Julia Gramada

*** ******** *****, *******, ***** 75019 Cell: 469-***-**** E-mail: acv2zb@r.postjobfree.com

High-performance Design Engineer with Systematic & Results-driven Approach

** ***** ** intense experience in process design for food & beverage, dairy and pharmaceutical industries. Strong technical, managerial, and leadership skills with demonstrated competence in all aspects of engineering and project management including plant maintenance and capital expenditure, financial management, plant development, quality assurance and production related issues knowledgeable in water treatment systems. Capable of handling complex challenges with a track record of successful project delivery within strict time-frames and budgets. Drive continuous cost and quality improvements in system designs and maintain up-to-date knowledge of leading edge technologies that support business needs. Well-developed leadership skills; train, develop and spearhead the efforts of professionals, expand and enrich their capabilities, set targets, evaluate results and appraise performances. Hold reputation for impeccable integrity, decisiveness, solid judgment, and drive cost-efficient operations and competently achieve optimal outcomes.

Core Competencies

Organized and detail-oriented, possess strong organizational, analytical, conceptual thinking, and problem resolution skills; ability to take challenges, multi-task, and prioritize a broad range of responsibilities.

Highly inventive and client oriented with global vision and proactive approach; committed to foster continuous process and performance improvements.

Work equally well independently to meet organizational goals, and collaboratively as part of a team.

Encompass outstanding interpersonal, effective communication and presentation skills with a contagious enthusiasm and demonstrated ease in conversing across diverse audiences.

Solid understanding and advanced proficiency within the MS Office Suite (Word, Excel, Access, PowerPoint); AutoCAD Release 13 & AutoCAD LT 2000, MS Project and MP2 Maintenance Software

Professional Experience

Business Developer and Office Manager

Law Offices of Jeffrey C. Grass

July 2010-Present

Plano, TX

A law firm in the field of criminal, military and healthcare law (family business); dedicated to defending the legal rights of the accused

Productively contributing and benefitting the firm; develop business plans and manage financial budgeting.

Designed and launched two advertising websites, and manage all advertising requirements for the business.

Proficiently manage the activities including finances of the two law offices, train and develop staff to successful outcomes, expand and enrich their capabilities, delegate tasks, and provide directions.

Coordinate activities of 5 employees regarding legal research and office administration.

Conduct legal research and produce legal documents using ProDoc.

Select Achievements

Developed and implemented a highly effective law practice with revenue close to $1,500,000, eight times larger than before.

Consistently produced excellent results; demonstrated good control over advertising and financial budgets.

Setup a new office with all the required facilities.

Corporate Engineer October 2009 – July 2010

Mary Kay Cosmetics Dallas,TX

A manufacturing facility for cosmetic products

Collaborates and serves as liaison with Operations, Commercialization and suppliers to assess the new products and recommend change parts and other items for new product launches, product changes.

Attends and participates in product development meetings, reviews, testing, studies and risk assessments.

Scale up from product development to production. Assess the feasibility of the new products on different packaging lines and recommend line parameters for production.

Assist in the planning, scheduling, coordinating scale up to production of Mary Kay products for the Dallas manufacturing facility.

Process Engineer

Illes Seasonings & Flavors

March 2007-October 2009

Carrollton, TX

A manufacturing facility for dry and liquid seasonings and flavors; producers of functional flavor ingredients such as glazes, marinades, rubs, and sauce bases

Managed the Maintenance Department and efficiently planned the Preventative Maintenance activities.

Provided direct supervision to the Maintenance Team, ensured improved efficiency, safety, quality and continuous process improvements.

Developed and managed the maintenance budget, and saved significant costs and resources.

Implemented an efficient Preventative Maintenance software, this program significantly enhanced efficacy and greatly reduced downtime.

Managed MP2 Computerized Maintenance Management System

Developed MP2 CMMS work orders, work instructions, bill of materials, inventory assets.

Tracked down the maintenance performance using Key Performance Indicators (KPI), generated reports through

the CMMS.

Designed and managed all Capital projects onsite, and provided financial calculations for Capital Proposals.

Collaborated with the R&D department and upgraded the process for production; modified equipment that best suited the new process.

In-charge and active member of the Process Improvement team implemented business best practices, ERP software and bar-coding system.

Select Achievements

Designed, installed and commissioned a new packaging area consisting of 3 lines ($0.5 mil), and a dispensing system for dry spices with limited flowability.

Developed and managed all maintenance and capital budgets of over $4 million.

Improved and calibrated all line speeds, process flows and efficiencies, and populated the new ERP System.

Restructured and implemented new business practices using Kaizen and Lean Manufacturing principles in production, purchasing, scheduling, transportation and customer services these yielded significant improvements and maximized profitability.

Recalculated and converted the R&D recipes for production and implemented data in the ERP System.

Executed the sales forecasting as a new business practice, and managed the computer software system.

Engineering Manager

IRL Biopharm, Biotechnology

2003-December 2006

Willington, New Zealand

A research and manufacturing facility of cytotoxins for numerous International pharmaceutical companies, such as Immunigen, Millennium, Nereus

Supervised the activities of the Engineering Department; contributed in hiring and training of personnel.

Developed and managed the Department budget and wrote CAPEX requests.

Successfully implemented the Current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP), and computerized preventative maintenance program across all manufacturing plants and utilities, and maximized efficiencies.

Formulated cGMP documents including SOPs, DRs, and CAPAs, and generated Validation Studies for all the manufacturing equipment.

Worked with the R&D department and helped scale-up the production.

Prepared and processed all engineering contracts, contractor briefs, feasibility studies, manufacturing process requirements and HAZOP Process Analysis.

Managed projects’ capital expenditure onsite from process design to installation and commissioning.

Administered all maintenance activities required for plant compliance to cGMP Phase III.

Select Achievements

Managed budgets for Repair and Maintenance ($0.5 million) and Capital expenditure ($1 million).

Analyzed and resolved serious problems related to the Purified Water Plant, this greatly enhanced effectiveness and efficiency.

Restructured the Fermentation and Chemical Synthesis plants, and maximized their performances.

Successfully managed and timely completed a project related to a new downstream processing plant, which comprised of extraction, purification and finishing.

Successfully achieved the fermentation scale-up for a new Cytotoxin Compound.

Validated documentation for the Purified Water Plant and all the equipment used in production process.

Engineering Manager

Frucor Beverages Ltd.

1999-2003

Willington, New Zealand

A Japanese-owned beverage company and headquartered in New Zealand; a large beverage producer (PEPSICO) with JIT, TMP Environment

Process Design

Completed wet process and developed the packaging layout design for new canning line.

Developed efficient Clean-in-Place (CIP) systems design for servicing different processes these significantly reduced cleaning costs and time and maximized profitability.

Installed high quality deionized water plants that efficiently purified water.

Completely redesigned the fresh juice plant and ensured enhanced efficiency.

Carried out civil work for site extension, and upgraded all utilities on site.

Project Management

Frequently interacted with suppliers and subcontractors, provided technical guidance and feedbacks, and competently resolved diverse issues.

Managed projects from inception to completion, installations and commissioning.

Evaluated and analyzed existing manufacturing lines, and developed project briefs and feasibility studies.

Controlled the financial side of the projects and organized labor requirements.

Completed all tender specifications, prepared contracts, and wrote equipment specifications.

Product development and scale up

Worked in a close consultation with R&D department regarding new product development and implemented the scale-up to production.

Collaborated with the Packaging Division; provided exciting new ideas and reformed the packaging equipment, which better suited the new products.

Management responsibilities

Spearheaded the efforts of a team of seven fitters, engineering coordinator, engineering planner, two electricians and a handyman; expanded and enriched their capabilities, provided directions, delegated tasks, set targets, evaluated results, and appraised performances.

Designed and implemented a comprehensive computerized preventative maintenance program for seven packaging lines, this program significantly enhanced effectiveness and greatly reduced downtime.

Administered the payrolls, shift roasters and managed human resources.

Implemented innovative improvement plans that maximized efficiency and productivity.

Selects Achievements

Managed multimillion-dollar budgets, these included: Repair and Maintenance budget ($2.25 million), Building Maintenance budget ($1 million), and Capital Expenditure budget ($11 million).

Successfully managed the installation of the packaging line for ‘V’ juice; provided invaluable contributions in the launch of ‘Just Juice’, ‘Mizone’ and ‘G Force’ beverages.

Senior Project Manager

Nu-Con Ltd.

1995-1999

Auckland, New Zealand

Specializes in bulk solids material handling systems, and offers a full design, manufacturing, installation and start-up service in any part of the world.

Used strong Project Management skills; designed and managed projects from inception to completion for the local and international dairy industries.

Processed design for dry powder pneumatic systems, and generated the process functional descriptions and sequential function charts, and contributed in automating the processes.

Developed mechanical and structural designs for storage silos and hoppers according to the local and international standards for bulk solids, seismic, wind loading and explosion; vacuum hoppers using ASME VIII, division I and BS 5500.

Frequently interacted with clients on design specifications, project progress, installation, and commissioning, this yielded constructive improvements.

Developed Gant charts for projects and defined project schedules, timelines, resources, and workloads, and also developed manuals.

Managed the financial aspects of projects, prepared and managed budgets and labor requirements.

Select Achievements

Designed, installed and commissioned a complete dry powder facility for a dairy company of worth $10 million in Jakarta, Indonesia.

Designed, installed and commissioned numerous dairy industry projects of around $ 20 million/year.

Design/Project Engineer

W S Plant Bakery & Allied Supplies CC

1993-1995

Alrode, South Africa

Manufacturer of bakery equipment using REIMELT & BUHLER equipment

Designed and quoted flour storage silos with pneumatic conveying lines, vibrating dumping stations, chain and belt conveyors and steel belt and mesh ovens.

Calculated sizing drives, bearings, transmissions, shafts, rollers for ovens and proverbs.

Processed design and established the process flow and P&ID diagrams.

Prepared and submitted sales drawings to clients; frequently interacted with clients and participated in site meetings, and provided recommendations and feedbacks.

Supervised the activities of staff and subcontractors, managed budgets and provided resources, and proficiently completed the projects within time and budgets.

Performed quality control checks, and strictly adhered to standards.

Select Achievements

Competently designed and successfully managed numerous projects for local bakeries; approximate contract values of projects handled were between R 100,000 and R 3 million.

Academic Qualifications and Credentials

Master of Business Administration – MBA

Massey University

2006

Auckland, New Zealand

Chartered Professional Engineer – CPEng

The Institution of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ)

1998

Wellington, New Zealand

Master of Science – MSc (Mechanical Engineering)

University Politehnica of Bucharest

1990

Bucharest, Romania

Professional Certifications

Marketing and Sales Management Manager Supervisory Skills Programmable Logic Controllers – PLC’s (Allen-Bradley, Mitsubishi) Customer Service Excellence

Membership

Institute of Professional Engineers New Zealand (IPENZ)

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