Dave Sartorius

Dave is an FTE Senior Advisor with 33 years of experience as a results-driven leader with measurable results in Lean Manufacturing and Enterprise Deployment, Operations, Engineering, and Program Management. His experience spans the automotive, aerospace, biotechnology, and machinery/equipment industries. Dave has successfully led multiple global process improvements across all functions to significantly improve process quality, lead-time, and cost. He demonstrates rapid adaptability and effectiveness in new organizations, and excellent skills in change management, communication, and team building.

Notable experience and accomplishments:

  • Established Operational Excellence and PMO organizations and Strategy Deployment processes at a leading Biotechnology manufacturer
  • Improved Loom setup time at an aerospace manufacturer by reducing changeover time from 10 days to 5 days, effectively improve capacity by 15%, freeing up approximately $2M in the capital for growth
  • Reduction in product delivery lead times earning 1st place award in a global Lean project recognition program
  • Lean plant design and layout for manufacture of automotive hybrid-electric batteries; achieved 25% improvements in planned manpower requirements; 35% reduction in planned floor space, based on original plan and layout of the plant
  • Enterprise–wide (Business Systems) Deployment of Lean Operating System at Global Automotive OEM; team results of $377M in structural cost reductions over 3yrs. Reductions in process lead time of up to 90+%, and up to 100-fold improvements in first time quality of processes
  • Integration of IT, organizational change, and business process improvements to implement new technologies and achieve step improvements in engineering quality, lead time, and cost
  • Leading New Product Development Teams in an industrial manufacturing company– significantly improving time to market, profitability, and customer satisfaction
  • QC Data Flow Process Improvement at Biotechnology Manufacturer; reduced non-value-added work by 75%; enabled re-allocation of approximately 5 FTE to support growth in operations

Prior to joining FTE, Dave has held a number of technical, leadership and consulting positions including: site head of Operational Excellence and Portfolio Management at a global aerospace company, Director of Global Operational Excellence in Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical companies, Lean Consultant, and multiple roles as a senior engineering and operations manager in a global automotive company.

Dave holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute) and a Master of Science Degree (MBA) from MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Leaders for Global Operations Program.

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