STEPHEN T. KUHN Gulfport, MS ***** 503-***-**** ad3p3w@r.postjobfree.com

PLANT MANAGER – OPERATIONS MANAGER

Orchestrating Corporate Financial and Cultural Turnarounds in Numerous Manufacturing Plants

Change Agent & Plant Turnaround Expertise

Lean Six Sigma Champion & Coach Certification

Ops Leader of Multi-Plants in 6 states & Mexico.

Continuous Improvement in productivity/ quality/and safety, resulting in high profitability.

Directed Small Companies & Billion Dollar Corps

Expertise in directing Foundry, CNC Machining, Injection/Blow Molding, Welding, Robotics, Fab., Plating, Coating, HT treat, and Assy Operations in the automotive, military, food, construction, aggregate, retail, plastics, and timber industries.

3 Successful Financial Turnarounds on Plants with Previous Long-Term Loss Scenarios.

OSHA VPP Star Site Certification

MBA in Finance. BBA in Logistics.

Quality Awards: Nissan Quality Master Award, Volkswagen Formal Q Award, GM, Q1, Daimler.

Infinite # of Kaizens Generating Safety/Profits.

Plant Construction & Startup at Yamakawa

Numerous Empowered Team Developments

Workforces ranged from 25 to 500 employees

Several Product Launches in Auto, Oil, Construction, Retail, & Military Industries.

Successful Installations of ISO & Lean.

Successful elimination of public speaking fear with workforce enabling customer presentations

Workforce development with numerous cultures from around the world.

Engineering positions held: Industrial Engr & Industrial/Manufacturing Engineering Managers

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

CERBIDE INC. – 2022- Current (Gulfport, MS).(New tooling development failed) (Plant will close) Tungsten Carbide tooling. Developments include:

Established component lot control Eliminated production backlog Developed Standard Works & 5 S

MILGARD WINDOWS – 2016 – 2022 (Tualatin, Oregon) (Company Sold to M&I Windows. Dept. Heads Replaced by Buyer.)

Production/Quality Assurance/Maintenance Manager

Directed redevelopment of Quality Assurance Department.

Trained Maintenance and Production Department Supervisors to install maintenance and operator PM systems.

oReduced machine downtime by 37%.

Led plant-wide team to redesign standard works to serve as effective training and quality assurance guides.

Led kaizen employee training that was achieved in all departments. Eliminated hazardous safety issue.

oResults Increased thruput on assembly lines by 29% through the use of kaizens, VSM, and Six Sigma.

Thrust an OTD improvement up to 98.8% through improved coordination between manufacturing and shipping.

ALLIED SYSTEMS/LARGE WINCH DIVISION/CNC MACHINING – 2007 – 2016 (Sherwood, Oregon)

(Accepted position at Milgard due to Allied’s Winch Sales declining by 85%, as a result of the oil industry’s downturn).

A large equipment OEM Manufacturer in the Logging, Agriculture, Construction, Oil industries and the Military.

Plant Manager & Company Safety Chairman

Achieved the largest monthly, (Jan 2008), winch shipment (160 winches) in Allied history, one month after hire, thus achieving 100% elimination of winch backlog, before the 2008 recession occurred, generating immense cash flow, guaranteeing financial stability.

Established team to perform quick change setups.

Coordinated team, consisting of Production, Purchasing, and Engineering departments to restructure tool room.

oEliminating attendants, installing tooling control and tracking programs, cutting tool usage, tooling types, and improving tool life. Results generated a $167,000 initial annual savings.

Completed capex’s and installations for CNC mills and lathes, with each upwards in the $1,000,000 price range.

Awarded a $47,000 rebate from insurance company, based on injury eliminations, thru safety indoctrinations.

ADDITIONAL PLANT MANAGEMENT EXPERIENCE WITH:

YAMAKAWA

Portland, Tennessee. Manufacturer of automotive structural components for Nissan. Third largest supplier to Nissan. Served as the Manufacturing Manager.

Part of original team that built the first structure of 100,000 square feet and the installation of stamping presses up to 1500 tons and Fanuc robotic welding assembly lines.

Completed 3 additional additions equating to a total of 500,000 square feet in the facility, over 100 Fanuc robots, stamping presses up to 2,000 tons, and a workforce of 500.

Developed and conducted training programs in orientation, safety, machine operation, quality assurance, operator preventative maintenance, maintenance preventative maintenance, kaizen, kanban, muda elimination, value stream, Gemba walks, root cause analysis, 5 whys, and cause & effect.

Profitability was achieved within six months of original construction and machine installation, ahead of Plan.

Expertise in Japanese methodologies gained and tested.

Received Nissan Quality Master Award.

Resigned due to company being sold. Mr. Yamakawa decided to retire.

BORG WARNER

Dixon, Illinois. Manufacturer of automotive valves, for Daimler and Ford.

Processes included injection molding, CNC machining, and assembly.

Promoted to Manufacturing Manager from the Focus Factory Manager position due to changing Dixon’s financial performance from that of a decades-long loss scenario to one of continued substantial profitability.

Awarded entrance into Borg Warner’s financial achievement program.

Awarded OSHA’s VPP Star Site Award.

Achieved MBA in Finance from Northern Illinois University.

Received certification as a Six Sigma Champion though BMG University enlisted by Borg Warner.

EDUCATION.

Graduate Undergraduate

Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL University of Memphis, BBA in Logistics, Purchasing

MBA – Concentration: Finance University of Kentucky, Associate in Management

CERTIFICATIONS / TRAINING / NOTABLE WORK

Certified Coach Six Sigma Champion Adjunct University Professor

OSHA VPP Star Site Certification Kaizen – Lean (expertise gained at Yamakawa) (Business Courses & Public Speaking)

WORK WHILE ATTENDING COLLEGE:

DIRECTING & PREFORMING AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS ON 400 ACRE FARM, WHILE OBTAINING ASSOCIATE DEGREE AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY.

WORKING FULL-TIME IN FOUNDRY AND ASSEMBLY FACTORY, WHILE OBTAINING BACHELOR’S DEGREE ATTENDING UNIVERSITY OF MEMPHIS.

OBTAINING MBA AT NORTHERN ILLINOIS UNIVERSITY, WHILE SERVING AS MANUFACTURING MANAGER AT BORG WARNER.

Teaching Doctorate level classes, per NIU Professor requests, on Quality Assurance Implementation and

Direction.

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