HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning - Joe PlunkettJ. Plunkett 1
JOSEPH PLUNKETT, P. E.
(
plunkettj2@asme.org
Summary:
Operations Executive (Retired) who has developed Corporate and Functional Strategies, implemented organizational
change and lead high performance team evolution in Manufacturing (Lean, JIT, TQM), Engineering (High Performance teams)
and Research and Development (Stage Gate Project Management) areas. Possesses significant exp erience both domestically and
internationally (China, Japan, India Korea, Switzerland). Functions effectively in either large (Unilever, Frito Lay, Herbal ife) or
small (Henri’s Foods $30MM regional salad dressing manufacturer) organizations.
Selected Highlights:
• Developed Manufacturing strategy for Herbalife Manufacturing.
• Authored and implemented a 10 year manufacturing plan at Helene Curtis (part of Unilever Home and Personal Care)
• Established Manufacturing operations (both contract manufacturing and company owned) for Herbalife in India, China,
Japan, Korea and Switzerland.
• Conceptualized, implemented and lead High Performance Organizations in both large and small companies
o Implemented significant improvements in manufacturing at Henri’s resulting in transforming a marginally viable
company into a solid performer that was ultimately sold to Best Foods
o Instituted statistical design and project management techniques into Helene Curtis’ Engineering Department.
Lead the construction and start up of three major new manufacturing plants. 60MM bottle per year HDPE bottle
molding plant, duel high speed Solid Stick Deodorant plant and integrated compounding filling facility for
Shampoo, Conditioner and Skin Lotion.
o Lead the Helene Curtis City of Industry Manuf acturing and Distribution plant to significantly improved
performance resulting in the COI plant being kept in operation and supplying Unilever western region product
needs while other more established facilities were closed.
• Established, staffed and lead the development of Processes and Practices of the R&D functions at Herbalife beginning
with a three person group and transforming it into a fully functional 30 person department containing Scientists and
Engineers with credentials including Professional Engineer to PhD’s.
EXPERIENCE: HERBALIFE INTERNATIONAL OF AMERICA (16 Years)
1/13 to current Sr. Vice President of Manufacturing and Engineering Torrance, CA
Responsible for construction and operation of all Herbalife owned manufacturing facilities worldwide.
Responsible for identifying the engineering and technologies required for Herbalife manufacturing.
Responsible for the technical support for establishing and maintaining Contract manufacturers
worldwide. Manufacturing
Current Herbalife Manufacturing locations under my responsibility
` Lake Forest California 132,000 Sq Ft 250 employees Finished Goods Manufacturing
- Winston-Salem NC 792,000 Sq Ft 500 employees Finished Goods Manufacturing
- Suzhou China 80,000 Sq Ft 250 employees Finished Goods Manufacturing
- Changsha China 276,000 Sq Ft 150 employees Herbal Extract Manufacturing
- Nanjing China 425,000 Sq Ft 500 employees Finished Good Manufacturing (under cans
traction)
Current Contract manufacturing initiatives supported
- Twilight Baddi India Finished Good Manufacturing
- Zeon Herbal India Finished Goods Manufacturing
- Two locations in South America
9/08 to 1/13 Vice President Global Manufacturing Torrance, CA
Responsible for developing strategy for manufacturing Herbalife products globally. This i ncludes
identification, development and demonstration of alternative manufacturing / packaging technologies.
Implementation of these concepts in Herbalife owned and contract manufactures facilities. As well as
responsibility for the Herbalife China plant and regional manufacturing activities (I India, Brazil and
Australia. Additional responsibilities include Corporate Package engineering and Technical Operation
support for Herbalife processes worldwide.
Major Accomplishments to date:
J. Plunkett 2
- Developed and gained acceptance for advanced blending technology to be used in Herbalife’s
plants.
- Developed and gained acceptance for advanced packaging technology for use in Herbalife plants
- Leading the ongoing China plant expansion which will demonstrate both of these tech nologies
- Leading the facility, packaging and processing renovations of the US plant Herbalife purchased in
August 2009.
- Completed the start up of in country nutritional shake production in Brazil
- Establishing the Technical Operations group
2/03 to 9/08 Vice President, R&D, Century City, CA
Responsible for all product related R&D functions of the company. This includes support of New
product development, long term technology development, to the commercialization of new products, to
reformulation / formula maintenance during the product life cycle, and finally to the operational
technical support
Major Accomplishments include:
- Organized and staffed the R&D department. Leading the organizational development from a three
member group to a multi-discipline 30 Scientist / Engineer department providing significantly
improved product development and commercialization
- Implemented Inner Nutrition of formula database resulting in reliable and accurate repository for
companies product intellectual property
- Established the policies and procedures relating to nutritional formula development
- Developed the phase gate project management system. This is the infrastructure to improve time to
market and enhance development effort efficiency
2/98 to 2/03 Vice President, Worldwide Manufacturing, Century City, CA
Responsible for planning, scheduling, manufacturing, warehousing, troubleshooting and distribution of
Herbalife product in US, India, China, Japan, South Korea and Nutritional Infrastructure worldwide.
Formula customization
Major accomplishments:
- Successful start-up of contract manufacturing and new product development capability in India
Allowing economical quality production for this major emerging market for Herbalife.
Significantly enhanced ability to react to market shifts
- Establish Herbalife Manufacturing in China. Provided the company its first self manufacturing
capability
- Establish in country contract manufacturing capability in Japan Switzerland and Korea. This
resulted in significant reduction in time to introduce new products and reduce Supply Chain lead
times
UNILEVER (Helene Curtis) (9 Years)
10/94 to 2/98 General Manager, Western United States City of Industry, CA
Responsible for planning, scheduling, manufacturing, warehousing, and distribution of Helene Curtis
product in the Western United States.
Major accomplishments:
- Initiated export sales to Japan and China
- Reconfiguration of operations resulting in reduced head count while increasing service area resulting
in this plant being the one Helene Curtis plant remaining in operation after company purchase by
Unilever
- Key member of Corporate Strategic Planning Steering Committee
- Installation of advanced computer systems including office LAN and shop floor control system
5/89 to 10/94 Director of Engineering Chicago, IL
Responsible for directing Engineering, Safety, Health and Environmental, and Maintenance
departments.
Major accomplishments:
- Lead the development of 10 year manufacturing plan and built the pil ot facility for the system. This
demonstrated reduced direct cost of manufacturing as well as allowed reduced inventory while
improving service to sales
- Lead the start-up of a 100MM bottle per year blow molding facility. This expanded the companies
vertical integration and resulted in lower costs not only for in house produced bottle but also reduction
in supplier manufactured bottles
- Instituted the use of Design for Manufacturability methodology. Resulting in reduced project rework
and enhanced equipment performance
- Orchestrated the evolution that transformed a traditional craft based maintenance department into a
multi-skill integrated team based maintenance group
- Revised the Engineering department to focus on quality, customer service and empowerment
J. Plunkett 3
- Instituted improved capital planning and feedback systems
- Lead the start up of the 50MM unit per year stick manufacturing plant utilizing advanced
manufacturing technologies. This resulted in a next generation manufacturin g facility, which included
among other improvements the product was not completed until the point of filling into the canisters
HENRI’S FOOD PRODUCTS COMPANY, INC., MILWAUKEE, WI
(3 Years)
5/86 to 5/89 Director of Manufacturing and Engineering Milwaukee, WI
Assumed responsibility for direction and management of Henri’s entire manufacturing and
engineering activities
Major accomplishments:
- Restructuring of managerial staffing, responsibilities and duties
- Revitalizing the company’s human resources
- Institution of planning and performance tracking, as well as financial budgeting
- Installation of updated packaging equipment of both the bottling and flexible packaging departments
- Initiating statistical process capability studies in all areas
Instrumental in turning a break even salad dressing manufacturer into a profitable operation during the
first year of employment. The company set profit and sales records. Successfully reduced
manufacturing man-hour usage per gallon of dressing produced in excess of 25% compared to the
previous year.
FRITO-LAY, INC. (Division of PepsiCo, Inc.) (7 Years)
11/84 to 5/86 Plant Industrial Engineer Charlotte, NC
Established strategic (3-5yr.) planning system and organizational development resulting in
implementation of high performance systems and increased utilization of statistical quality control
techniques
11/83 to 11/84 Production Manager Charlotte, NC
Responsibility for production cost, quality, service to sales, effective resource management/allocation
and management development. Major accomplishments included the expansion of participative
management resulting in the promotion of two first line supervisors.
7/81 to 11/83 Plant Engineer Charlotte, NC
Accountable for Plant Maintenance Management, Engineering, utility generation and waste water
operations and control. Major accomplishments included:
- Successful reorganization of mechanic work schedules resulting in substantial labor cost savings
while retaining 100% mechanic coverage
- Provided background research and proposal for the company’s first coal boiler. This boiler is
currently on line and provides an annual fuel cost savings of $800,000
1/79 to 7/81 Project Engineer/Manager Dallas, TX
Successfully managed construction of the new Charlotte plant facility: the largest and most
technologically advanced in the Frito-Lay system. Project scope and responsibility included:
Project required substantial and consistent interaction and coordination of the operations,
headquarters, field, construction engineering, and construction management functions. Successfully
instituted full project management techniques ranging from piping and instrumentation diagrams
(P&ID’s) to Critical Path Method (CPM) scheduling.
EDUCATION: Lehigh University, B.S.M.E.
Northwestern University, (Executive MBA course work)
Harvard University,
- Manufacturing in the Corporate Strategy
- Building Development Capabilities
University of Pennsylvania,
Other course work/training includes:
- Effective Supervisory Interaction - Management Reinforcement Workshop
- Creative Problem Solving - Organization and Management Development
- Technical Writing - Statistical Experimental Design
- Labor Awareness
PATENTS: Polyester Fiber Product and Process, Celanese Corporation, US Patent No. 4246747;
J. Plunkett 4
European Patent Office No. 79302886.1
PROFESSIONAL American Society of Mechanical Engineers
AFFILIATIONS: Project Managers Institute
American Institute of Plant Engineers
Professional Engineer (California, Illinois and Wisconsin)
American Management Association; Manufacturing Council Member
International Who’s Who of Professionals
World Affairs Council
REFERENCES: Furnished upon request