Manager Manufacturing

Ronald J. Luety

**** * ****** *******, ** *****

*******@*****.*** 319-***-**** cell

Highly accomplished senior executive with over 30 years of extensive experience working in a wide range of design and manufacturing businesses, coaching and leading teams of 20 to 300+ individuals comprised of laborers, tradesmen, and professionals. Results oriented, decisive, exceptional leader with proven success analyzing business operations to establish cost effective solutions enabling organizations to capitalize on growth opportunities.

Core Competencies

Outstanding Leadership

Strategic Planning

Mentoring and Coaching

Budget Management

Process Improvement

Technology Development

Design and Development

Facilities and Capital Planning

Lean Principles

Manufacturing Expertise

Metal Working

Resource Planning

Professional Experience

KINZE MANUFACTURING INC, WILLIAMSBURG, IA 08/2004-June 2015

Director of Manufacturing Engineering 11/2010-June 2015

Responsible for all new product development manufacturing preparation and launch activities, supporting current products, all capital equipment related to manufacturing, all facilities renovations and new construction, all while driving and supporting lean practices.

Lead non-technical, technical, and professional staff of over 25. Manage and lead management staff and team through New Product Development (NPD) process to launch new products. Accountable for all of the manufacturing engineers, programmers, maintenance, tool & die, and construction activities to ensure all facets of the business are supported. Develop and manage strategic objectives and execute these objectives through tactical plans. Advise ownership and senior management, providing them with timely, concise, relevant information, ensuring awareness of high risk concerns while presenting mitigation plans which facilitate corporate decisions. Create, develop and facilitate numerous initiatives to develop cross-functional team support on NPD projects. Actively involved in promoting engineering and technical professions in local communities through programs such as Project Lead the Way, intern/coop programs and welding programs at the local community colleges and schools.

Key Achievements:

Actively coach and mentor over 15 direct reports to dramatically improve morale, increase productivity and employee retention.

Drove change to eliminate wasteful and unproductive activities, developed a culture based on mutual trust, empowerment, and accountability.

Concurrently managed construction of a $6.6 million, 127,500 sq ft fully equipped manufacturing addition within 10 months while also responsible the most significant and successful launch of a new product in company history (estimated product development costs exceeded $10 million).

Played key role in the development and implementation of Kinze’s first formal New Product Development process used in Manufacturing Engineering.

Greatly reduced the number of recurring production issues that were a result of inadequate planning, controlled processes, and lack of accountability related to new product launch activities.

Annually develop and implement a $10 to $12 million capital plan.

Developed processes that establish accountability for capital equipment expenditures and facilities expansion and renovation.

Developed processes that established financial accountability and consistent progress reporting for capital equipment and facilities expansions and renovations.

Serve as a primary Senior Leadership Team (SLT) member on the Lean Steering Committee focused on establishing lean objectives and continuous improvement activities.

Director of Engineering 01/2007-11/2010

Responsible for all R&D, new product design, development, prototyping, testing and manufacturing preparation activities.

Lead non-technical, technical and professional staff of over 50. Manage and lead my management staff through the New Product Development (NPD) process to launch new products, support current product manufacturing issues and resolve warranty or customer related issues. Develop and manage strategic objectives and execute these objectives through tactical plans. Advise ownership and senior management, providing them with timely, concise, relevant information, ensuring awareness of high risk concerns while presenting mitigation plans which facilitate corporate decisions. Create, develop and facilitate numerous initiatives to develop cross-functional team support on NPD projects. Actively involved in promoting engineering and technical professions in local communities through programs such as Project Lead the Way, intern/coop programs and welding programs at the local community colleges and schools.

Key Achievements:

Actively coach and mentor 24 direct reports to dramatically improve morale, increase productivity and employee retention.

Drove change to eliminate a toxic environment and promote a culture based on mutual trust, empowerment, and accountability.

Developed and implemented formal processes on disciplined approaches to support NPD activities.

Greatly reduced the number of product updates that were a result of inadequate control processes and a lack of accountability related to new product development activities.

Developed processes that established accountability throughout the organization such as defining roles and responsibilities for NPD procurement and defining roles and responsibilities for the development of manufacturing tooling and processes.

Serve as a primary Senior Leadership Team (SLT) member on the Lean Steering Committee focused on establishing lean objectives and continuous improvement activities.

Continually challenge status quo in all areas of the organization.

Significantly improved drafting time while reducing the amount of staff needed.

Quality Manager 08/2004-01/2007

Responsible for all internal and external quality related activities ranging from managing the daily quality issues in production and from vendors to addressing customer related concerns received by service or through warranty claims in a department of 4 people across two shifts.

Key Achievements:

Actively worked with 6 direct reports to dramatically improve morale, increase productivity and employee retention.

The first Quality Manager Kinze had hired to focus totally on establishing a formal quality program.

Developed and implemented an issue tracking and corrective action database that is used to record, assign, track, and follow all quality issues through to completion.

Established a gage calibration and tracking system; investigated and implemented Crib Master Software used to track and record all gage activities.

Developed and implemented an Engineering Change Request (ECR) Review Team.

Developed and implemented a Warranty Claim (by cost and quantity) Review Team.

Developed and implemented a first, periodic and last part inspection procedure in manufacturing.

Developed production work instructions for key processes.

Facilitated organizational change by persuading ownership to allow cross functional involvement with NPD projects.

MONTEZUMA MANUFACTURING A DIVISION OF MAGNA INTERNATIONAL, MONTEZUMA, IA

Production Manager 10/1999-8/2004

Responsible for a 3 shift production operation of just under 300 people for a tier one automotive supplier. Primary responsibilities were focused around developing a safe work environment in which to produce a high quality product in a productive manner. Organized maintenance and tool room activities to ensure the appropriate support was provided.

Key Achievements:

Led the company in an effort to regain their ISO QS certification after almost losing their certification due to inconsistently following documented processes; the surveillance audit occurred after I had only been with the company about one month.

Led the company in greatly reducing OSHA recordable injuries; when I left the company in August of 2004 we were one month shy of going two years without a lost time accident. Ultimately, the company went one month short of four years without a lost time accident.

Led the company to an unheard of zero Parts Per Million (PPM) customer rejection rate. When I left the company in August of 2004 we had gone just over two years without a customer rejection. Ultimately, the company went just over three years without a customer rejection.

Led the company to improve productivity and efficiency significantly. Unfortunately, when I started at Montezuma Manufacturing there was no reporting functionality in the MRP system and no historical productivity or efficiency data. Worked with Magna corporate to develop reporting enabling a large percentage of Magna companies to record and track productivity and efficiency rates.

Worked closely with Magna corporate to develop a supervisor training program, providing feedback on the materials and how it should be presented. This program was then adopted by a large number of Magna plants.

Played a major role in improving the hiring process which greatly reduced new employee turnover.

PRECISION DRAWN METALS INC. 12/1984-10/1999

Plant Manager

Managed all facets of the organization including tooling design and development, tool room activities, press floor activities and the quoting process for tooling. I was the fourth person hired at this company, starting as a machinist and over my tenure held numerous positions including tool room supervisor, press floor manager and lastly the plant manager position. Much of my time was spent developing and debugging multiple transfer press tooling and supporting the activities needed for this process as well as quoting carbide tooling used on multiple transfer presses.

Key Achievements:

Responsible for establishing a consistent routing used to process customer tooling through the shop. Specifically managed all specialized form tooling that was produced on either a Ram or Wire Electrical Discharge Machine (EDM). This tooling was very unique, close tolerance tooling that only a few tool manufacturers in the country could produce.

Established a consistent quoting process for the carbide tooling we sold which increased profits and lowered risks.

Was asked to take over managing the press floor after the fourth supervisor was terminated within a one year period. Lead the press floor team to improve quality and productivity by establishing consistent processes.

Assisted in the implementation of the ISO 9000 system.

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Prior experience as a machinist at Wagner Brake and Clutch and RT Blackhawk Machine. Both companies were located in north central Illinois.

Education and Credentials

UPPER IOWA UNIVERSITY – FAYETTE, IA

Bachelor of Science in Business Administration

July, 2014

GPA 3.89

Honors: Magna Cum Laude

BLACKHAWK TECHNICAL INSTITUTE – JANESVILLE, WI

Auto Mechanics, 1978

Machine Maintenance, 1980

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