Steve Smith

Experience

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  Graco Children's Products (A Newell Rubbermaid Company)

  Jan 1991 - Jan 2002

  • Executed project management and liaison functions as well as manufacturing engineering for all Asian sourced products.• Co-directed an extensive make-vs-buy program for finished goods and components of swings, highchairs, car seats and other juvenile products considering Asian and domestic manufacturing resulting in divisional savings of over $2 million annually.• Managed capital tooling budget of over $3 million for overseas plastic tooling projects. • Managed a staff of 10 Taiwanese nationals with job functions ranging from product sourcing, cost and configuration management to textile printing and fashion development.• Re-structured the Taiwan project management group into self-directed teams in preparation for dissolving the expatriate management team in Taiwan. Resulted in divisional savings of nearly $600,000 annually. • Coordinated one of the first successful design transfers and production start-ups of an Infant Car Seat Project in Asia meeting Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS) regulatory certifications for United States market as well as European regulatory requirements. • Established part numbering system for manufactured and purchased parts to be used by the Asian manufacturer. Resulted in the ability to establish a warehousing system, significantly improving production capabilities and reducing scrap costs.

  • International Mfg. Manager

    Jan 2001 - Jan 2002

  • International Project Manager

    Jan 1998 - Jan 2001

  • International Engineering Manager

    Jan 1994 - Jan 1998

  • Manufacturing and Project Engineer

    Jan 1991 - Jan 1994
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  Evenflo Company, Inc.

  Jan 2003 - Jan 2016

  • Directed a team of 16 direct, indirect and contract procurement professionals, engineers, designers and patternmakers in Taiwan, China and the U.S. to source, design and develop textiles; then managed the use of those materials by cut-and-sew factories in China.• Managed over 150 new textile product launches each year by successfully integrating Asian development and international design with production into one cross-functional team.• Engineered a robust cross-cultural development process resulting in the ability to annually develop, test and approve over 300 new textiles from international suppliers.• Trained on-site resources in China regarding fabric approval criteria resulting in the ability to cut approval lead-time by 40% and reclaim 8 hours per week of lost design resource. • Consistently applying popular textile constructions to the juvenile product category such as denim, upholstery construction and fly-knits while managing cost within category limits. Show less • Directed a team of 6 direct and indirect procurement staff to source and manage a product supply base which developed and produced design packages for use on finished goods.• Managed an annual finished product spend of over $35 million, including a material spend of over $7 million for raw yardage, while seeing a consistent reduction in average cost per yard, year-over-year.• Reduced the Evenflo fabric supply base by over 50% while introducing a strategic sourcing approach to supplier development.• Challenged Asian suppliers to think “outside the box” resulting in development of a simple, low investment printing technique which gained retail placement and added over 100,000 yards per year.• Successfully introduced the first production application of OUTLAST TM cooling technology to juvenile car seat fabric, working with the supplier’s mill in Taiwan resulting in annual consumption of over 60,000 yards. Show less

  • Director Global Product Innovation

    Jan 2013 - Jan 2016

  • Director Global Procurement

    Jan 2003 - Jan 2013

  • Procurement Manager, Finished Goods

    Jan 2003 - Jan 2004
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  Quality Inspection & Containment, Inc.

  Jan 2017 - Jan 2018

  Quality Assurance Engineer

  • Quality Assurance inspection for Tier 1 automotive interior components - Honda and Toyota

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  Combi USA, Inc.

  Apr 2018 - Dec 2021

  Director of Product Development, Quality and Regulatory

  • Directed U.S. focused design, compliance and testing requirements for multiple Asian manufactured projects for the U.S. consumer market.• Managed multiple offshore development and manufacturing programs to meet U.S. federal testing and regulatory requirements from the CPSC (Consumer Product Safety Commission) and NHTSA (National Highway Traffic and Safety Agency).

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  Akkodis

  Apr 2022 - now

  Project Manager, EU MDR

  • Coordinating the efforts of a global, cross-functional team of industry professionals at Baxter as we prepare legacy products for EU MDR certification.