Manufacturing Operations & Operational Excellence Leader

Production teams were achieving window-count targets while leaving customer orders incomplete. Time studies revealed that casement and awning vent assemblies were the primary bottleneck, causing incomplete windows to accumulate, active backorders to grow, and new jobs to be released before existing projects were completed.

Conducted detailed time studies across sub-assembly operations to identify production constraints. Rebalanced manpower at bottleneck stations, standardized operating procedures across all shifts, implemented shift-level performance tracking and accountability, and introduced production controls to ensure jobs were only released when all required components were available. Production KPIs were redesigned to focus on completed customer orders rather than total units produced.

Increased production output from approximately 10,000 to 11,000 windows per month while eliminating active production backorders, improving project completion rates, reducing work-in-process inventory, and enhancing overall production flow across the manufacturing operation.

Decentralized glass ordering caused duplicate orders, poor tracking, and high annual reorder costs.

Created centralized tracking, approval workflows, ETA visibility, and search-before-reorder controls.

Reduced annual glass reorder costs by 75%, from $1.2M to $300K — approximately $900K in annualized savings.

60% of site NCRs were linked to factory dispatch and pre-shipment issues.

Standardized end-of-line inspections, strengthened QC ownership, and implemented pre-shipment sign-off controls.

Reduced non-recoverable site costs from $2M/year to $400K/year — approximately $1.6M saved annually.

Supplier glass defects were being found internally without a consistent measurement baseline or structured supplier feedback process.

• Established 100% incoming inspection during the baseline period
• Recorded defects by skid
• Stratified packaging, handling and stacking issues
• Shared objective findings with the supplier
• Implemented supplier corrective actions
• Continued measuring the same KPI after implementation

Supplier-related glass NCRs were reduced by approximately 40% compared with the established baseline.

Façade coating and touch-up-paint approval relied heavily on visual comparison, creating inconsistent acceptance decisions and a risk of colour mismatch.

Standardized sample preparation, introduced an Incoming Quality Control release gate, used X-Rite colour measurement and documented approval criteria.

Replaced subjective decisions with a repeatable, traceable colour-acceptance process that identified concerns before production release.

The estimation process relied on historical assumptions, outdated labor standards, inventory discrepancies, and inconsistent costing methods, creating pricing uncertainty and margin risk.

Conducted time studies, validated production data, reconciled inventory records, standardized estimating databases, and developed digital estimating tools aligned with actual manufacturing performance.

Improved pricing accuracy, strengthened commercial confidence, reduced margin risk, and enhanced operational visibility across estimating and manufacturing functions.

Transportation damage including broken glass, scratched frames, and product movement during transit was generating customer complaints, rework, and replacement costs.

Redesigned packaging systems, implemented high-density protection materials, standardized shipping requirements, and introduced transportation validation trials.

Reduced shipping-related damage, improved product protection, increased customer satisfaction, and strengthened logistics reliability.

NCR stratification identified machining as approximately 30–35% of total NCRs. Bowed aluminum stock affected datum positioning and clamp engagement, contributing to excessive surface milling and assembly-hole location errors.

• First-off inspection for new jobs and setups
• Periodic QC verification
• Bowing and material-condition checks
• Machine calibration
• Clamping and stock-position controls
• Cross-functional coordination among Production, Quality, Maintenance and Engineering

Recurring CNC defects declined significantly, and defects were identified earlier before the remaining batch was processed.