Management career at The Tech Group:

Relocated to Phoenix area from Omaha in 1981 to join Karl Szanto as co-foreman of Tech Mold, Inc. Accepted the position of General Manager in 1985.

Accomplishments, either leading or individual undertaking:

• Re-instituted the official apprenticeship program for both Tech Mold and The Tech Group. Re-wrote the criteria for moldmaker apprentices for the State of Arizona. Tech Mold apprentices graduating from program were cross-trained in every area of specialty in the company. A high percentage of the original graduating classes are the leaders at Tech Mold today.
• Organized an empowered work force customized to suit the moldmaking trade based on the Deming philosophy followed by the writing of “Employee Empowerment”, a book describing the effort.
• Wrote manuscript entitled “The Tech Group Enters the 21^st Century” outlining in great detail how the Super-Cell and the global tooling effort is to come into being and the exact purpose for taking on this monumental effort.
• Established a system of continuous improvement. A hybrid borne of the training received featuring weekly meetings for every department (inter-departmentally/globally as well) to assure technical advancement as well as synergy of people and working operations.
• Wrote “8 Customer Expectations and 25 Operating Principles” for The Tech Group. These have become the guidelines for the global tooling workforce to operate by. All departmental standards were written and adopted within the criteria set by the Operating Principles.
• Author of the hardcover book “What Is A Mold?”, now in its 3^rd printing with 7,500 copies in print. It is on the curriculum at The University of Massachusetts/Lowell-Plastic Engineering and at Singapore Polytechnics. It has been offered through Barnes and Noble book stores, SPI, EDM Today, Injection Molding Magazine’s IMM book club, and Gesswein.
• Taught “What is a Mold?” courses at Gateway Community College-Phoenix and Singapore Polytechnics-Singapore.
• Designed and began work on a process patent (US patent application no. 20030055525 – March 20, 2003) for an automated, palletized, robotically driven, 24-7, insert manufacturing system called the “super cell” designed to utilize unmanned machining hours to reduce both cost and lead times for mold tooling. TTG is $5MM invested in the $10MM endeavor as of this writing. Productivity ratios reached in the automated environment were well over $200K per person annually. News releases were done in January 2002 in both Injection Molding Magazine and Plastics News. The November 2003 issue of Modern Machine Shop featured it as the cover story. The editorial that issue called it “Star Wars” technology.
• Named as inventor or co-inventor on 2 additional mechanical device patents related to moldmaking through TTG. US – 6,481,996 B1- November 19, 2002 and US – 6,592,797 B2 – July 15, 2003.
• Designed and implemented an Engineering driven managing system to drive the super cell, allowing for re-training of moldmakers to become mold designers and machine programmers as well as planners/schedulers. Moldmakers would then drive the system through engineering with the valuable skills and knowledge they have amassed as opposed to manning the machines within it.
• Guest speaker at National functions speaking on the subjects of empowerment, automation, global tooling, and the super cell.

Work history:

• 1966-1967 – Reliable Products – first employee – High School Co-op program. Learning moldmaking skills
• 1967-1973 – Reliable Products- Apprenticeship – promoted to shop foreman – 1970
• 1973-1975 – Central States Tool and Die – hired to bring moldmaking ability to the organization until company dissolved
• 1975-1976 – Kempkes Tool and Engraving – foreman – moldmaking
• 1976-1977 – Distefano Tool and Die – moldmaker – moved to be closer to new business being constructed.
• 1977-1981- Self-employed- Graham’s Automotive Service – designed-contracted construction - managed business– Father/Brother non-financial partners. Continued to design molds for local moldbuilding companies while quoting/troubleshooting for automotive service business
• 1981-1997 – Recruited by Bill Kushmaul, President of Tech Mold, Inc. to move to Arizona and ultimately become General Manager of Tech Mold. 1997-1998 – Retired from plastics to assist wife, Robin in expansion effort of Petal Pushers/D’Javaheads, a flowershop/coffeehouse venture in Chandler, Az.
• 1998-2004 – Recruited by Steve Uhlmann to build super cell concept and Global tooling effort with Omni-Mold, Singapore at Tech Group C/EC division in Scottsdale, Az.