Charles R. Mays, Jr.
Pensacola,FL
Summary
Transformational operations leader helping organizations achieve their goals by rooting out cost drivers, increasing efficiencies, and relentlessly focusing on customer satisfaction. Drives profitability and reduces costs through careful analysis of systems, processes, environments, by implementing cost reductions and continuous improvement. Aligns organizational and customer expectations through practical, realistic continuous improvement based on objective analysis of market expectations, competitive environment, and profit opportunities. Fosters culture of excellence through creativity, decentralized leadership, and effective communication, education, and team empowerment. Builds/leads high-performing teams. Ensures collaboration of cross-functional teams; gains trust of all stakeholders, achieves consensus in delivery of organizational goals, and maintains ongoing, mutually profitable relationships among all partners.
Overview
2025
2025
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Site Manager
RESCAR
03.2024 - 11.2024
- Built and trained new team to handle the Cargill eight-hundred car yard and two mobile repair units to support customer's needs
- Led site operations, ensuring compliance with safety regulations and railroad industry standards.
- Oversaw project timelines, coordinating resources and managing workflow efficiency.
- Implemented process improvements to enhance productivity and reduce operational costs while meeting and exceeding monthly profit goals by 25% month over month
- Mentored junior staff, cultivating skills in site management and best practices, thus creating mobile repair unit leads and assistant site manager
- Aligned site to meet and pass all audits including internal, Federal Railroad Administration, and Association of American Railroads
General Manager
Decker Sports LLC
09.2021 - 06.2022
- Level of Authority: $3M athletic solutions organization. Leads team of 6 at 30K sq ft facility, with $3M Profit and Loss. Reports to Chief Executive Officer.
- Challenge: Develop and sustain all the process to of operational execution by developing quality programs, implementing the enterprise resource system, document and flow the operations and procurement, and ensure accurate on time delivery
- Identify and reduce customer lead times through effective communication and leadership
- Create cohesion within the team, cross-functionally train, align with operations for scalability.
- Implemented Sports Equipment Institute polices for quality and operational requirements that include lot traceability and product serialization.
- Oversaw daily operations, ensuring efficiency and adherence to company policies.
- Developed strategic plans for business growth and increase market share.
- Streamlined inventory management processes, reducing overhead costs significantly.
Plant Manager
LALA US Branded Products
01.2019 - 01.2020
- Level of Authority: $2.5B global specialty dairy operations. Leads team of 13 at 170K sq ft plant, with $120M P&L. Reports to Vice President of Sales and Operations.
- Challenge: Create a turnaround in operational execution by focusing on efficiencies, reliabilities, processes, and leadership in an environment lacking accountability and standardization.
- Identify and reduce cost drivers, optimize product lines for efficient output, reduce labor costs, and implement best practices.
- Create cohesion within the team, cross-functionally train, align with operations, and reduce turnover.
- Slashed overtime spending by 70K per month since onboarding with implementing labor checkbooks, daily auditing, and accountability.
- Driving CAPEX and focused efforts on assets to gain efficiencies of 20% in 2019. Reducing material variance by driving root cause analysis to a reduction of 8% year to date.
- Established and trained personnel on the development of the repairs and maintenance checkbook. Overages have reduced by 30K monthly and are at target.
- Established and leads daily active management on the floor, training all leads and supervisors in GEMBA, Standard Work, Work Order Generation, Line Boards, Servant Leadership, and Visual Management.
Vice President of US Operations, Promoted from Plant Manager
Leclerc Foods, LLC
01.2014 - 01.2017
- Level of Authority: $575M global snack food manufacturer. Promoted from Plant Manager (2014-2016) to direct entire US operation. Led 400 cross-functional staff at 4 facilities, with $280M P&L. Reported to President and SVP of Operations.
- Challenge: Promoted to implement lean manufacturing and process standardization across all 4 US manufacturing facilities.
- Identify and reduce cost drivers, optimize product lines for efficient output, reduce labor costs, and implement best practices.
- Align US manufacturing operations with Québec, family-owned culture. Establish vertical integration within US operations.
- Championed and led lean strategy across 4 plants, implementing GEMBA, Lean, A3 Methodology, and root cause analysis to capture $1.2M project pool over 2017.
- Drove significant production efficiencies, standardized training, and boosted team empowerment to achieve 20% overall product output growth, from 16M to 20M tons, between 2016 and 2017.
- Developed aggressive startup strategy for new greenfield facility, creating 50 new jobs and adding 2 production lines.
- Slashed $2.5M from operating costs in fiscal 2017 by implementing more effective management and tracking tools.
Plant Engineer Manager
Novolex (formerly Hilex Poly)
01.2013 - 01.2014
- Level of Authority: $4B plastic bag company with 40 facilities worldwide. Managed 165K sq ft plant with 19 staff and $1.5M budget, reporting to VP, Continuous Improvement.
- Challenge: Turn around unreliable maintenance record and out-of-control budget by creating and deploying aggressive maintenance plans and driving culture change for accountability and excellence.
- No preventative maintenance; lack of critical spares and materials; 30%+ staff turnover; while organization was seeking a new plant manager.
- Conducted root cause analysis, established preventative maintenance plans and procedures, and deployed reliability improvement roadmap to boost efficiencies by 20% within 6 months.
- Stabilized maintenance workforce and cut overtime by 30% within 90 days by aligning staff skills with responsibilities.
- Reduced downtime by 15% for all bagging and extruding lines by implementing procedures to ensure ongoing availability of all critical spares and consumables.
- Boosted production from 235 to 250 bags/minute, supporting 4 new customers and $10M/year in new business.
Production Manager
Siligan PCS (formerly Portola Packaging)
2009 - 01.2013
- Level of Authority: $400M plastic cap manufacturer. Led team of 4 at 200K sq ft facility with 30 lines. Shared $48.25M P&L with Plant Manager. Reported to Plant Manager.
- Challenge: Improve operational equipment efficiency, which was ~70%, with downtimes >15%/month, and scrap at 8%. Plant was missing targets by $75K/month.
- Applied Lean principles to thoroughly analyze operations, identify problems/bottlenecks, and improve quality targets.
- Streamlined staffing structure to cut headcount by 13% for 2 years, afterward adding 100 new positions to meet dramatic expansion/acquisition while maintaining captured efficiencies.
- Key in achieving integration of acquired competitor facility 30 days ahead of target, saving $950M in transition costs and supporting $1.5M in new revenues.
Operations Manager
Heaton Composite Systems
12.2007 - 08.2010
- Level of Authority: $60M composite materials and fabrication technology company with global sales. Fast tracked from Production Manager to Operations Manager. Led team of 75 at 70K sq ft facility. $60M P&L responsibility; reported to VP.
- Challenge: Improve safety and efficiency, cut waste and injuries. Failure to meet OSHA standards; out-of-control labor costs; consistent inability to meet delivery deadline; poor quality control.
- Slashed production lead times from 12 weeks to 24 hours worldwide by improved production processes and planning.
- Executed Lean initiatives and better operational strategies to boost annual sales from $13M to $30M in 12 months.
- Provided product technical support to secure $50M in new, long-term contracts with Bell-Textron, Boeing, and Northrop-Grumman.
- Led transition from ISO 9001 to AS9100; directed implementation of ERP/MRP systems, achieving 98% on-time delivery.
Aerospace Maintenance / Engineering & Operations Management
US Marine Corps
12.1987 - 02.2008
- Level of Authority: Served as senior enlisted and program manager for Marine CH-53 Heavy Lift Helicopter Squadrons. Roles included Project Manager, Program Manager, Quality Assurance Chief, Airframes Division Chief, and Maintenance Material Control Chief.
- Challenge: Sustain aircraft for combat readiness and training in support of Marine Corps Mission.
- Lead Project for the establishment of the first Preset/Reset Program for Kaneohe Bay. Was responsible for 25 Military and Civilian Contract Maintenance Personnel and $5M in capital expenditures.
- Ensured outstanding customer service by turning around two aircraft per month, eliminating all phased maintenance, calendar inspections, high-time components, and discrepancies, yielding a 100% on time delivery to all squadrons.
- Designed and implemented airframes change to reduce/eliminate gyro failures for flight control systems. The initiative saved the Marine Corps over $3.6M in new/repairable parts and labor. Was awarded the Marine Corps Meritorious Service Medal for actions taken.
- Served as the CH-53 Airframe Subject Matter Expert regarding all issues and engineering changes. Provided key engineering assistance for the ballistic protection systems and ramp mounted weapon systems prior to entry to the fleet.
- Lead Marine Helicopter Heavy Squadron 463 to Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2006 as Maintenance Material Control Chief. Supervised twelve aircraft assets and 175 Marines with an average operational readiness rate of above 90% for the entire deployment. Was awarded the Marine Corps/Navy Commendation Medal for superior achievement.
Education
Master of Business Administration - magna cum laude
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Daytona Beach, FL2015
Bachelor of Science - magna cum laude
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Daytona Beach, FL2007
Skills
- Team leadership
- Problem-solving
- Quality assurance
- Site safety
- Project management
- Strategic planning
- Operations management
- Analytical thinking
- Data analysis
- Consulting
- Verbal and written communication
- Activity reporting
- OSHA safety requirements
- Attention to detail
- Regulatory compliance
- Process improvement
Accomplishments
- Developing a budding business by doubling revenue in 2021. Supported and provided athletic solutions to over 3,500 youth athletes., 2021-01-01
- Grew production by 20% for 2017, from 16M to 20M tons of finished goods by enhancing production efficiencies, boosting reliability, improving controls, and driving culture change focusing on efficiency and quality., 2017-01-01
- Boosted production efficiency from 82% in 2016 to 88% in 2017, slashing downtime from 13% in 2016 to 9% in 2017., 2017-01-01
- Reduced turnover from 22% in 2016 to 17% in 2017 by employee empowerment, better training, decentralized communications, and focus on everyday employee recognition and awards., 2017-01-01
- Implemented safety culture, cutting time-loss events to 0.6 and reducing severity of recordable incidents to less than 1., 2017-01-01
- Led successful $50M greenfield startup, acquiring, renovating, and expanding facilities, implementing solid logistics and freight systems, and hiring and onboarding 50 new staff. Captured key Costco contract for 50% of 2017 sales., 2017-01-01
- Led turnaround of aerospace manufacturing company through mix-mode manufacturing that cut global lead times from 12 weeks to 24 hours and improved quality. Obtained AS9100 certification and reached 96% on-time delivery rate with fewer than 2 defects per year, driving additional sales and government contracts., 2017-01-01
- Key role in turnaround of plastic cap manufacturing facility, bringing facility from bankruptcy to Four Sigma while boosting production from 223M units to #1 global output of 575M units, leading to $275M sale of company in 2013., 2013-01-01
Certification
- Six Sigma Black Belt
- Certificate in Management
- Certificate in Safety
- HACCP Manager Certificate
- AS9100 Internal Auditor
- Completed Project Management Studies with Villanova University
Timeline
Site Manager
RESCAR
03.2024 - 11.2024
General Manager
Decker Sports LLC
09.2021 - 06.2022
Plant Manager
LALA US Branded Products
01.2019 - 01.2020
Vice President of US Operations, Promoted from Plant Manager
Leclerc Foods, LLC
01.2014 - 01.2017
Plant Engineer Manager
Novolex (formerly Hilex Poly)
01.2013 - 01.2014
Operations Manager
Heaton Composite Systems
12.2007 - 08.2010
Aerospace Maintenance / Engineering & Operations Management
US Marine Corps
12.1987 - 02.2008
Production Manager
Siligan PCS (formerly Portola Packaging)
2009 - 01.2013
Master of Business Administration - magna cum laude
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Bachelor of Science - magna cum laude
Embry Riddle Aeronautical University
Personal Information
Title: Strategic Operations Leader