: ALGOR, MathCAD, Solid Edge, Risa 3-D

Computer Programs: Experience with Hyperion/Brio, Microsoft Visio & Access

Excellent knowledge of Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

K. Soto resume, page 2 of 2

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