MARK KASSMAN
904 Greenway Court ♦ Miamisburg, OH  45342 ♦ 937.902.6828 ♦ markkassman@ymail.com
 PROGRAM MANAGER 
Seasoned in leading and implementing multi-million dollar projects in engineering environments.
Proven ability to win new business opportunities, exceed customer expectations,
reduce expenses while improving quality, and increase throughput.

Six Sigma Green Belt certified.  Demonstrated complex-problem-solving ability by improving product design and addressing customer needs and government regulations with five patent awards and one defensive publication award. (See addendum for detail.)  Supervised, trained, and retained a team of six professionals.

—COMPETENCIES—

Quality Control: Supplier Quality Evaluation ♦ Test and Validation ♦ High-volume Production Troubleshooting ♦ Change Management ♦ Technical Problem Solving ♦ High-speed Test Evaluation/Results Interpretation 

Cost Management:  Lean Design ♦ Lean Implementation ♦ Competitive Evaluation ♦ Cost Reduction

Research and Development:  Customer Interface ♦ System Development ♦ Patent Interpretation ♦ Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) ♦ Design for Manufacturability & Assembly (DFM/A)

Materials/Environment:  Sheet Metal Stampings ♦ Fasteners ♦ Adhesives ♦ Snap Fits/Snap Assembly ♦ Fabrics (sewing) ♦ Friction Welding
Comments from managers:
“assumed responsibility for the Inflator Development Lab and ran it without much direction”… “demonstrated his versatility in product design, prototype manufacturing, and supervision of contract employees”…“abilities to multitask and maintain a safe working environment while meeting internal and customer expectations.”
Comments from co-workers:
“would always give 110%… “a very likable person and interacts and performs well with other workers, and in group settings”… “a ‘hands on’ and ‘take charge’ person, who will always ensure his duties are completed on time, and within any required budget”…“consistently follows up on the project details making sure nothing falls through the cracks and applied contingency plans for anything that was not to the baseline.  I could always trust Mark to manage his programs successfully.” 
 PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE 

DELPHI,   Vandalia, OH                         1995 – present
Project Manager, Inflator Prototype Lab (2007 – present)
Manage budget (including process improvement and cost control), identify and address customer requirements, and ensure quality and safety of product.  Implement Green Belt techniques to streamline workflow and maintain lean inventory system, despite complexities of long order lead times and frequent product/regulatory changes.

Accomplishments:
Managed total lab expenditures to 22% below $900K budget, by improving and standardizing workflow:
 Enabled headcount reduction by two.
 Decreased man hours per inflator from 2.2 to 1.5 hours.
 Identified and eliminated waste to improve first time quality from 94% to 99.5%.

Worked with customer to understand their design and timing needs.  Resolved pre-existing order delay problems by teaming with manager and lab tech to analyze/reduce backlog and inventory, thereby shortening order lead team and providing customers with more accurate delivery-time forecasting.

Increased throughput by 62%:  established prioritization schedule, assigned equipment/task leaders, created work instructions and trained operators to handle processes according to timing chart.  

Led team to successfully pass five 3rd party (Department of Transportation (DOT)) regulatory audits:
 Teamed with suppliers of components used to make high pressure compressed gas cylinders to instruct them on transportation requirements and make certain that paperwork was appropriate.
 Ensured safety of transportation, enabled timely shipping, and prevented cost of hiring an external party to monitor the process.

♦ continued ♦
MARK KASSMAN, p.2            937.902.6828 ♦ markkassman@ymail.com

DELPHI  (continued)
Product/Project Engineer (2000 – 2007).  Lead product engineer on multiple airbag projects and lead product/project engineer on advanced airbag systems. 

Engineered key characteristic identification, design, drawing release, development, change management, validation and margin testing.  Created and developed test fixtures.  Provided engineering approval for vendor quality plan submissions.  Conducted performance testing, tuning, and repeatability evaluation.  Led team to execution within the schedule of the program timing chart.

Accomplishments:
Managed cost data, as Quote Team Leader,  to win over 10 new business opportunities by working with lead product engineer to create Bill of Materials Cost, teaming with lead manufacturing engineer to determine equipment costs, and identifying potential technologies to offer customers cost savings.

Successfully met customer needs:
 Delivered presentations to new and existing customers.
 Managed eight projects that met 100% deliverables.
 Collaborated with customer to reduce validation time by 10% while continuing to meet requirements.

Contributed to bottom line improvements:
 Engineered changes to reduce number of components by 20%. 
 Implemented cost savings projects to reduce product cost by 10%.

Manufacturing Engineer (1995 – 2000).  Airbag manufacturing plant.  Promoted from Controls Engineer to Floor Support Manufacturing Engineer, then to Supervisor. 

Learned equipment operations and helped create work instructions.  Trained operators on each piece of equipment.  Created spare parts list and procured components as needed.  Managed 20 hourly production employees.

Accomplishments:
Supported six 100% flawless launches of new airbag designs:
 Implemented changes to manufacturing equipment to decrease downtime by 30%.
 Instituted quality checks to increase first time quality by 15%.

RAPID DESIGN SERVICES, Dayton, OH                           1994-1995
Electrical Controls Engineer 

Proposed and implemented new automated electrical control designs for retrofitted and new equipment used to manufacture automotive parts.  Worked with the customer in retrofitting existing equipment to improve both throughput and quality of finished product.

DETROIT CENTER TOOL, Detroit, MI            1993-1994
Electrical Controls Engineer  

Learned the automated functioning of large welding systems equipment.  Coordinated with the customer to understand their requirements for the welding line.  Oversaw electricians’ work to ensure that the equipment was constructed according to customers’ specifications.

 EDUCATION 

University of Dayton, Graduate School of Engineering
Master of Science in Management Science, 1997
University of Dayton     
Bachelor of Science, Electronic Engineering Technology, 1991 
Cum Laude Graduate (3.54/4.0)

 ACTIVITIES 

Chairman for Miamisburg Board of Zoning, Building & Housing Appeals
School Board Vice President, Bishop Leibold School

 SECURITY CLEARANCE 

BATFE letter of clearance – explosives possessor

RÉSUMÉ ADDENDUM                                                   Mark Kassman ♦  937.902.6828 ♦  markkassman@ymail.com
 PATENT AND DEFENSIVE PUBLICATION AWARDS 

Patent 6,502,852:  Air Bag Cover with Internal Hinge Configuration.  Initiated project.   Co-worker joined in progress.

Challenge:  Delphi had a horn design that used a membrane horn switch and a hard backing surface for horn activation.  During deployment, this solid hard backing plate prevented the cover from opening smoothly. 

Action:  Studied high speed films to discover that creating a flexible, hard backing plate would allow the cover to open more effectively. 

Result:  Slotted existing solid backing plate to allow it to bend. 

Patent 6,565,113:  Air Bag Module.  Co-led team of four people.

Challenge:  To design an airbag module with fewer components, for manufacturing ease and to reduce costs.  Cost reduction was essential to winning new business. 

Action:  Reverse engineered a competitor’s airbag, then brainstormed to identify several options.  Applied Pugh analysis tool to rank various aspects of the different options and select the best one.  Teamed with design group and manufacturing to turn concept to product. 

Result:  Met all three of project’s objectives:  performance, design for manufacturability, and cost reduction. 

Patent 6,760,989:  Decorative Badge and Method of Making.  Managed process independently.

Challenge:  To redesign and identify an attachment method for driver-airbag emblem.  Needed to meet customer requirements (transitioning from light-weight aluminum to heavier metal), under tight time constraints. 

Action:  Collaborated with many suppliers and customer and applied various problem-solving techniques to determine a method for attaching the emblem. 

Result:  Met customer’s timing requirement for launch.  Proved to customer that employer could solve complex problems in a timely manner and would not jeopardize their vehicle launches.

Patent 6,945,559:  Method and Apparatus for Air Bag Venting.  Teamed with co-worker.

Challenge:  To increase airbag safety by improving the level of airbag cushion venting and making it softer.

Action:  Developed a method of changing the vent-hole diameter depending on the crash condition, by using materials that could be controlled by electrical current. 

Result:  Proved theoretically, but not physically, due to cost constraints.

Patent 7,021,657:  Air Bag Including Variable Tether.  Teamed with co-worker.

Challenge:  To increase airbag safety by improving internal tether control.

Action:  Developed an electro-mechanical device to control tether length depending on crash conditions.

Result:  Proved theoretically, but not physically, due to cost constraints.
 
Defensive Publication H-201366:  Air Bag cushion Fold.  Teamed with 2 others; served as plant support.

Challenge:  To adapt a cushion-fold per new testing regulations that were adopted just after new airbag module had gone into production.

Action:  Applied problem-solving methods to engineer new fold to meet old and new requirements.

Result:  New fold was put into production at very little cost to company and customer.

 

9-2-09

Sheldon ”JIm” Becher
2491 S. Linda Drive
Bellbrook Ohio 45305
937-848-7611
jimbecher@hotmail.com

Having managed successfully..Country Clubs..Restaurants..Funeral Homes..I am now
anxious..at this time..to put the following skills I have learned to work in an
operation where they may be needed….
Management
Supervision
Training
Consulting
Food Service
Host
Hospitality

Thank you for your interest..please give me a call or e-mail…
I am available now to work 5 days a week …or part time…

Make it a great day!!!!!!Jim Becher

The information on this page will only be posted for a limited time.

The South Metro Regional Chamber is not responsible for the content of the postings on this page and does not verify information in the postings