Johnston, IA
Systems thinking, built for the plant floor.
30 years leading industrial engineering and operations across high-volume manufacturing — analyzing complex systems, running Six Sigma root cause investigations, and building the KPI dashboards that turn shop-floor data into decisions that hold.
What I bring
Structured Problem Decomposition
Breaking ambiguous, high-stakes manufacturing problems into clear, solvable components — the discipline behind every root cause investigation that actually holds.
Root Cause Analysis
Six Sigma Black Belt training applied to real production systems for 30 years — finding the actual cause, not the first plausible explanation.
Data Interpretation & Insight Generation
Turning large, messy operational datasets into structured, decision-ready insight, consistently and under real deadline pressure.
Decision Modeling Under Uncertainty
Building frameworks for making sound calls when the inputs are incomplete or contradictory — a constant on a live production floor.
Analytical Communication
Writing and presenting findings so a technical or non-technical audience can act on them immediately, with no follow-up questions needed.
Pattern Recognition in High-Variability Systems
Spotting the signal inside noisy, high-volume production data — the instinct that separates a real fix from a temporary patch.
Experience
Senior Industrial Engineer
Firestone (Bridgestone)
- —Analyze complex, interdependent manufacturing systems to identify variability drivers and performance gaps.
- —Design KPI architectures (OEE, scrap, downtime, throughput) that improve diagnostic transparency across the plant.
- —Build Power BI dashboards integrating multi-source data to make operational performance interpretable at a glance.
- —Apply statistical and logical methods to find root causes and implement corrective actions that actually hold.
Foreman, Operations Leadership
Firestone
- —Led 24/7 multi-line operations spanning people, machines, and material flow.
- —Designed real-time visual management systems that reduced complex operational states to clear, actionable signals.
- —Built a real-time “10-second overview” system for rapid state assessment and decision-making.
- —Standardized cross-shift communication and reporting to cut ambiguity and improve execution consistency.
Quality Assurance Engineer
Firestone
- —Ran structured process audits to identify defects, variability sources, and compliance gaps.
- —Led Six Sigma projects focused on complexity reduction and defect elimination.
Production Supervisor
Firestone
- —Managed production performance across multiple departments against quality, safety, and output targets.
- —Applied structured problem-solving to reduce operational waste and improve efficiency.
Section Chief
United States Marine Corps
- —Led mission-critical artillery operations requiring precise execution under strict procedure.
- —Managed personnel, logistics, and equipment under high-pressure, high-stakes conditions.
Skills & credentials
Data & Tools
Web Development
Methods
Visualization
Education
- Master of Engineering — Iowa State University
- Master of Public Administration — Drake University
- Six Sigma Black Belt
- Six Sigma Green Belt
Things I've built
Hands-on proof of the same structured thinking — designed and shipped end to end, not just planned.
xlsdocs.com
An Excel function reference site with an AI formula builder — designed, built, and shipped end-to-end.
pbidocs.com
The same idea, applied to Power BI — a practical reference for people building real dashboards.
tsqldocs.com
Another reference site in the same series, this time for T-SQL — built for people writing real queries.
fabdocs.dev
A Microsoft Fabric reference focused on how to run it in production — building, deploying, and governing lakehouses, notebooks, and pipelines without torching your capacity budget.
Smart Trucking System
A live, iPad-mounted application for forklift operators that tracks material movement across the plant floor in real time.
Electronic Work Order System
A live system that creates, communicates, and tracks curing work orders across production, replacing a paper-based process.