Corporate Director of Manufacturing

Arron Kent

Houston, Texas *****

***********@*******.*** • 812-***-****

PROFESSIONAL PROFILE

A highly effective Senior Manufacturing Management Professional, who meets challenges skillfully and creates positive change. A decisive manager, with a proven ability to provide the direction necessary to generate and deliver innovative ideas and effective solutions in highly competitive, rapidly changing business environments. An energetic leader, with a track record of success developing teams and leading them to achieve outstanding results in profitability, customer service and quality performance.

BACKGROUND SUMMARY

A broad range of manufacturing management, supply chain, quality, and process design experience includes:

Strategic Planning

MRO and Engineered to Order

Change Order Management

Forecasts / Budgets

Facilities Planning / Management

Supply Chain Management

LEAN Manufacturing

Manufacturing Process Design

Plant Staffing/Coaching

Financial Reviews

Preventative Maintenance Programs

High-Speed Manufacturing

Board Relations/ Presentations

ERP System Implementations

Multi-Site Plant Management

Project Management

Performance Management / KPIs

Capacity Planning

EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

Southwark Metal Philadelphia, PA

7/2021 - Present

Corporate Director of Manufacturing

Manage the strategic direction of manufacturing for 7 Facilities in the U.S. with $550M in annual sales manufacturing sheet metal duct and fittings for the residential HVAC industry. Manage $10M capital investment budget.

Manage 2 Greenfield projects in Indiana and Arizona. Led project to complete a $16M 350,000 Sq. Ft. facility in Indianapolis and the addition of $1.3M in capital equipment. Facility opened May 2022. Project Champion for $15M investment in Arizona; construction design currently in process.

Improved productivity from 54% to 78% in one facility utilizing continuous improvement tools such as value stream mapping, time studies, equipment evaluations, rearranging product flow, overhauling the scheduling process and establishing standard work.

Trailer shipments increased from an average of 16 loads to 20 loads per day by evaluating Finished Goods compared to customer orders, organizing the warehouse to better locate product, and overhauling the scheduling process.

Increased Sheet Metal Stamping output by 28% by changing the handling of product, scrap, and improve coil setups. Installed new 200-ton and 110-ton presses with higher capacity and reliability.

Equipment uptime improved 17% after implementing Preventative Maintenance Program, better managed spare parts, and collaborating with vendors on spare parts on hand at vendor and in-house.

Conducting research to develop a curing oven to dry sealant at a rate of three parts per minute so product can be immediately packaged. Received customer complaints that products became glued together in the box. Constructed an oven in house to perform R & D testing.

Gayesco Wika, Pasadena, Texas

6/2015 - 4/2020

Director of Manufacturing and Supply Chain

Managed the manufacturing, quality, eh&s, and supply chain operations for the facility and supervised a staff of 10 salaried and 78 hourly employees, with $41M in annual sales. Led the operations of the Fabrication and Machine Shops in the manufacture of temperature measurement systems and magnetic level indicators for domestic and international customers in primarily the oil and gas market.

Improved On Time Delivery from 74% to 89% by conducting time studies, performing cross training, and developing a proper scheduling system.

FPY improved from 91% to 98.5% by instituting in-process checks and conducting kaizen events to eliminate the high-recurring failure modes.

Project leader for relocating and absorbing a new product line ($8M sales and a manufacturing staff of 35) into our existing plant space. The relocation was completed as scheduled and $185,000 under budget.

Achieved +$200,000 year over year savings in raw material, using strategic purchasing and working with our subsidiaries to create greater purchasing power.

Project Champion for the implementation of Microsoft Axapta ERP system in September 2019. The project was completed one month ahead of schedule.

Led the development and implementation of a Total Productive Maintenance program (TPM).

Reduced headcount by 7% through process changes and balancing responsibilities.

Implemented a 5S program and other lean concepts such as Kaizen events and Gemba walks.

Managed the startup of a small manufacturing site in Louisiana including infrastructure, equipment, supply chain, and personnel.

Implemented scanning system to track labor efficiency and in-process disruptions.

Goodman Manufacturing, Houston, Texas

1/2012 - 6/2015

Fabrication Manager (10/2013 - 6/2015)

Managed the aluminum coil brazing and production, 10 injection molding machines, and the wiring department, and led a team of four salaried and 84 hourly employees manufacturing aluminum evaporator coils, plastic injection mold parts, and wires for HVAC products.

Led the consolidation of all Sheet Metal and Tool and Die Departments from four factories into a new 1M+ square foot facility that opened in 2016.

Improved First Pass Yield of evaporator coils from 72% to 90% using RRCA and by instituting standardized work.

Improved on time delivery to the assembly lines from 92% to 100% and decreased overtime by 55% by conducting Gap Analyses and 5S activities.

Instituted Operator preventative maintenance programs in all departments that resulted in uptime increase of 12%.

Implemented a preventative maintenance program for all fin dies in the plant.

Created a new process to leak check Copper condenser coils.

Manufacturing Engineering Manager (1/2012 - 10/2013)

Managed the Engineering Department, comprised of 10 salaried employees and held responsibility for all plant equipment, tooling, and processes. Assumed the role and responsibilities of plant manager in the absence of the Plant Manager.

Took over a $6M New Product Launch Project that was $1M over budget and 6 weeks behind schedule. Conducted thorough analysis of the project and developed a new project plan, which featured alternative plans for tooling, equipment, and processes. Delivered the project within budget and reduced the scheduling delay by 5 weeks.

Manufacturing Engineering Manager – continued

Reorganized the department to align with the plant objectives; the new direction showcased the ability of the department to improve plant performance. The increased performance was justification to grow the department from four employees to 10 employees, comprised of Engineers, Engineering Technicians, and tooling supervisor.

Led a $1.9M project to relocate a new aluminum coil automatic brazing system and coil assembly equipment from another facility. The other facility was not able to realize the capability of the brazing system due to several design flaws that were identified after the relocation; the changes provided the capability to braze new alloys that other facilities were unsuccessful brazing. A new Training program was implemented at the original facility based on the Lessons Learned.

Introduced S.M.E.D. (Single Minute Exchange of Die) activities to the plant that decreased the change over time by 50% which led to a 135% increase in die changes. The resulting changes reduced inventory by $265,000.

Developed a low volume line to build complex Air Handler models in less than two weeks that removed inefficiencies and eliminated overtime for those models that previously ran on a high-volume line.

Led project to launch Critical Component Tracking to ensure that the correct critical components are installed in each unit and relieved from inventory real time.

Plant Superintendent (8/2011 - 12/2011)

Responsible for all second-shift plant operations; managed a team of five salaried employees and 140 hourly employees.

Mentored supervisors on management skills and lean principles that resulted in plant production records on two manufacturing lines.

Designed a loading station for a new wrapper line to overcome a design oversight that was causing excessive handling of material in the forming process during trial runs. The redesign saved considerable handling time and improved productivity.

Carrier Corporation, Indianapolis, Indiana

8/2005 - 8/2011

Manufacturing Supervisor

Managed 85 union (United Steelworkers International) employees and managed the stamping / forming processes for furnaces and fan coil units.

General Motors, Bedford, Indiana

8/2000 - 7/2005

Manufacturing Supervisor (1/2002 - 8/2005)

Managed a die casting process (22 machines) and supervised 30 union (UAW) employees.

Process Engineer (8/2000 -12/2001)

EDUCATION

Master of Business Administration, concentration in Supply Chain Management

Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana

Bachelor of Science, Mechanical Engineering Technology

Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana

CERTIFICATIONS

Six Sigma Green Belt: Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

Shainin Red X Problem Solving and Prevention: Certified Journeyman Level, General Motors

ACE Operating System Tools: Associate Level, Carrier Corporation

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