James A. Feltes

Bristol, IN *****

630-***-**** adcdre@r.postjobfree.com - https://www.linkedin.com/in/jimfeltes

Leadership

Safety . Plant Operations · Lean Manufacturing · Talent Recruitment . Supply Chain

New Product Development · High Level Project Execution · Turn Around

Profile:

oExecutive level experience in global operations and business development.

oFull P & L responsibility.

oWorked in union and non-union environments in both Fortune 500 and private industry.

oWithin the US and China moved 7 distinct models to new facilities, fully responsible for project deliverables.

oExperience in AOP development and strategic planning to support corporate growth and revenue directives.

oImplemented Lean practices in both the US and China.

oExtensive experience in high tech electronics, plastic injection molding, and heavy equipment industries.

BriMar Wood Innovations 2018 to 2020

Director of Business Services

BriMar is a contract manufacturer of laminate and veneer furniture.

Initiated and sourced an ERP solution that will support both project and standard work in 2019.

Managed the company out of 27 day late delivery to customer expectations. In 6 weeks on time delivery and schedule attainment was achieved.

Used lean background to change the work flow, eliminate excess personnel and brought in associates that consistently met expectations.

The latest assignment was to develop a balanced schedule and a capacity model that can accurately define level loading expectations.

Due to a major downturn in business I stepped down and currently not working at BriMar.

Midland Stamping and Fabricating 2017 to 2018

Senior Vice President of Operations

MSF is a contract manufacturing business that serves the automotive, industrial and appliance markets.

Manage multi-site businesses with facilities in Illinois and Wisconsin.

Originally hired as the Director of Continuous Improvement with a focus on managing a plant consolidation project that targeted maximizing the utilization of resources and cost reduction between 6 buildings and 3 sites.

Growing Midland’s business through acquisition and organically from $25MM to north of $100MM over the next 2-4 years. Fully accountable for deliverables.

Developed master plan for capital equipment and product strategy by location. Justified and procured a Mazak 6kw fiber laser, Amada Combo turret punch/laser, small press brakes and several spot welding stations. Designed full powder paint line and justification approved in 2018. Currently in year one of multi-year plan.

Consolidation of infrastructure within the three sites. Centralize procurement activities between the three sites to leverage spending.

Member of management team responsible for the successful conversion from TS 16949 to the IATF 16949:2016 Quality Standard in 2017.

Prepared budget for the three businesses for 2018, Phase staffing plan in the budgets to account for headcount changes and master project budget for equipment moves, facility decommissioning in Wisconsin and overall space planning budget to accommodate the product/equipment moves between facilities.

Utilimaster – Bristol, IN

Director of Operations 2016 – 2017

Utilimaster is a manufacturer of delivery vehicles ranging from UPS style walk in vans to large truck body vehicles. Utilimaster is part of the Spartan Motors Group and gross $260MM annually.

Lead the team that took on time delivery from 40% to a 97% in March of 2017.

Implemented the Spartan Production System into the factory down to a level 4 Business Plan Deployment that took use from executive management metrics tied at the shop floor level. Implemented supervisor level and team lead boards at each station handoff. Guiding metrics include SPQDC at each point.

I was hired with the main initiative to build associate morale and involvement in the business. This alone drove much of the improvements experienced in year one.

First pass yield improved from 30% to 73% through changing processes to contain and repair in station, within takt.

These are highly customized vehicles and I creation of a “master assembler” position. Master Assemblers have the flexibility to work multiple stations along the line as well as train new team members.

Moved the truck body line from a Wakarusa campus to the Bristol facility. Closed the Wakarusa facility.

The operation’s organization consisted of approximately 650 associates.

Schwarze – Huntsville, AL 2015 - 2016

Plant Manager

Schwarze is a manufacturer of street sweeping vehicles ranging from gas power parking lot sweepers to diesel powered municipal sweeper. They are part of the Alamo Group and gross $60MM annually.

Schwarze experienced significant growth in the last two quarters of 2016. During that time I implemented several lean initiatives focusing on line set cost reductions and material presentation at the point of use.

Implemented two major capital acquisitions in the metal shop worth approximately $1MM.

Monthly production requires the shop to be agile enough to accommodate production increases of 40+% and a high mix environment. Consistently met the monthly production and profitability goals.

Plano Synergy Holdings – Plano, IL

Plant Manager 2012- 2015

Plano Molding is a manufacturer of plastic injection molded and metal products for the hunting and fishing sportsman as well as products that serve the hobbyist, home improvement market and a line of women’s products known as Caboodles. PMC has annual revenues of $175M.

Designed production facilities and integrated Frabill acquisition into Plano’s main facility. Product lines include fishing nets, bait containment and a full line of ice fishing gear and apparel. Adding $22MM annually in revenues.

Responsibly for warehousing, shipping and receiving. Built the team from ground up. Took inventory accuracy from 92% to 99.97%.

Using lean principles improved the grinding department performance from 752 lbs/labor hour to over 1,135 lbs/labor hr.

Managed multiple facilities in three Illinois locations.

Managed company retail outlet store and grew revenues by 17%.

Implemented team metrics for each area centered on safety, quality, housekeeping and output per labor hour.

Project Manager for two additional acquisitions.

Whiting Corporation – Monee, IL

Plant Manager 2008-2012

Whiting is a vertically integrated manufacturer of large design to order overhead cranes and transportation lifting equipment.

Introduced and implemented leader and operator standard work.

Maintained a 100% on time delivery performance.

Initiated multiple lean projects targeting product cost reduction through sourcing, design enhancements and productivity improvements.

Implemented TPM in manufacturing.

Began a rapid response service parts order process to deliver from scratch make parts in 5 days or less.

Introduced short interval scheduling to target daily milestone attainment on long duration projects.

Federal Signal Corporation 1998-2008

FSESG USA / China JV (Federal Signal Corporation) Shanghai, China 2005 - 2008

Operations Director, SFS

Operations project lead for multiple projects for Elgin Sweeper, Jetstream and Industrial / Mobile systems at University Park.

Operations lead and liaison transferring IP and production internationally. AOP revenue $10MM.

Project lead for China facility facilitating operations design and production of two street sweeper models. AOP revenue $6MM.

Member of implementation team of JD Edwards’s PeopleSoft ERP software.

General Manager SFS - Shanghai China

Overall management of the Federal Signal China JV and WOFE operations. As a startup operation developed marketing and sales strategy, long range strategic planning and manage operations - 2007 $4.2MM in revenue. US investment is $10MM into a 153,000 square foot facility.

Planned and hosted the 2007 Board of Directors meetings in Shanghai China for both JV and WFOE.

Developed relationships with Chinese government officials/customers - successfully sold into 14 of the 19 districts in Shanghai as well as other regions.

Increased sales volume12 times over previous year.

Received ISO registration and met all CCC compliance requirements in China.

Zero recordable injuries and the best safety record in Federal Signal.

Director of Operation China (Plant Manager)

Responsible for day to day operations, direct reports were New Product Engineering, Current Product Engineering, Purchasing, Planning, Quality, Manufacturing, Paint and Assembly.

Product development and customization for local consumption launched 3 new refuse trucks

Training and implementation of Lean Manufacturing principles – Utilized 5S, TQM and Kaizen to focus on waste reduction.

Changed company culture to an independent thinking team.

Reduced BOM cost by 35% by sourcing 100% of truck components locally.

Managed the bottom line and the Shanghai facility ended $300K better than AOP.

Director, China JV Formation & Operations

Turnaround of the facility upgrades and site layout, development of specifications and procurement of all capital equipment and defining all of the processes for the engineering, manufacturing, welding, painting and assembly of a rear load garbage truck designed for the Chinese market.

Managed capital budget and was $900K better than plan without sacrificing functionality or quality.

Implemented Kanban pull system as well as a creative flexible inventory management system to meet the local short delivery lead-time of 20 days. Inventory turns at 12.

Developed visual SQDC KPI metrics for facility, maintained daily review.

Elgin Sweeper (Federal Signal Corporation) - Elgin, IL 1998 - 2005

Positions held – Business Manager Shared Services and Facilities - Business Manager Operations Air Products - Business Manager Operations Manufacturing - Manager of Manufacturing Engineering

Education:

MBA concentrating in Organizational Development. Aurora University, Aurora, Illinois GPA 3.94, BA in Business Administration. Summa Cum Laude - first in class. Aurora University, Aurora, Illinois GPA 3.95

AAS in Electronics Technology. Waubonsee Community College, Sugar Grove, Illinois

Other Training and Organizations: Lean Principles University of Tennessee, Design for Assembly and Manufacturing, The Quality College TQM, Certified Administrator of Suggestion Systems - Past President of local Chicago chapter Employee Involvement Association

Computer Skills: Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Project, PowerPoint, AS400 and PeopleSoft JDE

Contact this candidate