Andrew Ries

Experience

• 

  3M, Advanced Materials Division

  May 2014 - Aug 2014

  Manufacturing Engineer Intern

  • Assisted with a $2.5 million budgeted project to improve our Glass Bubble product flow rate by 25% by optimizing the flow path, drawing up specs for new equipment, and meeting with contract companies.• Worked on a Lean Six Sigma project with a Black Belt Engineer, searching for problems in 3M operating systems, diagnosing them, and fixing them.• Designed a device to contain partially filled bags of product to improve safety and efficiency.• Helped with a Technical Summit in Korea by gathering information from the 5 worldwide plants in the division. This included traveling personally to Guin, Alabama to retrieve data. Show less

• 

  3M, Critical & Chronic Care Solutions Division

  May 2015 - Aug 2015

  Manufacturing Engineer Intern

  • Led a Design of Experiments material science cost reduction project by reducing fibrous components while maintaining product integrity that saves the company approximately $20,000 annually.• Assisted on minor projects including applying Lean 5S methods to production areas, sampling and testing products with the Quality team, constructing a cart to improve safety in production area, etc.• Worked with technicians in the manufacturing area to help them and learn more about the production line. Show less

• 

  Donaldson Company, Inc

  Oct 2016 - Jan 2021

  Application Engineer

  • Collaborated with customers to design, develop, and implement new products. This included determining specifications, creating engineering drawings, developing test plans, and releasing products into production.• Internally, supported the global manufacturing teams with samples and pre-production parts, contributed to company cost reduction goals, and assisted Quality team in root cause analysis and product improvements.• Provided technical support on all fuel, oil, and coolant products. Frequently presented and supplied data to customers, global partners, suppliers, sales team, manufacturing team, and management.Notable Projects/Information:• Lead engineer on long-term project involving 10 stakeholder groups to release a fuel filter assembly for a large Japanese manufacturer’s new engine platform.• Resolved a quality concern by understanding the issue, redesigning the filter to solve the problem, and working through the manufacturing challenges that resulted from the design change. Margin was increased and business was retained.• Lead engineer of a redesigned product line for a global heavy equipment manufacturer. Actions included releasing and approving new components at 5 suppliers, traveling to our manufacturing plant in Mexico 4 times in one year for pilot builds, and creating test plans to mitigate issues after product release.• Donaldson Academy presenter. Presented technical forums on diesel engine fuel systems and participated in key Donaldson promotional activities to communicate our products’ benefits to a non-engineering audience and generate future business opportunities.• Member of the Donaldson Product Management Community of Practice. Main goal was to learn about Product Management in general and to discuss various Product Manager roles within the company.• Member of an international team to improve operational alignment, specifically the quality and cleanliness of our global plants and products. Show less

• 

  Gates Corporation

  Jan 2021 - Oct 2021

  Product Application Engineer

  • Provided engineering service to customers in the proper application and selection of fluid power products.• Analyzed application requirements, provide failure analysis, select components, and made recommendations to meet system requirements.• Collaborated with the sales, product development, and materials teams to achieve organizational initiatives.• Participated in projects such as competitive benchmark testing, product line analysis, and product introduction.

• 

  CONMED Corporation

  Oct 2021 - now

  Senior Engineering Project Manager