BRIAN A. COBBS

• Devise unique concept for barbeque restaurant. Raised the start-up capital, authored the business plan, secured location, developed product offerings, devised unique menu and launched the business. Contemplating returning to the corporate world as the business is self sustaining.
• Noteworthy achievements:
• Sales builder. Consistently grew sales 10% a year since inception—a significant achievement given the industry, the geographic location of the business and the local economy. Quadrupled catering business through effective marketing.
• Process efficiency. Sourced and purchased various pieces of professional-grade equipment designed to minimize labor costs, improve operating efficiency and speed the production of large volumes of product in relatively little time—moves that did much to secure competitive position.
• Financial control. Sourced and installed a point-of-sale system to track sales, improve process efficiency and control payroll costs—a major decision that substantially improved the bottom line.
• Negotiation. Successfully negotiated credit card processing rates, effectively saving the business thousands annually in operating expenses.
• Core responsibilities:
• Vendor sourcing. Worked continually to source, secure and build relationships with quality, competitively priced suppliers, focusing on the importance of building relationships and not just price as the primary driver.
• Staffing and operations. Managed all administrative and human resource functions, quickly developing expertise in new areas, including recruitment, performance management and training.
• Supervision. Scheduled and supervised six-to-ten employees in an industry characterized by high turnover and employing mostly young people where instilling team spirit is essential to long-term survival.
• Inventory control. Closely managed inventory of food, supplies and equipment—a fundamental driver in the success of the food business and most production-related enterprises where oversight of inputs and raw materials is critical.

Helped lead and optimize end to end material flow across inbound and outbound processes to ensure seamless support of production schedules.

Was part of a team that implemented a lean materials system( e.g pull systems, supermarket replenishment, kanban) to eliminate waste.

Part of team that was instrumental in driving continuous improvement initiatives in inventory management and space utilization using lean tools such as value stream mapping and 5S.

Helped to maintain inventory levels to support production.

Conducted regular inventory audits and reconciled discrepancies

Coordinated with purchasing to ensure timely replenishment.

Identified and resolved inventory issues proactively.

Knowledge in using SAP ERP system to help manage inventory.

Performed inventory audits as well as cycle counts to help maintain accurate inventory levels as well as reduce shrinkage.

• Aggressively executed requisitions for job materials using the company’s SAP software application. Developed and distributed requests for quotes from various suppliers. Resigned position in anticipation of elimination simultaneous with the sale of Frontier to Citizens.
• Noteworthy achievements:
• Inventory control. Reconciled inventory discrepancies by conducting physical inventories when necessary. Identified slow-moving inventory and developed secondary and third-party vendors to liquidate obsolete materials—efforts that contributed to freeing up cash flow for the company.
• Project facilitation. Worked as liaison between approved vendors and Frontier installation/construction teams to ensure that all job materials were sourced and delivered on time—an important behind-the-scenes function that did much to ensure compliance with scheduling and effective project delivery.
• Special projects. Created the installation team’s first safety task force charged with making sure the group had the equipment, training and tools necessary to safely do the job; created key processes and protocols behind the effort.

• Processed and translated incoming purchase orders into the company’s proprietary tracking system. Acted as liaison between customers, purchasing, engineering and production on all jobs—troubleshooting when necessary to ensure timely delivery and customer satisfaction. Assembled submittal packages for review and approval by engineering staff. Reviewed commercial jobs, ensuring that all contract terms and conditions were met.