JERRY PROTHRO
Lawrenceville,GA
Summary
Dynamic Electromechanical Engineer with a proven track record at Worldwide Electric Corporation, leading product development and lifecycle management. Expert in CAD software and warranty analysis, driving product improvements and achieving over $25 million in annual sales. Strong communicator and collaborator, dedicated to exceeding customer expectations and industry standards.
Overview
24
24
years of professional experience
Work History
PRODUCT MANGER/APPLICATION ENGINEER
WORLDWIDE ELECTRIC CORPORATION
05.2019 - Current
- Highly skilled and motivated Electromechanical Engineer supporting new product development, sustaining engineering, and managing the product lifecycle.
- Responsible for owning all phases of the product development cycle, both pre- and post-release, ensuring successful launches, continuous product support, and improvements.
- Managed technical supplier relationships, contributed to cost optimization initiatives, and provided critical technical support for both customers and the sales team.
- Responsible for reviewing warranty information, analyzing failures, and creating solutions to mitigate future failures through design improvements, education, and ongoing support.
- Deep understanding of electromechanical systems, with a customer-centric approach, and the ability to collaborate across teams to drive product success.
- Lead the design, development, and launch of innovative electromechanical products, ensuring that customer requirements, industry standards, and company goals are met throughout the process.
- Own all phases of the product lifecycle, from concept through to post-release support.
- Provide ongoing support for existing products, addressing any technical issues, troubleshooting problems, and driving product improvements.
- Develop and maintain strong relationships with technical suppliers, ensuring that components and materials meet required specifications, quality standards, cost goals, and timelines.
- Lead and participate in design reviews to evaluate and identify opportunities for design improvements and cost reduction.
- Serve as a key stakeholder and active member of NEMA (National Electrical Manufacturers Association), ensuring that products meet relevant industry standards and certifications.
- Identify and implement process improvements in both product design and engineering workflows to enhance efficiency, reduce costs, and ensure high-quality, sustainable products.
- Ensure thorough documentation of all design, development, and lifecycle management activities.
- 7 products launched totaling over $25 million dollars in annual sales with warranty rates below 0.01%
TECHNICAL SUPPORT MANAGER
TECHTOP INDUSTRIES INC
PEACHTREE CORNERS, GA
06.2015 - 07.2018
- Responsible for sales, engineering and manufacturing support in all aspects of daily operation.
- Tasks range from developing relationships with local supply and repair shops and local scrap yards to reduce losses to reviewing newly proposed design specs in accordance with NEMA MG1 with comparison to market competition.
- Developed ISO9000 program to increase safety and reduce insurance premiums.
- Trained Account Managers, Engineering and Sales personnel in warranty claim processing.
- Trained Account Managers and Engineering on basic motor fault analysis.
- Monitored engineering and manufacturing failure analysis efforts to ensure accurate root cause determination, process improvement, and exceptional customer response.
- Managed returned part analysis processes and managed customer disputes.
- Designed and manufactured various customer parts to satisfy customer needs.
- Set specs for new product lines, revised Bill of Materials, developed test fixtures, developed test panels and wrote procedures.
SENIOR SALES/APPLICATION ENGINEER
WEG ELECTRIC CORP.
DULUTH, GA
05.2006 - 06.2015
- Specialized in Air Handling Applications and New Product Development (Low and Medium Voltage motors).
- Industry focused applications engineer responsible for the development and growth of targeted accounts.
- Identified, targeted and acted upon customer needs to minimize time required to launch of new customer product lines.
- Provided support and documentation for Critical Design Review (CDR), and Detailed Design Review (DDR) process.
- Host customer visits to headquarters and manufacturing facilities domestically and internationally.
- Support new business development with local and remote customer presentations providing training on motor applications and government regulations.
- Low voltage department top sales and profit margin from 2006 to 2015.
- Developed metrics and monitoring tools allowing management better oversight of team performance.
- Developed technical tools allowing for more accurate quotations with a 20% shorter turnaround time.
- Motor development for air handling applications (Fans, compressors, blowers, cooling towers, emergency ventilation systems/smoke extraction motors) resulting in 7 million dollars of new annual business.
- Motor development for locomotive applications (main generator blowers, traction motor blowers, e-locker dustbin) resulting in 5 million dollars of new annual business.
SENIOR MAINTENANCE MECHANIC
ROCKWELL AUTOMATION
FLOWERY BRANCH, GA
05.2002 - 05.2006
- Applied electrical, mechanical, pneumatic and hydraulic theory to install maintain, repair, modify, fabricate, calibrate, program and adjust mechanical, electrical, electronic, CNC, and microprocessor based systems.
- Responsible for the maintenance, repair, install and setup of all manufacturing equipment from complete machines to components.
- Extensive knowledge of VFD drives, PLCs, controls, circuit boards, relay logic, hydraulics, pneumatics and motors.
- Designed, fabricated and installed wash down systems in CNC machinery to reduce clean up and maintenance time.
- Designed and installed control system to convert manual hydraulic presses to automatic operation to increase process repeatability.
- Programmed PLCs for CNC machines, ladder logic programming and servo drive programming.
- Performed ball bar and run out checks to ensure machinery is within manufacturing tolerances.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Electrical Engineering
Kennesaw State University
Marietta, GA05.2019
Associates of Science - Engineering Path
Georgia State University
Dunwoody, GA05.2016
Skills
- Electromechanical systems
- Product design and development
- Manufacturing processes and techniques
- Product lifecycle management
- CAD software proficiency
- SolidWorks and AutoCAD expertise
- Design documentation tools
- Analytical and problem-solving skills
- Warranty and failure mode analysis (FMEA)
- Corrective action implementation
- Cost-reduction strategies
- Design for manufacturability (DFM)
- Value engineering principles
- Industry standards compliance (NEMA, UL, IEC)
- Technical supplier relationships and vendor negotiations
- Communication skills in technical support
- Collaboration and teamwork
- Customer inquiry resolution
- Sales support strategies
Professional Development
- Dale Carnegie Skills for Success
- WEG Instructor Training Program
- Leadership Training - US Navy
- Servo Control
- SLC 500 Maintenance and Troubleshooting
- National Electrical Code (NEC)
Timeline
PRODUCT MANGER/APPLICATION ENGINEER
WORLDWIDE ELECTRIC CORPORATION
05.2019 - Current
TECHNICAL SUPPORT MANAGER
TECHTOP INDUSTRIES INC
06.2015 - 07.2018
SENIOR SALES/APPLICATION ENGINEER
WEG ELECTRIC CORP.
05.2006 - 06.2015
SENIOR MAINTENANCE MECHANIC
ROCKWELL AUTOMATION
05.2002 - 05.2006
Bachelor of Science - Electrical Engineering
Kennesaw State University
Associates of Science - Engineering Path
Georgia State University