Kao Akana
Summary
Performance Management Leader | Process Optimization Professional | Coach | Culture Champion
Skilled Facility Director adept at keeping facilities clean, well-maintained and operating at peak performance. Well-versed in training and motivating teams to achieve demanding objectives. Prepared to bring 15+ years of Manufacturing Leadership experience to long-term position.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Facility Leader
ALLIANCE MACHINE SYSTEMS
12.2022 - Current
- Change agent promoted to Plant Leader in support of Company OpEx (Continuous Improvement) and PeopleEx (Professional Development) Growth Strategies
- Championed Plant culture adjustments that supports Continuous Improvement, Safety and Quality Control Strategic Goals through refocusing the plant leadership teams' communication skills and to be more structured, timely and inclusive; greatly expanding plant communication methods and frequency
- Owned Plant level staffing model focused on Truly Human Leadership and Operational Excellence implementation resulting in 9-box succession plan which filled leadership skill gaps through new job descriptions/role creation, org chart alteration, and 1st and 2nd line leadership changes that improved fit, effectiveness and bench depth of current leadership ladder
- Coached leaders on how and why a dynamic, people-centric workplace is connected to winning business drivers
- Coaching included connection between individual and team emotional intelligence, developing trust amongst the team and the 4-phases of Psychological Safety
- Partner with the HR function to energize the supervisory and leadership teams capabilities, introducing Employee engagement and experience surveys, Employment law and Employee performance review training
- Established multifaceted improvements to CI and QC infrastructure based on Plant Value Stream assessments aligned with Company growth strategy resulting in: Established a new Continuous Improvement process which capitalized on a combination of Gemba learning and CI idea collection focusing on fast, iterative improvements and inclusive report-out process resulting in 76 Kaizens over a 9 month period
- Improved current Quality Control process by restructuring QC data review to focus on use of 7 Quality Tools and corresponding improvement projects resulting in 18% improvement in Vital Few
- Expanded plant capacity through Project Plan to contract out the key high volume product resulting in assembly, testing, shipping and Quality Control fulfilled by the vendor over an 9 month period opening capacity of 5 FTE
- Reduced costs through overhaul of electrical material storage and fulfillment through a cross functional team-vendor approach resulting in $4000/ month cost reduction from distributed keep fill locations for wire spools, point-of-use spool carts, individual wire scrap buckets.
Continuous Improvement Manager
ALLIANCE MACHINE SYSTEMS
05.2022 - 12.2022
- Introduced Division to the BW Way Operational and People Excellent playbooks as the company's first Continuous Improvement Manager
- Maintained responsibility for all Visual Workplace systems while serving as lead Kata coach to new Lean Six Sigma belted employees
- Coached teams on effective use of Quality Inspection sheets, Root Cause Analysis maps, and Fishbone diagramming and implementation of 5 Why analysis
Engineering Manager
ALLIANCE MACHINE SYSTEMS
08.2021 - 05.2022
- Spearheaded a major $3 million Root Cause Analysis project for Hershey Chocolate Co
- Guided the Engineering team in the use of in-process quality checks and meeting short-term and strategic KPIs to help increase cost reductions and workflow performance.
Manufacturing Engineer Supervisor
ALLIANCE MACHINE SYSTEMS
04.2018 - 08.2021
- Developed technical documentation, including standard operating procedures, work instructions, and engineering drawings to support manufacturing operations.
- Drove Six Sigma/ Project Management methods for improved production performance of Corrugated Loader machines resulting in 8% Profit Margin gain ($5,200) per unit.
- Utilized Design Thinking approach for End of Arm Tooling (EOAT) product improvement project resulting in overall 46% reduction in cost (material and labor), removal of 11 process steps and 1.8 miles of travel.
Lean Engineer / Value Stream Manager
EXOTIC METALS FORMING COMPANY
11.2015 - 04.2018
- Designed Value Stream material flow through Product Family Matrix sequencing resulting in 4x improved output and 19% waste reduction
- Conducted monthly and quarterly Value Stream performance assessments against Management-Operational-Social-Technology and Shingo Prize criteria
- Performed monthly Lean Manufacturing new hire onboarding training and conducted regular Lean Manufacturing workshops on 5S, Single Piece Flow, Process Mapping, and Load Leveling
- Reduced Fabrication shop inventory stocks by 40% over 1 year through the application of standardized Stock Keeping Units for Design-for-Assembly applications.
Production Manager
Colmac Industries
01.2013 - 01.2015
- Promoted to Production Manager from Manufacturing Engineer with a focus on establishing greater quality and value consistency defined by the Chief Operation Officers' 10% increase in Sales, 0% increase in material, 1% increase in productivity mantra.
- Contributed to 36% Company profit increase over 18 month period by significant cost reductions through Design for Manufacturing and Assembly redesign on 6 high production rate Assemblies and 3 weldments.
- Reduced Colmac Industries Sheet Scrap by $9,500 USD over a 12 month period through the development and execution of enterprise extension partnerships with specific sheet metal houses in the Spokane Area, specific employee training and the reduction of batching operations.
- Developed a strategic, multi-tiered plan in order to overcome aging shop equipment and unavailable job skills in a geographically remote location in Stevens County, WA through the procurement of outsourced skills and services, balancing Work in Process (WIP) and special management of $1.1 Million dollars worth of inventory with customer demand.
Education
Bachelor of Science - Manufacturing Technology
Eastern Washington University
Cheney, WA01.2010
Skills
- Business Development
- Change Initiatives & Management
- Culture Change
- Key Performance Indicators
- Strategic Planning
- Business Process Improvement
- Workforce Planning
- Operational Excellence
- Project Management
- Process Audits
- Business Analysis
- Performance Management
- Learning and Development
- Quality Management
- Succession Planning
- Operations Management
Websites
Certification
- Project Management for Experts, GoSkills, 2022
- Certified Manager of Quality & Organizational Excellence, American Society of Quality, 2022
- Leading Change in Organizations, MIT / Emeritus, 2020
- Master Certificate in Lean Project Management, Villanova University, 2017
- Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, Simplilearn, 2010
Methodologies And Technical Skills
- MS Office Suite
- ADDIE
- Gemba
- 5S & 5S Infrastructure
- Six Sigma Black Belt
- Kaizen
- Improvement Kata, Learning Kata
- 5-Why Root Cause Analysis
- 7 Quality Tools
- Hoshin Kanri
- X Matrixes
- Design Thinking
- TWI
- Talent Assessment
- Cross Functional Leadership
- VSM
- Policy Deployment
- Kanban
- Standardization
- Document Control
- Visual Workplace Development
References
Formal References Will Be Provided Upon Request
Timeline
Facility Leader
ALLIANCE MACHINE SYSTEMS
12.2022 - Current
Continuous Improvement Manager
ALLIANCE MACHINE SYSTEMS
05.2022 - 12.2022
Engineering Manager
ALLIANCE MACHINE SYSTEMS
08.2021 - 05.2022
Manufacturing Engineer Supervisor
ALLIANCE MACHINE SYSTEMS
04.2018 - 08.2021
Lean Engineer / Value Stream Manager
EXOTIC METALS FORMING COMPANY
11.2015 - 04.2018
Production Manager
Colmac Industries
01.2013 - 01.2015
Bachelor of Science - Manufacturing Technology
Eastern Washington University