Ryan Volkman

Experience

• 

  Volkman Farms

  Jan 2000 - Apr 2013

  General Laborer

  - Participated in and later oversaw hay inventory and quality control- Cut, gathered, sized, split, stocked and stacked wood - Cut, teddered, raked and baled hay, worked up and planted ground, tended to over 30 head of cattle, and performed a multitude of other farming chores and tasks- Operated and serviced over fifteen different types of farm and industrial equipment

• 

  C.R. Smith Home Contractors

  May 2010 - May 2012

  Coordinator/Laborer

  Carpentry and roofing:• Roughing, sheathing, framing carpentry work• Included papering, flashing, shingling in large condominium development • In charge of ground cleanup crew and shingle inventory• Led effort in demolition crew by setting example and coordinating demolition

• 

  Achatz Pie Company

  Sept 2010 - Apr 2011

  Packaging Leader

  - Lead effort in packaging orders and multitude of products- In charge of reviewing material to verify correct quantities and proper quality in all products- Sales representative- Worked in processing and shipping and receiving department, managing the incoming and outgoing products and ingredients

• 

  Motor City Electric

  May 2011 - Aug 2011

  Assistant Engineer

  - Created field manuals for large scale projects- Coordinated material deliveries for job-sites- Assisted Senior Engineering staff with project organization, documentation & logistics- Led receiving inspections for large material deliveries

• 

  GE

  May 2012 - Dec 2012

  Facility Engineer Co-op

  - Coordinated setup of 1000+ spare parts for Piranha line, in charge of set up, location, and tracking quantities- Implemented PM system throughout the building, constructing lubrication routes and PM manuals for over 9 stamping presses, nylon coating machine, and 20+ wire rack machines, potential downtime prevention: 10-12 hours/month - Learned, utilized, and trained on ultrasound inspection technology to maintenance team- Led effort checking GE assets using ultrasound technologies for air leaks and under lubrication, potential savings: $20,000- Lead supervisor of 20+ maintenance crew on weekends, organizing and directing 10+ projects- Created and implemented standard work for receiving and setting up spare parts Show less

• 

  Michigan State University

  Mar 2013 - Dec 2013

  Research Assistant

  - Managed part inventory for over 50+ parts in hydro-forming composite research lab- Performed lab simulations on 10+ models of deforming composite material- Utilized Abaqus and NX Solidworks recurrently to perform FEA and simulations on a range of composite material

• 

  GE

  May 2013 - Aug 2013

  Supplier Quality Engineer Intern

  - Tested over 2500+ control boards in order to root cause and identify defect trends- Identified ground screw issue, sparking engineering change, potentially saving the company $60K/year- Established single piece flow for the movement of parts through autopsy lab- Decreased number of in-house scrapped boards by 25% through operator training and equipment upgrades- Updated testing procedures and equipment in multiple autopsy labs, decreasing testing time by 10%- Led weekly part review meeting with CBT team to drive corrective action for supplier defective parts- Organized containment plans for defective parts to protect production from contamination- Structured process returning defective parts to lab, decreased NDF rate by 15% Show less

• 

  The University of Edinburgh

  Jan 2014 - May 2014

  Student
• 

  GE HealthCare

  Jun 2014 - Sept 2014

  Lean Manufacturing Intern

  - Directed AWO with 20+ employees on Warmer line that focused on capacity flexibility and work balance- Identified and corrected 15+ discrepancies in hardware usage between build sheets and engineering drawings in order to address reoccurring inventory inaccuracies in Oracle- Performed cost analysis and drove efforts to implement reusable material carts between NRL and GE, potential savings: $1,000-$3,000/month

• 

  GE HealthCare

  Jul 2015 - May 2020

  - Prioritized projects for a team of Advanced Manufacturing Engineers leading to a 50% scrap reduction.- Led cross-functional collaboration and best practice sharing with global teams, leading to the implementation of 10+ productivity projects.- Improved assembly line rolled throughput yield by 7% through root cause analysis and continuous improvement.- Managed and improved estimating techniques for variable spend accounts.- Determined standard setting for CT Detectors 2020 planning.- Input manufacturing feedback in design transfer program. Show less - Led a team of 30+ cross functional employees, including production associates, manufacturing technicians & maintenance personnel, supporting and manufacturing CT Detectors.- Facilitated an EHS driven culture by generating 100+ concern reports leading to 0 recordable injuries. Led closure of concern reports, ATS findings, and housekeeping actions.- Successfully prepared team and process through multiple external audits.- Drove quality improvements through ESD awareness & proper handling.- Found creative ways to enable additional part output through break staggering, theory of constraints, and rigorous use of the escalation system.- Led continuous improvement culture transformation through idea generation and PA empowerment through KPO staffing.- Led line optimization layout through standard work sheets, equipment qualifications, and PA input. This led to a lead time reduction of 30%, part travel reduction of 80%, and 90% WIP reduction.- Initiated and led the implementation of new cleaning process which reduced scrap by 10% and improved downstream quality. Show less - Identified $1M savings opportunities from suppliers, anticipated savings by Q3 ‘17- Identified full portfolio of Enterprise parts. Increased visibility and measurability of savings across Enterprise portfolio- Mapped out customer requirements to identify gaps in the portfolio- Defined direct/indirect roles & responsibilities in Enterprise sourcing- Created/updated sourcing plan template for Enterprise Project Milestone Map- Created custom report for Enterprise Solutions on SWB - Drove GE2GE sale for future BioPark & KUBio projects- Led the sourcing function on 4 Flex Factory projects kicked off in 2016 Show less - Greenbelt certification: developed new braze fixtures to drive $52K scrap savings and $94K fixture maintenance savings- Initiated a rework process resulting in $250K scrap avoidance- Created alternate cleaning process for x-ray targets saving $625K in P&E avoidance- Qualified solvent cleaning process to increase capacity by 15% in stem cell- Eliminated plasma cleaning to reduce 10 minutes of cycle time from the stem cell- Eliminated EHS risk of cleaning in alcohol, reduced manual time by 15 minutes Show less

  • Value Stream Leader

    Oct 2018 - May 2020

  • Production Team Lead

    Jul 2017 - Oct 2018

  • Sourcing Leader

    Nov 2016 - Jun 2017

  • Production Team Lead

    Mar 2016 - Oct 2016

  • Manufacturing Engineer

    Jul 2015 - Feb 2016
• 

  Medtronic

  May 2020 - now

  - Led the Connector value stream in continuous improvement initiatives. - Owned OH spend budget (Over $1M annual spend). - Developed and drove execution of roadmap for lean workflow certifications. - Coached & supported multiple lean line transformations. - Mentored DL and IDL teams in DMAIC process and enabled continuous improvement culture. - Facilitated value stream strategy reviews and led strategy planning sessions. - Core team member on hiring blitz and quality improvement teams. Show less

  • Engineering Manager

    Jan 2024 - now

  • Senior Engineering Supervisor

    Sept 2021 - now

  • Senior Continuous Improvement Engineer

    May 2020 - Aug 2021