Manager - Continuous Improvement and Quality, Process and Product Dev

Stephen Hart

* ******** ***** *********@*****.***

Cartersville, GA 30120 770-***-****

Continuous Improvement and Quality Manager

Engineer with outstanding management, leadership, technical and operations expertise and extensive experience with FORTUNE 500 manufacturers. Proven ability to drive Quality Improvement and Continuous Improvement initiatives through all aspects of manufacturing organizations for the purpose of improving productivity and reducing costs. Products and process experience include a variety of continuously extruded thermoplastic polymer sheets and films, foamed polystyrene extrusion, woven and non-woven substrates and petrochemicals. Developed unique products that were cost effective and highly profitable. Plant manager for foamed polystyrene extrusion and thermoforming plant. Possesses excellent interpersonal, communication, analytical, problem solving and computer skills.

1999 – 2011 - Pactiv Building Products - Technical Manager - Quality, Product and Process Development , Capital Projects

Continuous Improvement and Quality Manager – Designed, implemented and managed the Quality Systems and initiatives for the $120M per year Pactiv Building Products business, three manufacturing plants and a variety of suppliers, to maintain and improve product quality and reduce claims, returns and lost business. Reduced manufacturing costs by using a variety of tools and methods. Developed and implemented ISO 9000 style quality program. Used Lean Manufacturing systems, Six Sigma and Kaizen. Implemented use of Statistical Process Control. Designed and implemented a Root Cause Identification system and Corrective Action/Preventive Action system. Coached /mentored plant engineers.

• Reduced customer claims by 60% over a four year period.

• Managed customer and key account relations regarding product performance complaints.

• Integrated quality sustainability into product and process design systems.

• Improved and upgraded quality systems for manufacturing plants. This included system for incoming raw material specifications and market/customer/regulatory based product specifications.

• Initiated practice to work with purchasing to make sure product performance and manufacturing performance were considered in supplier selection, purchasing decisions and negotiations to achieve optimal purchase decisions.

Developed and led internal quality audit program to achieve continuous improvement.

Led cross functional plant teams to implement operations policies, procedures and techniques to manage production processes to drive continuous improvement and meet quality objectives. Trained plant personnel in quality improvement techniques and coached/mentored process engineers to improve their effectiveness.

Managed suppliers and third party manufacturers to insure their products met requirements and specifications. Helped them understand the ultimate customer requirements and expectations Worked with suppliers to audit their processes, and progress toward continuous improvement. Designed and implemented specification system for third party contract manufacturers.

Product and Process Development - Led various cross-functional teams to work with sales, marketing, manufacturing and suppliers to develop new, innovative products for Pactiv Building Products. Identify customer or market performance criteria, and develop products to meet those needs. Determine the materials and develop the processes needed to commercially produce the product. This includes working effectively with internal manufacturing or third party manufacturers. Thorough knowledge of industry code compliance requirements for a variety of products. Managed the technical relationship with customers to support their understanding of product performance and value. Developed competitive product information to support product positioning in the marketplace based on features and price.

• Led project team to change suppliers for building wrap product line. Identified a list of global supply candidates. Prepared requests for proposals. Planned and executed logistics, qualification trials, testing protocols, and results analysis. Provided feedback to supply candidates for adjustments needed to qualify their products. Successfully transitioned to new supplier for building wrap product category resulting in over $1 million per year cost reductions for that product line.

• As part of the sales-marketing-technical team, led process development for three major building wrap products that became a majority of the company’s sales for that product category. Successfully worked with and coordinated the efforts of two third-party manufacturers to develop the process to create new building wraps with very unique features. Developed performance information for marketing and sales support. Worked with sales force and customers in the field to determine the proper cost, price and value proposition. Work with customers to gain their acceptance and understanding of these products. Increased product line sales by over $5 million per year.

• Led process development and quality assurance for two major roofing products using extruded foamed polystyrene. Worked with internal manufacturing to define the process, procedures and testing to produce a multi-layer sub-roof product that has a unique combination of strength, durability and cost.

• Mentored and coached process engineers in support of five extrusion and plastic product related manufacturing production lines to implement process changes, improve process efficiency and improve product quality.

Capital Projects – Managed capital budget, prepared and reviewed requests for capital project approval including scope of work, cost estimate, business case justification and financial return.

Led and coordinated plant personnel, vendors and contractors to develop project scopes, schedules and budgets to achieve the overall project objectives for schedule, cost and production targets.

Worked with corporate finance to plan and adjust annual budgets and significant project spending patterns to meet overall corporate capital spending objectives.

• Planned and led numerous projects including a new foamed polystyrene extrusion line installation and a major expansion of a foamed polystyrene extrusion line.

• Planned and directed projects to install an assortment of packaging lines for building products.

• Consistently met budget and schedule objectives.

Tenneco Packaging was renamed Pactiv Corporation in 1999

1996 -1999 ENGINEERING MANAGER - Amoco Foam Products / Tenneco Packaging - Atlanta, GA

Manage 14 engineers, 6 CAD technicians and coordinate activities of plant engineers at nine different plants. Responsible for effective project management from design through start-up for capital projects representing $20 million dollars per year. Turned around two $5 million dollar projects to complete on budget and on schedule. Implemented project management system. Implemented sharing of maintenance practices between nine plants. Directed plants’ activities to comply with OSHA 1910 and PSM regulations.

Tenneco Packaging acquired Amoco Foam Products (a division of Amoco Chemical) in 1996

Pre 1996 – Amoco Chemicals and Amoco Foam Products Plant Operations

Plant Manager - Amoco Foam Products - Corsicana, TX Plant

Manage all aspects of 15 million pound per year foamed polystyrene extrusion and thermoforming plant. Direct staff of seven department heads, 18 professionals and 103 hourly personnel with a $15 million annual operating budget. Responsible for manufacturing costs, environmental, health and safety, accounting, human resources, production, maintenance, warehousing and shipping, customer service and plant engineering.

Reduced OSHA recordable injury rate from 8 to 3 through safety training, safety contacts and rules enforcement. Reduced manufacturing costs by 9% through training, developing operations procedures and re-negotiating key supplier agreements. Implemented plant budgeting and variance analysis methods that department heads and supervisors could participate in. Designed and conducted first supervisory training in the plant’s history. Implemented plant wide basic skills (reading and math) evaluation and training to improve basic skills literacy rate from 55% to 95%.

Engineering Supervisor - Amoco Chemical Company - Texas City, TX Plant

Supervise eight engineers that design plant improvement projects and provide technical support to daily plant operations for a 500 million pounds per year petrochemical plant. Responsible for training and directing engineers to design improvements, troubleshoot and optimize production unit operations. Directed a variety of process improvement projects.

Production Unit Supervisor - Amoco Chemical Company - Texas City, TX Plant

Responsible for all operation aspects of 30 million pound per year AMS production unit. Supervise staff of five foremen, 16 operators and seven warehouse workers. Reduced OSHA recordable injury rate from 4.5 to 1.5. Increased unit operating factor by 20% and decreased production costs by 11%. Developed operating guidelines and implemented use of standard operating procedures. Successfully worked with union leaders to restore productive working relationship between maintenance and operations departments.

Logistics Coordinator - Amoco Chemical Company - Corporate Offices - Chicago, IL

Coordinate feedstock and product movement between Amoco’s chemical plants and refineries and third party suppliers. Responsible for managing seven million barrels of petrochemical inventories. Optimized feedstock selection and processing path to reduce operating costs.

Process Engineer - Amoco Chemical Company - Chocolate Bayou, TX Plant

Responsible for optimizing plant operations, troubleshooting and design of process improvements for a petrochemical complex that produced ethylene, propylene, polyethylene and polypropylene.

EDUCATION

B. S. Chemical Engineering, Tennessee Technological University, Cookeville, TN

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