Detroit Metropolitan Area
Operational Excellence & Quality Governance Executive with a dual-disciplinary background in large-scale automotive manufacturing and technology infrastructure. Currently serving as Director of Operations & Quality at Craft Enterprises, where I lead strategic auditing, cost-optimization, and multi-vendor management. Expert at architecting scalable systems that integrate IATF 16949 standards and data-driven analytical rigor to drive P&L performance and zero-defect organizational cultures. Core Competencies • Strategic Leadership: Thriving in fast-paced, high-pressure environments to lead teams toward KPI achievement. Project & Program Management: Managing complex timelines and multi-phase implementations from concept to completion. • Advanced Problem Solving: Expert application of Six Sigma, World Class Manufacturing (WCM), and Lean methodologies to eliminate waste and optimize throughput. • Technical Communication: Distilling complex experimental findings and technical data into actionable insights for global stakeholders. • Quality & Environmental Compliance: Certified IATF 16949 and ISO 14001 Internal Auditor.
Since the inception of Craft in 2014, I have played a pivotal role in its evolution, transitioning from a strategic support capacity to joining the leadership team full-time in June 2021. My mission has been to channel the high-growth momentum of the business into a sustainable, scalable operation. Drawing on an extensive background in automotive quality and mass production, I specialize in introducing rigor and standardization to more fluid, entrepreneurial environments. I am dedicated to bridging the gap between creative business growth and operational excellence by implementing error-proofing methodologies and streamlined planning processes. Key Contributions Operational Scaling: Supporting business operations and strategic planning during periods of rapid, "tremendous" growth. Process Standardization: Adapting disciplined automotive quality standards to create structure and consistency in a dynamic business setting. Risk Mitigation: Applying a background in mistake-proofing to identify and eliminate potential errors before they impact the bottom line. Cross-Industry Integration: Leveraging a unique perspective to bring "regimented" efficiency to a flexible, fast-paced team environment.
In this dual-leadership capacity, I navigated the complexities of high-level quality strategy while simultaneously executing the operational foundations of a brownfield plant launch. My focus was on bridging the gap between advanced product engineering and floor-level execution to ensure seamless transitions from development to mass production. Strategic & Operational Leadership Dual-Scope Management: Directed the Advanced Quality team across all customers and facilities while concurrently serving as the Plant Quality Manager for a strategic brownfield site. Launch Excellence: Served as a core member of the launch team for diverse automotive commodities, including interior trim, instrument panels, door panels, consoles, and seat trim. Culture & Quality Integration: Orchestrated brownfield launch objectives with a primary focus on building a quality-centric plant culture aligned with rigorous customer specifications and expectations. Key Contributions Team Development: Mentored and upskilled a diverse staff with varying experience levels to foster a high-performing, collaborative environment rooted in cross-functional teamwork. Rapid Defect Resolution: Facilitated end-to-end resolution processes, including containment coordination and transparent customer communication. Continuous Improvement: Championed root cause analysis and corrective actions, ensuring "lessons learned" were standardized across all facilities to prevent recurrence. Cross-Functional Synergy: Partnered closely with Product Engineering and Plant Operations to mitigate risks during critical launch phases and APQP milestones.
In this regional management role, I drove the quality strategy and operational execution for North American facilities for the OEM's assigned to me. My focus was on bridging the gap between initial business award and mass production, ensuring that both new launches and established programs met rigorous performance standards. Operational Strategy & Launch Management Program Lifecycle Validation: Managed new business from award through plant launch, ensuring all APQP milestones and customer quality objectives were achieved on schedule and within specification. QMS Architecture: Led the launch of new manufacturing facilities with comprehensive Quality Management Systems tailored to meet specific customer requirements and industry certifications. Performance Recovery: Monitored regional quality data and customer scorecards to identify facilities requiring improvement, providing direct intervention and hands-on guidance to stabilize and elevate internal metrics. Core Responsibilities Regional Team Leadership: Managed and mentored a corporate quality team responsible for the program lifecycle, including new business, current production, and warranty management. Customer Relationship Management: Acted as the primary point of escalation for North American quality performance, aligning internal manufacturing capabilities with external customer expectations. Standardization & Compliance: Spearheaded the rollout of standardized quality protocols across the region to ensure consistency in defect resolution, reporting, and corrective action implementation.
In this role, I served as the primary quality lead for program teams, managing the transition of automotive injection molded parts and assemblies from initial concept to mass production. My focus was on integrating rigorous quality standards into the engineering and equipment development phases to ensure flawless launches. Program Launch & APQP Management End-to-End Milestone Ownership: Directed quality activities from program award through final PPAP approval, ensuring all customer-specific requirements and timelines were met. Customer Quality Liaison: Acted as the primary point of contact for customer quality teams, managing expectations and technical communications throughout the launch cycle. Engineering Change Control: Provided comprehensive quality support for new product launches and complex engineering changes, mitigating risks to production stability. Technical Documentation & Process Development Advanced Quality Planning: Developed and maintained critical APQP documentation, including Process Flow Diagrams, PFMEAs, Control Plans, and detailed Inspection Criteria. Part Qualification: Led the part qualification process, defining measurement strategies and validation protocols to ensure 100% compliance with design intent. Equipment & Floor Integration: Collaborated on manufacturing floor layout and equipment development to optimize workflow and build in quality at the source. Production Validation: Championed Production Demonstration Runs (PDRs) and Run-at-Rate events to verify process capability and capacity prior to SOP.
In this role, I held full operational accountability for the plant's quality department. I acted as the bridge between corporate quality strategy and floor-level execution, ensuring that high-volume production remained lean, compliant, and focused on the end customer. Operational Leadership & Strategic Vision Quality Function Oversight: Directed all plant-level quality operations, aligning local processes with the broader Corporate Quality Management System to ensure regional consistency. Continuous Improvement (CI) Strategy: Provided the vision and roadmap for elevating customer quality metrics, utilizing data-driven insights to drive year-over-year performance gains. Organizational Development: Supervised, coached, and mentored a multi-disciplinary quality team, focusing on technical skill-building and leadership succession planning. Compliance & Systematic Problem Solving Regulatory Excellence: Ensured 100% compliance with TS 16949 and ISO 14001 standards, as well as rigorous customer-specific requirements (CSRs). Audit Readiness: Maintained a "constantly ready" environment for internal and external registrar audits, securing certifications through robust process controls. Corrective Action Championship: Led the root cause analysis and resolution process for internal and external escapes, utilizing 8D, 5-Why, and Fishbone methodologies to prevent recurrence. Cross-Functional Collaboration: Partnered with Production and Maintenance teams to embed quality at the source, reducing scrap rates and improving First-Time Quality (FTQ).
I served as a technical subject matter expert, driving advanced quality planning and systemic improvements. I focused on bridging the gap between engineering requirements and sustainable shop-floor execution, ensuring that quality was built into the process rather than inspected in. Advanced Quality & Process Control APQP & PPAP Leadership: Orchestrated the plant -level Advanced Product Quality Planning process for complex automotive components, ensuring all documentation—including PFMEAs and Control Plans—exceeded customer expectations. Systemic Problem Solving: Led high-priority root cause investigations for complex quality issues, utilizing Six Sigma and Shainin methodologies to implement permanent corrective actions. Statistical Analysis: Leveraged SPC (Statistical Process Control) and MSA (Measurement Systems Analysis) to monitor process capability and drive variability reduction across high-volume production lines. Strategic Contributions Continuous Improvement: Championed Lean manufacturing initiatives to reduce scrap, rework, and internal non-conformances, directly impacting plant profitability. Audit Mastery: Served as a lead internal auditor for IATF 16949 and ISO 14001, maintaining a robust compliance posture and mentoring junior engineers on regulatory standards.