Christopher Stevens

Thermal Behavior in High-Consequence Manufacturing | Process Stability & Repeatability | President, Dalton Electric

Greater Boston

About

Most thermal systems validate cleanly at startup. What’s less discussed is what happens after repeated cycles — when systems don’t quite return to the same baseline, and small variations begin to show up in dimensional stability, material behavior, and overall process consistency. That gap between modeled performance and real-world behavior is where I spend most of my time. At Dalton Electric, we work with OEMs operating in high-consequence manufacturing environments — aerospace, advanced composites, renewable energy, and other systems where thermal consistency directly impacts output, uptime, and reliability. The work is rarely about heaters in isolation. It’s about understanding how thermal behavior interacts with: tool mass and geometry cycle-to-cycle repeatability sensing and control strategies material response under real conditions I’m particularly interested in how different teams approach thermal stability over time — especially in processes where initial validation holds, but long-run behavior becomes harder to predict. I regularly speak with industry groups including CAMX and the International Molded Fiber Association, contributing practical insights to help advance thermal thinking, improve process stability, and strengthen performance in high-consequence manufacturing environments. If you’re working in that space, always open to comparing notes.

Experience

  • President & Chief Solutioning Officer at Dalton Electric Heating Co.
    Jan 2026 - Present · 6 mos

  • Dalton Electric Heating Company, Inc. (8 yrs 7 mos)
    • President
      Oct 2018 - Present · 7 yrs 9 mos

      President

    • President
      Oct 2018 - Present · 7 yrs 9 mos

    • Executive Vice President
      Dec 2017 - Oct 2018 · 11 mos

  • ITW (6 yrs 4 mos)
    • Vice President & General Manager - Polymers Adhesives
      Nov 2012 - Feb 2017 · 4 yrs 4 mos

      Full P&L responsibility for multi-site adhesive division. Executed ITW's Enterprise Strategy to redesign business units into a scaled up division to deliver accelerated revenue and income growth. - Drove Revenue and Innovation - Improved Operating Income & Working Capital

    • Group General Manager
      Nov 2011 - Nov 2012 · 1 yr 1 mo

      Full P&L responsibility for three global business units with. Established overall strategic vision for business units (Devcon, Polymers Europe, and SprayCore).

    • MRO Group General Manager
      Nov 2010 - Nov 2011 · 1 yr 1 mo

      Full P&L responsibility for two MRO North American business units. Established overall strategic vision for MRO business units Devcon and LPS. Implemented long range strategic plan to drive Revenue and Operating Income through Simplification, Innovation, Marketing Outreach, and Capital Investments.

  • ITW Devcon (10 yrs 2 mos)
    • General Manager
      Oct 2007 - Nov 2010 · 3 yrs 2 mos

      Full P&L responsibility for Devcon North America. Responsible for developing and executing strategic plans and establishing acquisition targets. Transformed business from a multi-branded, multi-segment operation into a highly focused single brand/segment generated 37% more operating income. Improved Return on Sales by 5 percentage points while successfully navigating through the worst financial depression since 1929.

    • National Sales & Marketing Manager
      Oct 2000 - Oct 2007 · 7 yrs 1 mo

      Developed and executed sales and marketing strategies, budgets, goals and objectives. Responsible for a direct team of (10) Regional Sales Managers, (12) Independent Sales agencies, (1) Marketing Manager, (3) Marketing staff. Grew revenue 13.6% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) and operating income by 14.5% CAGR.

  • Product Manager - MRO & Industrial at Bostik
    1992 - 2000 · 8 yrs

    Worked with Sales and Marketing to support new product introduction and assisted with strategic plan development for this $30M distribution segment of Bostik.