Sue Davis is an FTE Senior Advisor and has over 35 years of progressive experience in all aspects of industrial engineering, specializing in Lean Manufacturing Implementation, Business Culture Transformation, and Optimization of Complex Processes and Systems. She has worked for a large automotive OEM and numerous Warehouse and Distribution industries.

Notable Experience and Accomplishments:

• Extensive experience in supporting the manufacturing and engineering top leadership to execute and develop business plans and KPIs to improve Safety, Culture, First-time Quality, and Schedule Attainment through leadership workshops and KPI review meetings
• Spearheaded 20 waste elimination workshops in 5 months resulting in 211 seconds of waste for a $1.8 million savings per year
• Developed, coached, and taught all aspects of Lean Techniques including Standardized Work, Waste reduction, Value Stream Mapping, Team Build, Problem Solving as well as many other lean manufacturing concepts
• Leadership staff member to launch a $1.5 billion state-of-the-art greenfield assembly plant. Sue was responsible for optimizing the processes and facilities, along with developing the business culture transformation. Significant focus was placed on implementing lean principles, and the facility became the model and “Go-To” site for the balance of the North American Operations
• Led lean assessments of major OEM suppliers to improve First Time Quality and schedule attainment and drive them to the highest lean classification
• Developed and executed standardization for 14 new vehicle launches, with a focus on standardized work and waste elimination, utilized and coached effective problem solving to achieve KPIs
• Orchestrated, developed, and implemented a multi-year site-wide project to maximize plant capacity 10% beyond the original plant charter, which boosted production to 1142 vehicles per day.

Prior to consulting, Sue worked at General Motors for over 25 years with increased responsibilities in Industrial Engineering. Sue led various teams through 14 new vehicle launches in four different assembly facilities.  She developed the roadmap of Industry 4.0 initiatives for General Motors in the area of Ergonomics, Simulation, Reality Capture, and Layout while rebuilding the Industrial Engineering discipline globally. Sue received the General Motors People Make Quality Happen award for her successful lean coaching project. Sue also worked for over five years in international consulting through Zollinger Associates Inc., leading feasibility studies and recommendations for future manufacturing and warehouse expansions.

Sue earned her Bachelor in Industrial Engineering degree from Western Michigan University and is a certified instructor for DDI training material.