Sales Manager

RALPH GESSNER

513-***-**** ***********@*****.***

PROFESSIONAL SUMMARY

Experienced, focused General Manager with exceptional depth leading and improving business operations within Engineered Products environments. Career progression built on experience in technical leadership positions coupled with strong commercial acumen. Has successfully led business units ranging from $15–45 million in annual sales within Fortune 500 company environments.

AREAS OF PARTICULAR STRENGTH

• Executive Management

• Customer Relations

• Strategic Planning

• Finance/Profit Maximization

• Manufacturing Operations/Sourcing Strategies

• Business Restructuring

• International Management

• New Product Development/R&D

SELECTED CAREER ACHIEVEMENTS

• General Manager of Neptune Chemical Pump (following acquisition by Dover) - restructured organization, optimized product portfolio, developed growth and acquisition strategy around Oil & Gas, resulting in growth of Dover’s metering pump sales by 2X and earnings by 3X

• General Manager of Nova Controls - directed turnaround of subsidiary company by articulating a new vision and strategy, building a strong executive team, improving margins and growing key account sales, resulting in doubling earnings in 2 years

• Managing Director, Asia Pacific, Hydro Systems Company - started up new business units in Shanghai and Sydney that reached profitability during first full year of operation

• Vice President Engineering, Hydro Systems Company - developed 30+ innovative products over 12-year span in position, tripling revenue and propelling company to global leadership position for specialty chemical dispensing equipment within the hygienic industry

• Engineering leadership roles, Hercules and Aerojet Aerospace - led engineering teams through successful development and qualification of advanced solid rocket motors for NASA’s Space Shuttle, utilizing state of the art materials and design/test approaches EXPERIENCE

PSG (A DOVER COMPANY), Oakbrook Terrace, IL 2010 – 2017 A collection of Positive Displacement Pump Businesses within Dover Corporation VP & General Manager – NEPTUNE CHEMICAL PUMP, North Wales, PA Leading metering pump company within Dover/PSG

Doubled Enterprise Value from $35M to $70M, while growing metering pump sales by $20M and earnings by

$7.5M

• Changed company culture to move away from “entitlement” mindset under private ownership to “pay for performance” as part of Dover Corporation

• Recruited and assembled a high-performing management team, while retaining and challenging most capable staff-level key contributors

• Increased sales through strategic targeting/penetration of adjacent Oil and Gas industry, while protecting traditional core market sectors; expanding sales to new sector to 15% of total

• Improved production efficiency by > 50% and OTD from 65% to 95 through factory layout optimization, building consolidation, greater utilization of Visual Management tools and outsourcing to new supplier partners

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RALPH GESSNER

513-***-**** ***********@*****.***

HYDRO SYSTEMS (A DOVER COMPANY), Cincinnati, OH 1994 - 2010 World’s largest independent chemical mixing and dispensing equipment manufacturer for the Hygienic market VP & General Manager – NOVA CONTROLS, Watsonville, CA, (2007 – 2010) Peristaltic Pump Company manufacturing division of Hydro Systems Company Tripled Nova’s net profit contribution to $4 million in three years

• Achieved all 5 Dover-wide performance metrics during first two years in position, a first for Nova business unit

• Increased sales by 20% in two years by launching new, innovative products and by focusing on large key account customers

• Tripled inventory turnover in two years via lean initiatives, cellular manufacturing, effective Asian sourcing, and by strengthening the team

• Led planned consolidation with parent Hydro Systems at the end of 2009 Managing Director – Asia Pacific (2004 – 2007)

Started up new Business Operations in Shanghai, China and Sydney, Australia; both businesses were profitable in their first full year of operation

• Doubled sales in first two years while building a solid foundation for future growth and profitability in these emerging markets

Vice President, Engineering and Quality (1994 – 2006) Developed 30+ innovative new products that propelled Hydro Systems to the No. 1 position in the world with 70% global market share in its hygienic market space

• Built a highly-motivated engineering team, a blend of youth and experience that clearly outperformed all competitors

• Fostered rapid product development by investing in state of the art design and analysis software and rapid prototype tools

• Mastered the art of mass customization to develop and produce unique customer products in record time

• Built an ISO 9000 Quality Program that facilitated new product launches without defects AEROJET (a Subsidiary of GenCorp), Huntsville, AL 1991 - 1994 Aerospace Propulsion Systems Company

Engineering Supervisor, Structural Test Group, Space Shuttle Advanced Solid Rocket Program Led a team of engineers in the development of the structural test program for the post-Challenger Space Shuttle solid rocket motors

• Worked with NASA engineers to design/develop/implement a series of structural tests to validate the structural integrity of their new solid rocket motors HERCULES AEROSPACE, Salt Lake City, UT 1984 - 1991 Leader in Composite Materials and Aerospace Propulsion Systems Lead Engineer, Space Shuttle Motor Program

As lead product engineer, directed manufacturing engineers to develop and produce the graphite-composite solid rocket motors for the Space Shuttle

• Successfully built, and qualified for human flight, the largest filament-wound graphite composite structure in the world

EDUCATION

MBA, University of Phoenix

BS Mechanical Engineering, California State University Long Beach Dover’s Leadership Academy, DELLA

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