St Cloud, Minnesota, United States
I'm Richard C. Johnson: experienced operational leader passionate about driving excellence in food manufacturing teams. My mission is empowering organizations to achieve outstanding results by aligning people, processes, and innovative technology solutions. My journey into operational leadership began unexpectedly when supporting my wife, Tanija, in pursuing her architectural dreams. This introduced me to a profound appreciation of creativity, precision, and thoughtful design—principles I apply daily to production processes and team development. 🔍 Key Expertise: • Operational Excellence: Delivered a 200% increase in production efficiency through Lean Manufacturing, Kaizen, and continuous improvement practices. • Quality & Compliance: Successfully guided multiple teams through rigorous SQF certification and compliance audits using HACCP principles. • Leadership & Team Development: Increased employee retention by 72% through targeted coaching, mentoring, and staff development programs. • Safety & Health Standards: Championed safety-first cultures resulting in zero OSHA recordable incidents over 39 consecutive months. • Strategic Communication: Enhanced cross-departmental collaboration, significantly reducing downtime by 30% through adaptive, emotional intelligence-driven strategies. • Technological Integration: Implemented NetSuite ERP, achieving a 90% improvement in inventory accuracy and an 85% reduction in material shortages. • Critical Thinking & Problem-Solving: Spearheaded root cause analyses and process excellence initiatives to eliminate operational bottlenecks and improve customer retention rates to 95%. 🏅 Professional Accomplishments: • Led a 52-person production team through a successful transition to 24/7 operations, surpassing production targets by over 200% and reducing downtime by 30% through strategic communication, lean manufacturing principles, and CoPilot AI workflow enhancements. • Achieved a 13-year record of zero OSHA-recordable safety incidents, implementing rigorous safety training, proactive equipment inspection protocols, and a deeply embedded safety-first culture. 🍰 A Bit of Personal Flavor: Proud winner of a Blue Ribbon for my banana cream pie, demonstrating a passion for excellence and attention to detail beyond the workplace. Currently pursuing Bachelor's degree in Cybersecurity at SCSU while also seeking opportunities where my extensive operational experience and dedication to continuous improvement can contribute to a dynamic organization's success. 🌐 Connect Now: 📧 [email protected] | 📞 (801) 386-4807
• Led production team of 52 to full 24/7/365 operations, increasing production by over 200% and reducing downtime by 30% through leadership, strategic coaching, and AI-assisted workflow enhancements. • Implemented companywide NetSuite rollout utilizing cross-functional team collaborative problem-solving, designing and delivering training programs, achieving 90% inventory accuracy improvement, reducing material shortages by 85% through adaptive change management strategies and continuous improvement initiatives. • Forged strategic collaborative partnerships between Operations and Quality Control, Warehouse, Logistics, and Maintenance divisions, implementing daily morning status meetings sharing KPI dashboards, eliminating 40% of operational bottlenecks, and increasing customer retention to 95%. • Developed 12 emerging supervisors through personalized mentorship programs and 360-degree feedback systems, while executing predictive maintenance protocols across 25+ production assets using IoT sensors and data analytics, achieving 25% equipment downtime reduction, 80% turnover decrease, and extending machinery lifespan by 50%. • Created a unified compliance platform utilizing NetSuite, Paycom, FIIX, Safefood 360, and Power BI, achieving 100% regulatory compliance and certification through three successful SQF audits. • Pioneered proactive safety excellence program through data-driven risk assessments and interactive team workshops, leveraging emotional intelligence to embed safety first mindset across all shifts, achieving 39-month zero-incident record; improved safety engagement scores 78%
• Optimized supervision of night shift operations for 18 direct reports, consistently delivering over 25% higher productivity compared to other shifts through exceptional leadership. • Increased employee retention by 72% by introducing clear career pathways, personalized coaching, and structured professional development programs. • Achieved top company safety record over 8 years through rigorous safety training and continuous improvements of equipment inspections. • Implemented voluntary time-off policy during lower-demand periods, generating a 10% reduction in payroll expenses while maintaining optimal staffing levels for production requirements. • Awarded many distinct recognitions as top performing shift across production, quality, safety, inventory holds, and waste reduction metrics by applying continuous improvement and KPI mining. • Accomplished perfect quarterly attendance record for 5+ consecutive years, exemplifying reliability, adaptability, consistency, and team building. • Integrated strategic communication, emotional intelligence, and adaptive coaching and mentoring techniques from management training to create positive work culture and enhance team cohesion.
• Directed safe setup, operation, and proactive maintenance of packaging machinery and extruders, resulting in zero significant safety incidents over 6 years through strong adherence to safety regulations, initiatives, and training. • Coordinated comprehensive ingredient blending, equipment staging, and product loading operations, consistently achieving 100% on-time shipment and delivery rates. • Conducted rigorous quality control inspections and pre-run audits using scissor lifts and testing swabs, ensuring continuous compliance with strict quality standards and contributing to zero recalls along with initial SQF certification. • Delivered accurate, timely daily production reports using disciplined documentation processes and systematic critical thinking, providing transparent operational insights for management's strategic planning. • Trained, mentored, and developed 80 operators and support staff, leading shift to top-rated position company-wide and consistently setting daily all-time production records over 80,000 pounds.