Craig Gray
Leslie
Summary
Tooling Design Engineer with more than 30 years of experience planning, developing and implementing Tooling designs for the plastics industry. Strong team design abilities with years of hands on experience. Plant support and customer service is job one.
Overview
31
31
years of professional experience
Work History
ThermoForm Tooling Assembly Technician Lead
Dart Container Corporation
12.2024 - Current
- Collaborated with team members to streamline assembly processes, reducing downtime and improving throughput.
- Implemented process improvements that minimized waste and enhanced product quality during assembly operations.
- Expedited order fulfillment through effective prioritization of tasks and time management skills.
- Delivered exceptional craftsmanship, consistently producing high-quality products that met customer specifications and requirements.
- Assisted in troubleshooting and resolving issues during the assembly process, minimizing delays in production schedules.
Tooling Design Engineer
Dart Container Corporation
04.2009 - 09.2024
- Generated solid models and drawings for production-ready custom fixtures and components.
- Provided educational support to internal personnel, verifying consistent understanding of engineering principles involved in proposed projects.
- Collaborated with sales and project management personnel to develop product concepts.
- Developed assembly processes for products requiring multiple parts to be fitted on-site.
- Sought ongoing refinement of in-use engineering processes to shorten production times and reduce costs.
- Aligned with manufacturing personnel to define manufacturing processes for fabrication of custom parts.
- Troubleshot, diagnosed and repaired engineering equipment.
- Monitored design processes from conceptual phase through construction.
- Applied best techniques, procedures and theories to researching, analyzing and designing mechanical equipment and components.
- Recommended design modifications to eliminate component and system malfunctions.
- Monitored, installed and tested system components.
- Collaborated with design and test development engineers to resolve product and process issues.
- Prepared and participated in project design reviews.
- Designed injection-molded plastic parts, machined parts and sheet metal parts in 3D CAD.
Manufacturing Engineer
Dart Container Corporation
01.2000 - 04.2009
- Coordinated with vendors, suppliers and manufacturing personnel to resolve technical and quality issues.
- Administered equipment maintenance, effectively troubleshooting faulty, damaged or inoperative components and systems.
- Resolved in-house production inefficiencies, establishing qualifications and procedures for sub-contracting and outsourcing.
- Addressed and resolved technical concerns to comply with internal standards and regulatory requirements.
- Devised, evaluated, implemented and oversaw multiple manufacturing projects of large scope from planning to completion.
- Oversaw manufacturing projective and program initiatives and administered performance metrics.
- Conducted maintenance and repair on production equipment.
- Engaged in purchase analysis in order to understand and assess technical drawing and specifications submitted by clients.
CNC Machinist
Dart Container Corporation
06.1995 - 01.2000
- Set up, adjusted or operated basic or specialized machine tools to support precision machining operations.
- Set-up and operated lathes, mills and grinders to cut raw materials.
- Troubleshot machinery and programming issues to exceed production goals.
- Fabricated various parts using multiple machines at once.
- Adhered closely to equipment safety practices to reduce accidents.
- Worked from layout and work order, created programs and set up machines to produce required parts.
- Measured and marked dimensions and reference points to meet precise specifications.
- Monitored feed and speed of machines during machining process to report problems and required repairs.
- Gauged and maintained tolerances on grinding diameters, depths, squareness and parallelism.
- Constructed appropriate offset corrections for tool wear, broken tools and casting variations.
Education
Some College (No Degree) - Mechanical Engineering
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, MISkills
- CAD Software
- Design Verification
- Process Engineering
- Continuous Improvement
- Product Development
- ThermoForm Tooling Assembly Lead
Timeline
ThermoForm Tooling Assembly Technician Lead
Dart Container Corporation
12.2024 - Current
Tooling Design Engineer
Dart Container Corporation
04.2009 - 09.2024
Manufacturing Engineer
Dart Container Corporation
01.2000 - 04.2009
CNC Machinist
Dart Container Corporation
06.1995 - 01.2000
Some College (No Degree) - Mechanical Engineering
Western Michigan University