Chuck Miller

As VP of Engineering, the team was internal and external facing. Internally responsible for daily engineering functions and machine design. Externally accountable for providing sales with engineering concepts, production costs, and production process layouts for our customers.

• Responsible for creating unique design solutions for workholding and machine designs to reduce the company's operating cost.
• Supported sales by providing conceptual layouts, production cost structures, and final production documentation.
• Developed strategic plans for the engineering department, aligning with overall company objectives.
• Spearheaded research and development efforts to explore emerging technologies that could benefit current or future projects.

Originally hired as a Design Engineering, I was quickly promoted to Director of Engineering to create and oversee a team 10 engineers and CNC programmers.

• Created a formal Engineering/CNC Programming team to create engineering documents and revision control throughout the development process.
• Implemented 3D CAD design software, Onshape, to design, document and provide revision control through the use of PDM software to comply with ISO and AS standards. This decreased errors and improved production levels on the shop floor by 30%.
• Increased the throughput of the CNC programming team by implementing KPIs and tracking results on a daily basis. This increased throughput up to 50%
• Participated in daily GEMBA meetings to identify issues that needed to be addressed at the engineering level.
• Provided leadership for process development in the engineering, production, and quality departments.

The size of my team grew to 82 members when I was promoted to the role of Director of Operations. This allowed me to contribute to both engineering and manufacturing disciplines simultaneously.

• Created cross-functional team meetings to establish enhanced communication between the sales, engineering and manufacturing departments.
• Created KPIs that focused on overall organizational goals. This created an atmosphere of teamwork compared to department centric thought process.
• Increase manufacturing throughput by 6% per week by developing and implementing improved processes.
• Implemented 6S on the manufacturing floor, thus increasing organization and increased production in each cell.

Initially brought on as a design engineer, I was quickly promoted to engineering manager and tasked with improving design efficiencies and on-time delivery.

• Implemented Pipedrive CRM to track, nurture, and improve project close rates. This reduced the weekly sales meeting time by 65%.
• Implemented web-based proposals to create a better user experience and integrate them into Pipedrive CRM.
• Created cross-functional weekly meetings to ensure all departments hit established KPIs and improved on-time deliveries by 35% for our clients.
• Worked with all departments to create a Value Stream Map of the entire organization to identify outdated processes and implement improvements to organizational operations.
• Enhanced overall team productivity with continuous training and mentoring of junior engineers.
• Coordinated with sales to develop customized engineering solutions for our client base.
• Performed concurrent design, manufacturing, and engineering, reducing the time required to market products.

As COVID was upon us, the strategic decision to sell Global Workholding, LLC. I was offered a position to create a new line of business for a leader in the rotational workholding sector.

• Developed an internal FAQ document to educate sales personnel on the differences between rotational and prismatic workholding.
• Created a 3D CAD library of existing product offerings to reduce quotation times and supply customers with up-to-date and accurate information.
• Developed and maintained relationships with customers and suppliers through account development.

This company was founded to fill a niche in the industry that I noticed throughout my career. The industry was moving to more standardized workholding and manufacturing solutions, primarily due to the lack of tool & die designers available in the workholding industry.

• Founded, developed, and negotiated the sale of the company to a leader in the workholding industry.
• Implemented Salesforce.com to track, nurture, and close potential projects.
• Developed a standardized, quick-change, workholding solution for 4th-axis rotary tables on vertical machining centers.
• Established relationships with machine tool companies, outside manufacturer representatives, and cutting tool distributors to promote and implement this unique solution.
• Spearheaded talent acquisition efforts, attracting top-tier talent to build a high-performing team.
• Adopted 3D CAD/PDM software, Onshape, to design and document all products.
• Hired and managed employees to maximize productivity while training staff on best practices and protocols.

After the success of CD Miller & Associates, Inc., many of our competitors requested my assistance in growing their companies in the tool & die industry. It was an excellent opportunity to prove my system and mindset would work in other organizations.

• Implemented Salesforce.com as our CRM to track, nurture, and close a higher percentage of opportunities.
• Increased project profitability by 10%-15% by creating stronger vendor relationships to reduce component costs.
• Created alliances with companies and outside manufacturing representatives specializing in the automotive sector's high-volume, safety-critical aluminum components.
• Increased overall sales by 350% in one year.
• Managed complex projects from inception to completion, ensuring timely delivery while maintaining high-quality standards.
• Developed and prepared complex sales proposals that outlined exactly what to expect as a deliverable. These recommendations included conceptual layouts and finite element analysis (FEA) of their part. In addition, the machining process, complete process development layout, and terms & conditions of the sale were also included.
• Drove sales by developing multi-million dollar contract sales.

My time with Innovative Neurotronics, Inc., a division of Hanger Orthopedics, enriched my career. I was empowered to create functional solutions that enhanced the lives of our clients, which was amazing!

• Worked closely with a cross-functional team of Sales, Marketing, Electrical Engineers, Contract Manufacturers, and Clinical Study professionals to ensure we were aligned with consumer expectations.
• Designed creative solutions with DFMA in mind to reduce overall manufacturing costs.
• Developed comprehensive design documentation, facilitating a seamless transition from concept to production phase.
• Ensured compliance with industry standards and regulations by meticulously adhering to established product design engineering practices guidelines.
• Applied advanced CAD software tools to create complex geometries, accelerating time-to-market for new products.
• Developed prototypes using rapid prototyping methods such as 3D printing or CNC machining to efficiently validate form, fit, and function concepts before mass production launch.
• Led root cause analyses to identify and address problems in industrial production.

After honing my design skills, manufacturing knowledge, and communication acumen at Liquid Controls, LLC and Cummins-Allison, Inc., CD Miller & Associates, Inc. was founded and quickly became the premier Advanced Workholding supplier in greater Chicago. By establishing partnerships with local machine tool builders and distributors, CD Miller grew at a rate of 150%-200% per year due to detailed proposals, industry knowledge, creative design solutions, on-time delivery, and overall quality of our final product.

• Founded, operated, expanded, and sold a very successful Tool & Die (Workholding) company that was the premier supplier in the Chicago area.
• Created engineering standards and implemented design automation criteria that reduced low-level decision-making tasks and allowed designers to concentrate on high-level tasks, thus reducing the design timeline by up to 50%.
• Implemented a bonus structure for design engineers that rewarded them for decreasing rework costs. Over three consecutive financial quarters, rework dropped from 11% to less than 1%; this reduction in rework was quickly translated into an increase in on-time delivery percentage, which rose from 80% to 98% every quarter.
• Created KPIs and implemented manufacturing workflows that enhanced throughput within the manufacturing and assembly departments.
• Reduced operating overhead by evaluating, purchasing, and implementing new CAD software (SolidWorks).