Mike Eckard

Operations Manager @ ALPLA Group | Manufacturing Process Improvement

Kansas City, Missouri, United States

About

30+ years of manufacturing experience with Injection Molding, Blow Molding, & Plastics Extrusion. Experienced in Plant/Department Management, Plastic Process Engineering, Lean Manufacturing, New Product Development and Continuous Improvement. Experienced in the use of a wide variety of conventional & engineered grades resins with a variety of machines ranging from 18 ton to 4000 ton. Also have knowledge of Gas Assist, Web, and Structural Foam Molding. TRAINING/KNOWLEDGE/ACCOMPLISHMENTS:  Increased Efficiencies  Six Sigma Training with Projects  Continuous Improvement  Practical Problem Solving  Rapid Improvement Events  Statistical Process Control  Variety of Presses from 18-4000T  Injection and various blow molding machines  Daily 6s housekeeping/Safety  Scrap reduction  Cost savings

Experience

  • Production Operations Manager at ALPLA Group
    Nov 2024 - Present · 1 yr 8 mos

  • Plant Manager at Clack Corporation
    Dec 2020 - Oct 2024 · 3 yrs 11 mos

  • Process Engineer/ Continuous Improvement at Graham Packaging
    Aug 2018 - Nov 2020 · 2 yrs 4 mos

  • Plastic Process/ Production Supervisor at Continental Commercial Products
    Sep 2016 - Aug 2018 · 2 yrs

    Lowered Scrap by 12% Increased Production efficiency by 32% Troubleshoot machinery and tooling Work on cost savings ( material and color usage ) Train new technicians Production reporting Start ups and shut down of machinery P.M. tooling Train set up personal on proper setting of molds Optimize cycle times Supervise production workers 6s

  • Plastics Consultant at GTI
    Jun 2016 - Sep 2016 · 4 mos

    Optimized processes on all machines Machines varied from 150 ton to 1500 ton injection and shuttle machines Polypropylene , ABS, PC, PC/ABS, Polystyrene Reduced scrap by 22% Increased efficiency by 28% Trained process technicians Assisted as production manager Wrote and saved process programs Evaluated molds, and worked with tool room on repairs needed New tool run off Material sample testing