Michael Hughes
White Hall,MD
Summary
Results-driven Manufacturing Engineer/Supervisor with 10+ years of aerospace manufacturing experience leading high-performing teams, executing strategic initiatives, and driving operational excellence. Proven track record of delivering measurable improvements in productivity, quality, cost, and manufacturing performance through data-driven decision-making, Lean manufacturing, continuous improvement, and interdepartmental collaboration. Skilled at developing talent, managing complex projects, optimizing manufacturing processes, and aligning engineering initiatives with organizational objectives to achieve sustainable business results.
Overview
11
11
years of professional experience
Work History
Manufacturing Engineer /Supervisor
KRS (POLYMER CONCEPTS TECHNOLOGIES, INC)
Hanover, PA
07.2015 - Current
- Managed the Heat Treat department, increasing departmental throughput by optimizing furnace scheduling and strategically utilizing off-shift capacity for extended heat-treat cycles, maximizing equipment utilization without additional capital investment. Successfully secured approval to grow the team from 2 to 5 employees across multiple shifts to support increased production demand by conducting data-driven capacity and throughput analyses to build the business case for expanding the department. Partnered with equipment vendors to modify the oven PLC control logic, reducing multiple heat-treat cycle times by 25%.
- Managed and trained a team of 6 junior engineers and interns on best practices in manufacturing processes and equipment operation. Successfully securing approval to hire 2 of the interns that were graduating for full time positions.
- Engineered and implemented innovative tooling solutions that significantly improved product quality, process capability, and reduced manufacturing scrap. Designed a custom fixture that secured components in their free state by utilizing space that would be otherwise turned to swarf. Reducing roundness from 0.040" to less than 0.005".
- Contributed to cross-functional process improvement initiatives designed to streamline manufacturing operations through the acquisition of new equipment. Consolidated 5–7 machining operations into 2 through collaboration with programming, manufacturing, and engineering. Improved operator efficiency, process throughput, part manufacturability, and increased product quality while ensuring compliance with safety standards and both internal and external specifications.
- Led root cause analysis and process optimization initiatives to resolve chronic manufacturing quality issues on a high-scrap product line. Identified and corrected stack-up tolerance deficiencies, reducing scrap from over 50% to 20%. Developed and implemented an in-process inspection system to monitor critical features across multiple manufacturing operations, enabling data-driven identification of further defect sources. Redesigned the tooling of the identified source, further reducing scrap from 20% to less than 5%.
Manufacturing Engineer
KRS (POLYMER CONCEPTS TECHNOLOGIES, INC)
Hanover, PA
07.2015 - Current
Education
Bachelor of Science - Materials Science And Engineering
University of Maryland, College Park
College Park, MDSkills
- Manufacturing process development & improvement
- 5S implementation
- Facility layout
- GD&T
- Solidworks
- Heat treatment
- Engineering Drawings
- Aerospace Technical Specifications
Timeline
Manufacturing Engineer /Supervisor
KRS (POLYMER CONCEPTS TECHNOLOGIES, INC)
07.2015 - Current
Manufacturing Engineer
KRS (POLYMER CONCEPTS TECHNOLOGIES, INC)
07.2015 - Current
Bachelor of Science - Materials Science And Engineering
University of Maryland, College Park