Manufacturing Manager

DIETER KUPER

Professional Biography

Dieter Kuper is a senior executive leader and problem solver with an impressive track record of delivering results within the manufacturing, wire and cable, telecommunications, and steel industries. He possesses a proven ability to manage full P&L responsibility and build strategic teams to successfully develop new products. He is proficient with developing and implementing inventory reduction and quality improvement processes, and has a demonstrated capability to execute lean principles, establish strategic direction, and drive business growth and development. In addition, he is a strategic thinker with a broad understanding of business processes and functions.

Early in his career, Mr. Kuper held a number of engineering and managerial roles with Prestolite Wire, Laribee Wire, and Pirelli. He then re-joined Prestolite Wire to serve as General Manager of the Paragould Plant, where he held full P&L responsibility for the Paragould AR facility and oversaw sales, backlog, and environmental and OSHA compliance. He gave major customer presentations, set departmental budgets, and reviewed spending weekly. He also monitored all departments including customer service, sales, scheduling, engineering, maintenance, human resources, accounting, production, quality control and purchasing while regularly projecting future capacity requirements. As a result of his efforts, the business grew from $24M to $82M (340%) over 4 years and he delivered a $6M P&L turnaround in the first year (from a $2.5M loss to a $3.5M profit). He also prevented a $4.5M predicted business loss by strategically resolving a significant quality issue for a major customer.

Following his time at Prestolite Wire, Mr. Kuper became Vice President of Manufacturing for Coleman Cable, Inc., where he held P&L responsibility for the manufacturing operations of 4 Chicago facilities. He monitored daily sales input, backlog, and reviewed production schedules, scrap, and preventive measures. He also checked variances in labor and materials and managed quality issues while insuring the implementation of permanent solutions and safety programs. In addition, he oversaw inventory management, financial statement review, and OSHA compliance. While in this role, he reduced the cost of a $15M product line by $500K and delivered an additional 10% of new business. He also improved operating profit over the prior year by $5.3M (45%) and productivity by 20% while reducing costs by 10%.

Mr. Kuper was then promoted within Coleman Cable to become Vice President of Manufacturing Engineering, where he was responsible for manufacturing consolidation, capital oversight, plant relocations, and capacity expansion. He oversaw the enhancement and development of manufacturing methods, evaluated the effectiveness of development efforts, and designed machinery, equipment and processes to enhance production. His accomplishments in this role included achieving an $810K annual material cost reduction through an improved product design. He also saved $200K+ annually by reducing the setup time for color changes by over 15 minutes/change.

Following his time at Coleman Cable, Mr. Kuper then became Vice President of Operations for HEICO, where he was responsible for integrating new acquisitions into existing divisions and returning them to profitability by strategically leading the existing management teams. The acquisitions he oversaw included a $30M electrical and electronics parts manufacturer (Ohmite), a $65M steel plant producing galvanized steel, carbon steel and stainless steel (National Standard), a $40M steel plant producing carbon steel wire (National Standard), a $24M producer of truck turbines (Baja Oriente), and a $20M manufacturer of drain and sewer cleaning equipment (Spartan Tool). In this role, he delivered $5M+ of EBITDA and improved the Galvanizer Plant output from $1.5M to $16M and increased tons per day ten-fold. He reduced scrap from 15% to 4% and facilitated the plant to realize profit within 90 days of taking control. He also improved the yield of the die casting operation from 35% to 99% and reduced order turnaround time from 16-20 weeks to 4-6 weeks, which was half of the industry average. In addition, he completely re-built an entire manufacturing operation to its original capacity within 3 weeks after a natural disaster destroyed the facility and drove the new plant to 150% of the original production rate within 6 weeks.

Most recently, Mr. Kuper served as Vice President of Operations for Copperfield, LLC, where he was responsible for the manufacturing, engineering, quality, planning, shipping, and receiving operations. He insured that production remained on schedule and that customers received products that met expectations on time. He also drove the continuous improvement of all business aspects, including inventory reduction, scrap reduction, quality improvement, customer satisfaction, cost reductions, and productivity improvements. His efforts in this role grew the business from $36M to $154M (over 300%) and increased the output of good product in weight by 250% over 3 years. He reduced excess material usage by $1.2M, copper WIP by $800K (50%), and the cost to produce good product from $0.20/lb to under $0.11/lb through lean initiatives. He also delivered costs reductions of $1.6M and improved inventory accuracy from 80% to 99%.

Mr. Kuper received his BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of North Dakota. He maintained a 4.0 grade point average in his studies at the Wharton School of Business toward an MBA with a concentration in economics and finance.

DIETER KUPER

18588 Meander Drive  Grayslake, IL 60030  847-***-****  ******@***.***

Professional Profile

Chief Operating Officer  VP, Operations  VP, Manufacturing

Senior executive leader and problem solver with an impressive track record of delivering results within the manufacturing, wire and cable, telecommunications, and steel industries. Proven ability to manage full P&L responsibility and build strategic teams to successfully develop new products. Proficient with developing and implementing inventory reduction and quality improvement processes. Demonstrated capability to execute lean principles, establish strategic direction, and drive business growth and development. Strategic thinker with a broad understanding of business processes and functions.

Education

BSEE – University of North Dakota. MBA course of study at the Wharton School of Business, University of Pennsylvania

Career Highlights

• Grew business from $36M to $154M (over 300%) and increased output of good product in weight by 250% over 3 years. (Copperfield)

• Reduced excess material usage by $1.2M, copper WIP by $800K (50%), and cost to produce good product from $0.20/lb to under $0.11/lb through lean initiatives. (Copperfield)

• Delivered $5M+ EBITDA and improved Galvanizer Plant output from $1.5M to $16M annually and tons per day by ten-fold. (HEICO)

• Reduced scrap from 15% to 4% by providing direct leadership; facilitated plant to realize profit within 90 days of taking control. (HEICO)

• Improved operating profit over prior year by $5.3M (45%) and productivity by 20% while reducing costs by 10% ($1M). (Coleman Cable)

• Achieved $810K annual material cost reduction through improved product design. (Coleman Cable)

Core Competencies

P&L Responsibility Teambuilding & Strategic Leadership Product Development

Cost & Inventory Reductions Business Growth & Development Project Management

Productivity Improvement Process Development & Improvement Quality Improvement

Professional Experience

Copperfield, LLC 2005 to 2009

$560M manufacturer and supplier of bare copper and insulated copper wire and cable to various industries.

Senior Vice President, Operations

Responsible for manufacturing, engineering, quality, planning, shipping and receiving operations. Insured that production remained on schedule and customers received products that met expectations on time. Drove continuous improvement of all business aspects, including inventory reduction, scrap reduction, quality improvement, customer satisfaction, cost reductions and productivity improvements.

• Grew business from $36M to $154M (over 300%) and increased output of good product in weight by 250% over 3 years.

• Reduced excess material usage by $1.2M, copper WIP by $800K (50%), and cost to produce good product from $0.20/lb to under $0.11/lb through lean initiatives.

• Delivered costs reductions of $1.6M and improved inventory accuracy from 80% to 99%.

HEICO 2000 to 2005

$2B interest holder of 40 businesses worldwide within electronics, steel wire products, pre-engineered metal buildings, heavy equipment, telecomm, plastics, food production and material handling equipment industries.

Vice President, Operations

Responsible for integrating new acquisitions into existing divisions and return to profitability by providing strategic leadership to existing management teams. Acquisitions included $30M electrical and electronics parts manufacturer (Ohmite), $65M steel plant producing galvanized steel, carbon steel and stainless steel (National Standard), $40M steel plant producing carbon steel wire (National Standard), $24M producer of truck turbines (Baja Oriente), and $20M manufacturer of drain and sewer cleaning equipment (Spartan Tool).

• Delivered $5M+ EBITDA and improved Galvanizer Plant output from $1.5M to $16M and tons per day by ten-fold.

• Reduced scrap from 15% to 4% by providing direct leadership and facilitated plant to realize profit within 90 days of taking control.

• Improved yield of die casting operation from 35% to 99% and reduced order turnaround from 16-20 weeks to 4-6 weeks, half of industry average.

• Completely re-built entire manufacturing operation to original capacity within 3 weeks after natural disaster and drove plant to 150% production rate within six weeks.

Coleman Cable, Inc. 1996 to 2000

$400M manufacturer and designer of wire and cable products.

Vice President, Manufacturing Engineering (1997 to 2000)

Responsible for manufacturing consolidation, capital oversight, plant relocations, and capacity expansion. Oversaw enhancement and development of manufacturing methods. Evaluated effectiveness of development efforts. Designed machinery, equipment and processes to enhance production.

• Achieved $810K annual material cost reduction through improved product design.

• Saved $200K+ annually by reducing setup time for color changes by over 15 minutes/change.

Vice President, Manufacturing (1996 to 1997)

P&L responsibility for manufacturing operations of 4 Chicago facilities. Monitored daily sales input and backlog. Reviewed production schedules, scrap and preventive measures. Checked variances in labor and materials. Managed quality issues and insured implementation of permanent solutions and safety programs. Oversaw inventory management, financial statement review, and OSHA compliance.

• Reduced cost of $15M product line by $500K and delivered additional 10% of new business.

• Improved operating profit over prior year by $5.3M (45%) and productivity by 20% while reducing costs by 10%.

Prestolite Wire 1991 to 1995

$220M tier one supplier of wire and cable harnesses to the automotive and telecommunications industries.

General Manager, Paragould Plant

Full P&L responsibility for Paragould AR facility. Oversaw sales, backlog, environmental and OSHA compliance. Gave major customer presentations, set departmental budgets and reviewed spending weekly. Monitored all departments including customer service, sales, scheduling, engineering, maintenance, human resources, accounting, production, quality control and purchasing. Projected future capacity requirements.

• Grew business from $24M to $82M (340%) over 4 years and delivered $6M P&L turnaround in first year (from $2.5M loss to $3.5M profit).

• Prevented $4.5M predicted business loss by strategically resolving quality issue for customer.

---------------------------------------------------------------- Prior to 1991-----------------------------------------------------------------

Technical Manager, Pirelli  Plant Manager, Laribee Wire  Chief Engineer, Prestolite Wire

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