Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Languages
Timeline
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Francisco Almanza

Chandler,AZ

Summary

Goal-oriented Manufacturing Manager with more than 24 years of experience in day-to-day business operations management. Experience in Automotive Heavy-Duty Truck Industry with proven success in manufacturing, production, and supply chain. Management experience in material flow systems, pull systems, and inventory control accuracy. Resourceful and adaptable with experience improving throughput through continuous process improvement and cross-functional collaboration. Led shop-floor productive teams enhancing operations and maintaining high standards of safety practices.

Overview

22
22
years of professional experience

Work History

Lead Engineer, Quality

Nikola Motor
02.2024 - Current
  • Successfully implemented new MES quality assurance program for current and new projects.
  • Develop Power BI based Quality KPI dashboards allowing our QA team to identify quality drivers and reduce DPUs by 30% in 2024
  • Led, trained and couched a team of quality inspectors to identify and resolve defects, ensuring customer satisfaction.

Continuous Improvement Manager

Nikola Motor
02.2023 - 02.2024
  • Responsible for implementation of continuous improvement, lean training and deployment of CI initiatives at the Coolidge assembly plant.
  • Launched Tiered Meeting Escalation process bringing alignment on company goals and provided production teams a quick path to escalate issues through different tiered huddles.
  • Trained production associates in different lean tools such as 5S, 8 Wastes identification, pull systems and elimination of wastes, problems solving tools (5 Whys and Fault Tree Analysis). Developed issues and improvement tracking tools via JIRA Agile systems.

Quality and Continuous Improvement Engineer

Nikola Motor
02.2022 - 01.2023
  • Participated in the development of the Quality system for BEV launch. Develop quality loop audits.
  • Improved Final Inspection quality audit time from 16 work hours down to 5, this was achieved by creating a 60-minute audit cycle time through small Kaizen blitz and couching auditors in concepts of value added and non-value-added steps.
  • Improved overall audit time and flow by rebalancing audit steps through time studies and pillar charts.

Operations Manager - Truck Specialty Center

Navistar Mexico
11.2016 - 10.2021
  • Oversaw daily operations of P&L Heavy-Duty truck modification organization, orchestrating forward-thinking strategies to accomplish profit and expansion goals.
  • Manage 500 team members across 4 departments, resulting in approximate $20M increase in annual revenue, net profit growth from 16% to 28% and steady market share growth year over year.
  • Built loyal account base and long-term business relationships with customers, sales directors for multiple fleet and dealer accounts.
  • Maintained quality of product with robust inspections and assessment team.
  • Redesigned operational workflow processes to maximize efficiency.
  • Monitored and supported progress of plant production orders by managing shop capacity and loading functions for 24/6 operation.
  • Planned operations to meet established schedules, factoring in order demands and business forecasts.
  • Anticipated and addressed production problems, material shortages, equipment malfunctions and unavoidable delays
  • Applied lean principles to improve workflow and quality and reduce waste

Operations Manager - Bus Specialty Center

Navistar Inc.
01.2016 - 11.2016
  • Planned and oversaw daily operations to meet established schedules, factoring in order demands and business forecasts for School Busses modifications with vast customer requested effects.
  • Determined suitable crew requirements, scheduled employees and worked with Human Resources to meet changing production schedules.
  • Applied lean practices to balance workflow and eliminate unnecessary steps
  • Led new warehouse improvement initiatives to advance operational efficiencies and increase revenue.
  • Reduced costs by eliminating materials waste and unnecessary labor hours
  • Achieved peak sales revenue of approximately $7M for FY2016

Lean Implementation Manager

Navistar Inc.
09.2012 - 01.2016
  • Managed development and implementation of lean and continuous improvement manufacturing initiatives across assembly facilities in US, Brazil, South Africa and Mexico.
  • Developed Continuous Improvement/Lean production training programs for onsite implementation.
  • Support pant materials teams designing plant layouts, tooling fixtures and flowcharts of materials to meet delivery targets.
  • Championed development and implementation of 3 Simulated Work Environment training sites foe new hire induction training.

Lean Implementation Manager

Navistar Canada Inc
06.2010 - 09.2012
  • Develop and oversee Lean transformation initiatives for supply chain improvements.
  • Plan and develop Material Flow Systems and line side material lay-out transformations to accommodate new production rates for domestic and international facilities.
  • Led lean material & logistics strategic planning which included oversight of new product introductions and production ramp-ups at Caxias do Sul, Brazil and Johannesburg, South African manufacturing plants.
  • Planed, designed and implemented material flow and line side material presentation for new Axle assembly expansion at Springfield Medium Duty Truck Assembly Plant.

Supply Chain Lean Coordinator

Navistar Canada Inc
02.2008 - 10.2010
  • Managed development and implementation of lean and continuous improvement initiatives for material flow and line-side presentation
  • Improved interior trim staging and supplier pull system processes to meet company goals for earnings, quality and completion reducing 60% on inventory between plant and supplier.
  • Mapped process workflows to enhance understanding of procedures
  • Developed Continuous Improvement/Lean production training programs for onsite implementation
  • Selected material quantities or processing methods needed to achieve efficient production

Material Coordinator

Navistar Mexico
10.2002 - 12.2005
  • Responsible to evaluate & develop line side replenishment methods to Improve Material Flow Processes.
  • Successfully reduced inventory levels from 4.7 to 0.7 using lean tools turning Cab assembly shop into model area for lean tools and material flow systems.
  • Implemented Supplier Kanban systems to reduce inventory working capital and cycle times.
  • Achieved 98 % internal pull systems on active parts for Cab and paint materials.
  • Managed receiving operations and proper storage of incoming materials
  • Completed daily cycle counts and full inventory audits every year.
  • Trained, motivated and instructed team of 70 employees staging and preparing items for deliveries

Education

Bachelor of Science - Industrial Engineering

Universidad Tecnológica Latinoamericana
Mexico

Skills

  • Multi-plant experience
  • Operations management
  • Assembly and Production
  • Safety and compliance
  • Inventory management
  • Material handling expertise
  • Continuous improvement
  • Root Cause Analysis

Languages

English
Bilingual or Proficient (C2)
Portuguese
Intermediate (B1)
Spanish
Native or Bilingual

Timeline

Lead Engineer, Quality

Nikola Motor
02.2024 - Current

Continuous Improvement Manager

Nikola Motor
02.2023 - 02.2024

Quality and Continuous Improvement Engineer

Nikola Motor
02.2022 - 01.2023

Operations Manager - Truck Specialty Center

Navistar Mexico
11.2016 - 10.2021

Operations Manager - Bus Specialty Center

Navistar Inc.
01.2016 - 11.2016

Lean Implementation Manager

Navistar Inc.
09.2012 - 01.2016

Lean Implementation Manager

Navistar Canada Inc
06.2010 - 09.2012

Supply Chain Lean Coordinator

Navistar Canada Inc
02.2008 - 10.2010

Material Coordinator

Navistar Mexico
10.2002 - 12.2005

Bachelor of Science - Industrial Engineering

Universidad Tecnológica Latinoamericana

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Francisco Almanza