Supply Chain Manager

Jeffrey G. Sills 317-***-****, ********@***.***

Career Summary

Purchasing/Supply Chain and Operations Management professional with progressive leadership roles in automotive parts, vehicle manufacturing and the marine industry. Demonstrated ability to use professional training in lean/six sigma and quality to achieve bottom line results. Hands-on leadership style to solve problems and drive continuous improvement using a systems approach. Effective interpersonal and communication skills that yield results in negotiations, motivates individuals and fosters teamwork across functions to achieve goals. Customer-oriented, committed to teamwork, driving continuous improvement and developing talent.

Highwater Marine, LLC (Division of Boat Holdings, LLC), Elkhart, IN 2014-2016

Manufacturer of Godfrey, Hurricane, Rinker and Polar Kraft brand boats across 3 campuses with annual sales of $200M.

Director of Supply Chain

Reported to the President/General Manager while leading the Supply Chain team supporting all 4 brands with annual material spend of $170M. (direct $160M, indirect $10M) Responsible for materials, purchasing, warehouse/distribution, shipping/receiving, inventory control, transportation/freight, scheduling, customer service parts fulfillment and supplier quality.

Delivered material cost savings of $3.2M achieving cost reductions of 4% to 30% on some direct materials and 5% to

40% on indirect through VAVE, LCC, benchmarking and negotiations.

Lowered corporate raw material/WIP inventory from $25M to $11M by employing point of use, satellite warehousing, VMI, Kanban, kitting, transactional discipline, robust cycle counting and BOM audits.

Established Corporate Supply Chain standard processes for strategic sourcing, purchasing and production/inventory control.

Lead the strategic sourcing efforts for new product development for annual model year introductions in a cross-functional setting. Delivered proto-types and production material on time and on budget for all boat brands.

Stabilized major component and raw material costs by negotiating new “indexed” multi-year supply/price agreements

In conjunction with IT, lead a major upgrade/re-launch of the ERP system companywide to correct structural deficiencies.

Utilimaster Corporation, Bristol, IN 2006-2014

A $250M division of Spartan Motors Corporation. Manufacturer of engineer to order specialty vehicles for parcel delivery, food/linen, government, postal service, construction, fire/rescue and commercial truck markets. Manufacture of 10,000 vehicles annually on all major chassis brands (Ford, Freightliner, GM, Isuzu, Mercedes etc.) and Ford or Chrysler vans.

Director of Supply Chain

Reported to the President with responsibility for the materials, purchasing, warehouse/distribution, shipping/receiving, inventory control, freight and scheduling functions on two manufacturing campuses. Annual material spend of $180M (direct $170M, indirect $10M)

Exceeded annual cost reduction goals by as much as 50%, achieving annual reductions of 4% to 10% annually. (direct & indirect)

Lead all key negotiations with suppliers of critical material or for multi-year contract initiatives. Used long-term supplier agreements to create strategic partnerships and pricing stability for key commodities

Trained strategic sourcing and purchasing teams to utilize make/buy analysis resulting in lower fabrication part cost (up to 30%) and better utilization of internal fabrication equipment.

Used lean/six sigma tools to reduce indirect labor 50% during the relocation and plant consolidation into a mega plant operation. Other results included improved inventory accuracy (90 streamlined material flow and doubled “A” class parts turns to 50 turns annually.

Improved supplier on time delivery to 99% for the top 30 largest key suppliers through a focused web-based schedule, order acknowledgement and score card process.

Utilized VAVE and other cost out tools with key suppliers to reduce material costs by $700K the first year.

Used VMI, Kanban, consignment and JIT strategies to reduce inventory and improve inventory turns from 7 to 12.

Employed supplier rationalization and multi-sourcing initiatives to address supply chain risk. Reduced total suppliers

by 7% over two years.

Collaborated with other Spartan divisions to develop commodity strategies and cost model targets for steel, aluminum, extrusions, wire harnesses, lighting components, paint and MRO.

Maintained commodity market intelligence and developed a strategy for mills and toll processors.

Active involvement on the Leadership Team for S&OP, budgeting, capital planning and new product launches.

Warner Body, Noblesville, IN 2005-2006

Custom producer of truck bodies, haulers and rescue vehicles with annual sales of $20M. Built specialty vehicles on various chassis.

Plant Manager

Reported to the owners while leading all manufacturing, fabrication, assembly, materials/purchasing, scheduling and quality functions.

Increased throughput 45% using a “visual schedule” process that tracked work flow real time while aligning fabrication, engineering and maintenance support.

Trained purchasing manager to use make/buy and dual sourcing strategies to improve overall cost and supplier delivery performance for key fabricated components.

Road Rescue, (Division of Spartan Motors), Marion, SC 2004-2005

Custom manufacturer of ambulances and rescue vehicles with annual sales of $25M.

Vice President of Operations

Reporting to the division president with full P&L responsibility while directing supply chain, production, quality, engineering, maintenance and IT. Joined a new management team charged with ramping up a recently relocated facility in South Carolina.

Improved throughput 150% using value stream mapping and a “visual schedule” to address work flow and waste.

Reduced vehicle defect rate by 80% through enhanced training and documented quality instructions.

Increased labor efficiency 120% using standardized work and line balancing methods.

Reduced inventory 45% using visual controls, Kanban and VMI initiatives.

Caltherm Corporation, Columbus, Indiana 2002-2004

A leading global designer and manufacturer of thermal and pressure control devices with annual sales of $30M.

Production and Materials Manager

Reported to the division head and directed all manufacturing, assembly, test, production control and material/inventory control, warehouse and shipping/receiving functions. Processes included machining, welding, assembly and testing on multiple shifts.

Achieved on-time delivery performance of 97% with improved shop scheduling and control.

Reduced WIP inventory 60% utilizing kanban between work cells.

Maintained a robust cycle-counting process that achieved inventory accuracy of 96%.

Altec Industries Inc., Indianapolis, Indiana 1995-2001

A $60M division of a $500M world leading manufacturer of aerial lift trucks, digger derricks and special handling equipment used by

electric utilities, telecom, forestry and various government branches; utilizing numerous chassis platforms. Annual production of 1,000 vehicles on primarily Ford, GM and Freightliner chassis.

Plant Manager

Reported to the Div. VP with full P & L responsibility for fabrication, assembly, paint, supply chain, engineering, quality, accounting and IT.

Used lean/six sigma methods to transform the assembly process to a cellular flow-line process resulting in reduced floor space (33%), increased inventory turns (100%), increased throughput (200%) and improved productivity (65%).

Executed three plant expansions to address an annual growth rate of 25% over several years. Plant grew 85%.

Successfully implemented an Oracle operating system after being chosen as the beta site for the corporation.

Created departmental teams to improve quality, cost, and delivery; resulting in the development of new hydraulic and electrical systems and a 50% reduction in warranty costs.

Established a Quality System for in-process audits, inspections, testing, warranty and supplier quality that resulted in best- in-class cost of quality.

Appointed to a corporate team charged with documenting world class strategies for the entire supply chain in (8) final assembly plants in North America. Assigned as the lead corporate auditor.

Numatics Inc., Brentwood, Tennessee 1993-1994

A $20M division of a $250M global company manufacturing pneumatic actuators and controls.

Plant Manager

P & L responsibility reporting to the division president while leading manufacturing, assembly, supply chain and quality.

Increased productivity 50% at bottleneck operations using Kanban scheduling.

Reduced scrap and rework 50% using standard work practices that reduced part variation and assembly problems.

Taught lean manufacturing concepts and conducted the first kaizen workshop at Numatics.

General Motors Corporation, Lockport, NY 1978-1993

GM’s Engine Cooling & Climate Control Division with annual sales of $8.5B and operations in North America, Europe and South America.

Various positions in Supply Chain, Production Management, Quality Assurance and Engineering with job titles: Sr. Supplier Development Coordinator, Plant TQM Administrator, Product Coordinator, Quality Engineer, Production Supervisor, Inspection Supervisor, Master Scheduler, Production Control Analyst, Buyer/Planner and Materials Analyst.

Education and Training: B.S. Business Management, State University of New York at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York. Completed 85% of MBA at SUNY Buffalo 1990-1993.

Professional training: Penn State Executive Management Series “Manufacturing Strategy”, Toyota Production System, DOE, Kanban, Value Streaming, Taguchi, Shainin, Deming, Juran, Crosby, SPC, Constraint Analysis, TQM, ISO/TS, VAVE, PFMEA, Change Process, 5S, Problem Solving, PPAP/APQP, DFM/DFA, 8D, Control Plans, 5-Phase, SIPOC, PFEP, Flow Manufacturing, Negotiations, TPM, SMED, Cell Design, Lean/Six Sigma, MRP/ERP, Supplier Assessment

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