Factory controller and financial professional

Raymond Okwei

***** **** **** ****, **********, IL 60544

*******.*****@*****.*** 630-***-****

Qualifications Profile

Strategic and analytical Factory Controller with more than 10 years of experience in financial reporting, cost & financial analysis, project management and operational oversight.

Supervise wide range of office functions including administration, bookkeeping, customer service, sales & marketing, and special projects. Possess high aptitude for increasing productivity through detailed cost analysis.

Exceptional interpersonal and leadership skills, with the ability to build positive and constructive office teams. Thrive in high pressure environments.

Leverage outstanding organizational and analytical skills to evaluate and revise operational processes and improve financial reporting accuracy and efficiency.

Outstanding communication skills to build rapport with clients and employees at lateral and executive levels.

Exemplary aptitude for learning new systems in a timely manner.

Proficient in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, Access, Outlook, PowerPoint), Tableau, Google Analytics, Lotus Notes, WebEx Meeting, App Share Meeting, VPN, Lognet (Logistics Network), EPC (Enterprise Product Cost Warehouse), Mainframe, PeopleSoft, ADP, Argus, Facility ONE, NetSuite, QuickBooks, SAP HANA (Systems, Applications & Products), IBM Host On Demand, Intranet, PCM and Internet research and applications.

Education and Certification

Benedictine University, Lisle, IL

Bachelor of Business Administration in Finance – 5/2015

College of DuPage, Glen Ellyn, IL

Associate of Arts in Business Administration – 5/2012

Certified Life & Health Insurance Producer, 9/2015

Professional Experience

Rockfon North America - ROCKWOOL Group – Chicago, IL

Factory Controller, 7/2018 – 2/2021

Rockfon is part of the ROCKWOOL Group and offers advanced acoustic ceilings and wall solutions to create beautiful, comfortable spaces. Stone wool is a versatile material and forms the basis of all their businesses. With more than 11,000 passionate colleagues in 39 countries, Rockwool is the world leader in stone wool solutions, from building insulation to acoustic ceilings, external cladding systems to horticultural solutions, engineered fibers for industrial use to insulation for the process industry and marine & offshore. As a Factory Controller for Rockfon North America, my responsibilities include costing, pricing, margin analysis, budgeting, forecasting, financial planning and analysis, inflation analysis, inventory audit/tracking, logistics tracking, investment analysis, month-end closing, and providing accounting leadership to their engineers, sales team, plants and warehouses located at Chicago-Illinois, Byhalia-Mississippi, Elkridge-Maryland, Montebello-California and North America corporate office located in Milton, Ontario.

Key Achievements:

Supervising monthly/annual inventory and cycle-count audit process, accuracy of production and master data information SAP, accuracy of goods and invoice receipts and reports used in the month-over-month analysis and reporting of financials, production costs, sales prices, profit margins, research and developmental costs, quality related costs, non-manufacturing costs, and investment decisions.

Creating and maintaining steel, aluminum and zinc inflation report, ceiling tiles production report, sales and operational planning (S&OP) report, detailed profitability, and obsolete and excess inventory reports.

Analyzed and created investment business case and capital justification request for the leasing of the 120K square-foot Byhalia, Mississippi warehouse which will be saving the company an average freight cost avoidance of $3.1 million between 2020 to 2024 and will improve service levels by reducing the travel distances between the warehouses to the customers from 1000-1700 miles (3-4 days) to under 1000 miles (1-2 days).

Leading and supervising monthly inventory and logistic meeting with purchasing, production, logistics and warehouse management.

Leading and executing month-end closing process, troubleshooting and correcting issues as they arise, making journal entries, and checking cost centers for discrepancies.

Leading the processes of Annual plant budgeting, balance sheet reports, income statements, profit and loss statements, sales report, inventory report, production report, planning, forecasting, communicating and continuously supporting multiple internal and external managers, directors and Vice President of Finance

Vector USA - Viscofan Group – Oakbrook, IL

Plant Controller, 5/2017 – 6/2018

Viscofan is the global leader in the manufacturing, production and distribution of casings for the meat industry. They are present in over 100 countries around the world with over 1,700 customers, sales totaling EUR 730.8 million in 2016 and an average workforce of more than 4,363 located in 15 countries. As the Plant Controller for Vector Packaging USA, my responsibilities included costing, pricing, budgeting, forecasting, financial analysis, compliance, and providing accounting leadership to the plant located at Kentland, Indiana and corporate office located in Oakbrook, Illinois.

Key Achievements:

Developing costing procedures, modules and reports used in the month-over-month analysis and reporting of financials, production costs, profit margins, operational efficiencies (waste), research and developmental costs, quality related costs, and non-manufacturing costs.

Creating and maintaining a dynamic Quotator for quoting and pricing which have saved the company over $900 thousand due to improperly allocated production costs.

Company increased annual sales revenue over $5 million and almost doubled production volume due to my analysis and recommendations.

Analyzing and updating the standard rates and production rates in SAP and leading cost cutting initiates.

Leading the inventory management function in cycle counting, inventory dispositions, and excess and obsolete inventory management.

Maintaining and developing appropriate accounting processes, including review of internal controls and best practices, through analyzing current procedures and recommending changes.

Supporting audit process through preparation of supporting accounting schedules, SOX compliance, ISO compliance and other requests.

Leading the processes of Annual plant budgeting, balance sheet reports, income statements, profit and loss statements, planning, forecasting, communicating and continuously supporting multiple internal and external managers, directors and Vector CEO.

Caterpillar, Inc. – Joliet, IL

Cost Accountant III / Business Financial Analyst, 2/2016 – 5/2017

Started as a Cost Accountant III and promoted within 8 months to Business Financial Analyst for the Caterpillar hydraulic & machine groups, a $47 billion company. Preparing, analyzing, enhancing, and providing insight into various management reports and project based analysis. Creating cost analysis to aide business decisions.

Key Achievements:

Provided New Product Introduction Engineers with financial support for their projects including estimated product cost, current machine cost analysis, capital requests, and return on investment calculations.

Prepared and presented New Product Introduction project financial reporting for Engineering teams and upper management to obtain an understanding of system requirements, product changes and BOM updates, utilizing detailed cost rollups, cost monitors, financial slides and business case explanations for significant cost changes and delta targets throughout the life of the project (Total of 7 Gates), from launch (Gate1) to production (Gate 6).

Responsible for preparing and interpretation of annual budget forecasting using Tableau and JET.

Identified by upper management for continuous improvement project resulting in increased efficiency and reduced lead time for upper management reports.

Participated in SOX Compliance audits and maintained documentations.

Prepared 10 years Discounted Cash Flow (DCF), capital request documents and power-point presentations for management.

Effectively resolved project griefs, investigated and monitored any significant discrepancies.

Provided robust analysis with detailed commentaries to cost variances.

Identified researched discrepancy in forecast analysis resulting in over $1m savings.

Delivered one-on-one training for new staff members and solving arising issues.

Mutual of Omaha – Oakbrook, IL

Financial Representative, 10/2015 – 2/2016

Sell life, disability, Medicare supplement, and long-term care insurance products and annuities throughout Oakbrook, IL as an affiliate of a $32 billion company. Prepare profiles on potential clientele, establish rapport and trust before presenting and marketing appropriate insurance products and services, based on stated financial goals. Increase probability of closing new business from inexperienced agents by 90% by assisting in a sales goal plan that targeted relevant demographics and emphasized improved performance measures.

Key Achievements:

Generated leads through direct consumer marketing, LinkedIn, Facebook, community events, personal contacts and philanthropic ventures that currently produce approx. $10,000 in monthly sales.

Produced approx. $30,000 in new sales, sales leads and renewals in less than a year.

Developed sales presentation that closed a major deal with a large company by saving them approx. 10% of their premium cost.

Globestreams – Downers Grove, IL

Owner General Manager, 10/2008 – 10/2015

Generated new business in excess of $150,000 annually while supervising 27 employees in Africa and the U.S. Managed diverse marketing campaign projects using analytic tools, and produced comprehensive cost-benefit analyses. Designed weekly and monthly spending reports. Ensured ongoing and consistent satisfaction to more than 2,500 customers, including upper-middle class individuals and small businesses in Africa, by providing on-time delivery and follow up. Identified operational inefficiencies and implemented necessary improvements. Analyzed utilization and capacity against performance goals. Facilitated month-end processes such as invoicing, journal entries, and account reconciliations.

Key Achievements:

Reduced overhead cost 20% by producing cost-benefit analysis; decreased shipping costs by 50% using consolidation and re-packaging methods.

Outperformed competitors by almost 100% in customer loyalty and retention by reducing errors with missing packages, improving internal and external communication, guaranteeing shipment arrival times and follow up communication.

Trained and supervised the monthly closing process analysis, including preparation of journal entries, analysis of variances and reporting.

Implemented and continuously evaluated improvements to current procedures and reporting, and leading the implementation of new systems, processes and reports.

Additional Experience

General Motors Corporation – Bolingbrook, IL

Account Manager, 6/2005 – 10/2008

Training

Realogic ARGUS Valuation DCFTM (Discounted Cash-Flow Analysis), 5/2015

Global Transportation Network (GTN), 6/2010

In-Transit Visibility (ITV), 6/2010

Security Management and Anti-Terrorism I and II, 9/2009

Microsoft Dynamics – Solomon and SAP, 10/2005

Tableau – Dashboard, 08/2016

Community Affiliations

Vice President Finance/Assistant Pastor, Loving Word Ministries, 2017

Member, Father Flanagan’s Boys’ Home, 2015

Member, Wounded Warrior Project, 2014

Member, Phi Theta Kappa Fraternity, Inc., 2010

Member, National Multiple Sclerosis Society Chicago Chapter, 2009

Member, American Red Cross Chicago Chapter, 2006

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