SuzukiDirector
Jul. 2001 - Jan. 2005Reported to the President as the ranking American, served as the “Shadow President” of this Japanese company, lead staff in the startup of Suzuki’s first manufacturing plant in the U.S. Lead staffing and training efforts of the start-up business of 200+ people (managerial, salaried, and hourly employees). Set up business methods and systems. Lead teams to develop policies and procedures in the area of manufacturing, human resources, finance, supply chain, engineering, safety, training, and information systems. Direct Reports include 8 Sr. Managers (Treasury/Finance, Production, Supply Chain, Purchasing, Engineering, Planning/R&D, HR, IT). Responsible for overseeing the construction and build-out of 120k sq. ft. of manufacturing plant. Establish and review of vendors and quality criteria. Assumed direct responsibility for all IT systems (JD Edwards, BPCS, NT network, and Workstations supporting MS XP and MS WIN 2000). Successfully launched the new business systems and implemented an effective staffing and training plan that was on-time, and within budget. Leadership focus in Manufacturing, HR and Supply Chain areas. Teacher of JIT, 5S, Lean systems.