James M. Caplis

Jim is an FTE Senior Advisor with over 40 years of experience in many facets of automotive manufacturing operations, including body assembly, paint, and general assembly. During this time, Jim gained experience in production operations, human resource activities, material planning, and manufacturing and industrial engineering activities.

Notable experience and accomplishments:

  • Within two vehicle manufacturing assembly plants, personally coached and / or trained roughly 3000 people in the body, paint and general assembly, production, quality, and material groups in an effort to successfully implement lean manufacturing concepts
  • Managed the development of two assembly plant Paint production activities, (e.g. rough and fine process line balance) for the launch of five new vehicles. Reduced non-value added activities by 25% throughout the five launches
  • Led team of industrial engineers to maintain production operation work standards and engineering document updates.
  • Commissioned to developed Simulated Work Environment (SWE) program, including simulation hardware, curriculum, and facilitator’s guide, for Lansing Community College

Prior to consulting, Jim retired from General Motors, where he held a series of progressively responsible positions. His most recent assignment was as a Senior Industrial Engineer at a leading manufacturer of cars and cross over vehicles.  In this role, Jim worked with the paint managers in the planning and execution of various projects to maximize the efficiency of the paint processes. Currently, Jim is also an Adjunct Instructor and Lean Manufacturing SME for the Business & Community Institute group at Lansing Community College

Jim holds an Associate degree in Technical Management from Lansing Community College, a Bachelor of Science in Business from Davenport University, and dual Master of Science degrees in Operations Management and Manufacturing Management from Kettering University.  He is a member if the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He is also a certified administrator for the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and a certified instructor for DDI training material.

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