Michelle Blisard
Coopersburg,PA
Summary
High performing, results-oriented professional with a proficiency in leadership, project management, engineering, and manufacturing, seeking continuous improvement opportunities within all areas of responsibility.
Overview
27
27
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Deputy Group Manager / Lead Engineer, Order Management Highway
Volvo GTO / Mack Trucks
Macungie, Pennsylvania
01.2022 - Current
- Manage daily staff meetings and prioritizations, Operational Support, communication with other departments, leadership, mentorship, and direction to Option Specialists and Order Administrators in the Order Management group
- Lead Case Manager team in all aspects of quoting customer adaptations and order coordination within the Customer Engineering department
- Prioritize Quotes and Tenders to continue to improve efficiency and lower the E2E processing time
- Lead Kaizen activity and KPI monitoring for group to assure quality and timely deliveries averaging 300+ a week
- Prioritize quotations and tenders for case managers, secure support as required and escalate potential delivery and option concerns
- Coordinate order specification changes required to vehicles with order entry personnel and Sales Engineers to ensure built customer specifications
- Provide feedback to case managers on quality and communication from other groups.
Lead Engineer, Order Management Highway
Volvo GTO / Mack Trucks
Macungie, Pennsylvania
01.2019 - 01.2022
- Provide leadership, mentorship, and direction to Option Specialists and Order Administrators in the Order Management group
- Lead highway team in all aspects of quoting customer adaptations and order coordination within the Customer Engineering department
- Lead Engineering Target date initiatives to assure timely “E targets” and updates to Order and Delivery for scheduling for all of Customer Engineering
- Manage RFSC requests and effectively reduced the amount of schedule moves
- Direct CAD packaging studies for high profile customer adaptation quotations and orders
- Coordinate order specification changes required to vehicles with order entry personnel and Sales Engineers to ensure built customer specifications
- Monitor and maintain order specification accuracy and stability for orders in process in the Customer Engineering department
- Perform daily analysis to determine quote priority setting for Customer Engineering and Sales Engineering
- Actively review and participate with interviewing potential employees.
Group Leader, Highway
Volvo GTO / Mack Trucks
Allentown, Pennsylvania
01.2011 - 01.2019
- Managed staff of OBU/EBU designers to support activities of completing all contract engineering work for the Highway range and Cab specific related activities within the order processes
- Established group priorities, coordinated workload activity and synchronized scheduling with the Highway, Vocational and Refuse range groups to process customer orders
- Supported Range Managers in resolving design issues once products are in production
- Managed the timing, accuracy and practicality of customer adaptations to insure customer satisfaction and manufacturability
- Provided technical assistance in processing orders and the development of robust customer adaption engineering solutions.
Project Management Engineering Group Manager
Volvo 3P / Mack Trucks
Greensboro, North Carolina
01.2009 - 01.2011
- Managed staff of 11 project leaders in supporting all 3P product development projects, encouraged the team for continuous improvement and quality mindset
- Responsible for maintaining the department budget of $7 million, managed all headcount and operating expenses
- Increased project delivery efficiency, while maintaining productivity by adjusting schedules daily and cross-training staff on standard guidelines for project management
- Collaborated with the Global Order Office to define Key Performance Indicators for each site as well as common practices and ways of working
- Led cross functional team of line managers to produce estimates to convert PPM to Databook options
- Gathered, organized and maintained estimates for all iPMR's as well as pre-approved start cost projects
- Evaluated projects to determine resource requirements for work package completion dates
- Improved new employee integration by organizing and implementing operations' segment of orientation program focusing on policies, SOPs, processes and core values
- Directed and focused the department Continuous Improvement team, including quality initiatives
- Managed, updated and maintained the department intranet site.
Electronics / Electrical Components Group Manager
Volvo 3P / Mack Trucks
Allentown, Pennsylvania
01.2007 - 01.2009
- Managed BU designers in delivering project requirements and directed NBU with project scope prioritization
- Successfully integrated two North American Engineering sites into one local site while maintaining deliverables and employee morale through a difficult transition
- Coordinated activities and prioritized assignments of Electrical Department CAD designers
- Kola SuperUser for the Electrical Department: Played a key role in the conversion of Mack Engineering Product Structure into the Volvo Product Data Management System
- Performed a skills assessment for employees identifying key skills and existing deficiencies
- Instituted corrective employee career development and training strategies
- Ensured all projects and activities within the group were performed in accordance with Federal Motor Vehicle Safely Regulation, Industry and Volvo Standards, Global Development Initiatives and best practices
- Organized the Macungie Electrical Task Force meeting which included members from all functional areas in order to increase reliability and communication with electrical department changes affecting the manufacturing plant.
Lead Engineer, Electrical
Volvo 3P / Mack Trucks
Allentown, Pennsylvania
01.2004 - 01.2007
- Identified and provided technical support and solutions for ongoing local and global project initiatives with a continuous improvement mindset
- Team Leader in Operational Development, Volvo's internal Change Management Program
- Served as Team Leader for a cross functional group which was successful in meeting Cost Improvement Initiatives
- Developed a Resource Management tool used throughout North America Electrical Engineering that greatly improved efficiency resulting in 20% improvement in project delivery times
- Responsible for design and integration of electronic components for installation in heavy-duty vehicles
- Specific areas of responsibility included Switches, Controls and Automatic Transmission Software
- Developed various designs specifications for Electronic Components such as the Light Control Module
- Served as Electrical Department Project Manager for both Start Cost and Product Maintenance projects impacting Electronics including: Road Connect Global Telematics System, Satellite Radio and Infomax 4.0 Software ensuring all projects were delivered on time, within budget and that all requirements of the Global Development Process were achieved.
Corporate Methods Engineer, Electrical
Volvo 3P / Mack Trucks
Allentown, Pennsylvania
01.1999 - 01.2004
- Liaison between Assembly and Engineering to review and communicate all engineering electrical changes
- Collaborated with Vehicle Engineering on the development of new products and systems with a focus toward influencing early designs to implement best processes for assembly
- Responsible for the performance of Design for Manufacturing Assembly evaluation
- Work in this area resulted in assembly time savings of 2%
- Formulated business cases for comparison of alternative assembly methods and processes and present results and recommendations to Corporate Project teams
- Developed and led implementation of an Electrical Test System for vehicles used to identify electrical problem areas prior to setting the cab on chassis resulting in less costly correction measures.
Production Supervisor
Volvo 3P / Mack Trucks
Macungie, Pennsylvania
01.1997 - 01.1999
- First line supervisor on the conventional cab line responsible for daily assembly flow and communication
- Designed and established the Granite Cab Production Assembly line to begin assembly of a new vehicle model in addition to training all line operators on proper procedures and methods
- Provided first line supervision of over 35 bargaining unit employees, developed daily manpower requirements, established priorities, scheduled jobs and provided technical direction
- Implemented engineering changes in accordance with appropriate engineering documentation
- Analyzed and resolved engineering specification errors
- Investigated and determined root cause of all electrical issues including software control issues related to VMACIII (Vehicle Management and Control System) and ABS (Antilock Braking System).
Education
Bachelor of Science - Electrical Engineering
Pennsylvania State University
State College, PA1996
Skills
PMP Certified
Volvo Project Management GATE
Change Management
Six Sigma Green Belt
Line Management
High EQ / Interpersonal Skills
Websites
Certification
- PMP Certification
- Six Sigma Green Belt Certification
Professional Development And Affiliations
- Managing To Learn
- Global Leadership Program (GLP)
- Volvo Project Management Program (GATE)
- OD Coach/Leadership
- Women in Trucking
- Volvo Professional Women's Network
- Community Leader for Young Guardians with Service Projects
- Quality Assurance
- Labor Relations Training
- Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People
- Kola SuperUser
- FMEA / DFA
- Macungie Performance Award
- Granite Introduction Launch
- EAC
Key Skills And Expertise
- PMP Certification
- Six Sigma Green Belt
- Change Management
- Risk Management and Mitigation
- Customer Relations
- Line Management
- Strong EQ
- Employee Selection / Development
- Conflict Resolution
- Metrics and Performance
- Budget Management
- Coaching
- Business Relationship Strategist
Timeline
Deputy Group Manager / Lead Engineer, Order Management Highway
Volvo GTO / Mack Trucks
01.2022 - Current
Lead Engineer, Order Management Highway
Volvo GTO / Mack Trucks
01.2019 - 01.2022
Group Leader, Highway
Volvo GTO / Mack Trucks
01.2011 - 01.2019
Project Management Engineering Group Manager
Volvo 3P / Mack Trucks
01.2009 - 01.2011
Electronics / Electrical Components Group Manager
Volvo 3P / Mack Trucks
01.2007 - 01.2009
Lead Engineer, Electrical
Volvo 3P / Mack Trucks
01.2004 - 01.2007
Corporate Methods Engineer, Electrical
Volvo 3P / Mack Trucks
01.1999 - 01.2004
Production Supervisor
Volvo 3P / Mack Trucks
01.1997 - 01.1999
Bachelor of Science - Electrical Engineering
Pennsylvania State University