Thomas Oei

Thomas G. Oei 1347 Goldeneye Drive, New Castle, DE 19720 - ● Email:-www.linkedin.com/in/Thomas-Oei Senior Engineer Engineering ● Manufacturing ● Project Management Results-driven engineer offering more than 20 years of experience and success in driving corporate growth, leading production from full-scale startup to signoff, leading best business practices, optimizing yield improvements, overhead spending, capital utilization, indirect spending, plant utilization and efficiency, working capital for both raw materials and finished goods, manpower utilization and building best-in-class, manufacturing infrastructures. Valuable depth of team leadership and coaching experience; recognized visionary and agent for change with proven ability to take initiative and implement continuous improvement activities that grow business operations. Possesses strong business acumen in ROI, P&L, Life Cycle Costs and revenue generation experience. MS in Management of Technology, Lehigh University; BS in Mechanical Engineering, minoring in Computer Engineering, The Cooper Union School of Engineering; living in the New Castle, Delaware metro area, but able to relocate anywhere for the right opportunity. Selected Areas of Expertise ●Kaizen / Continuous Improvement ●Project Management ●New Product Introduction / Design ●Engineering Management ●Cost Containment and Reduction ●Lean Manufacturing / TPS / Six Sigma ●Budget Planning and Management ●Corrective and Preventive Action ●Environmental Health and Safety ●Value Engineering ●Risk Assessments and Liabilities ●Developing and Implementing CI Programs ●Value Stream Mapping ●TRIZ Innovation Methodology ●Stage-Gate and PACE Implementation ●Facility 5S Coordinator and Lead ●KPI Development and Tracking ●Production Supervision and Coaching Selected Achievements Championed successful, new, production and commercialization of multiple product offerings. Led engineering, manufacturing and installation team from concept to customer signoff resulting in projects exceeding their target profits by 20% or more and being completed on time. Repeatedly produced dramatic cost savings and revenue increases in the 10’s of millions. Resolved numerous engineering, manufacturing and environmental problems resulting in robust technical designs, products and processes. Accomplished successful turnaround and infrastructure changes in team resulting in the creation of profit centers from cost centers by implementing data-driven decision making. Professional Experiences W.L. Gore and AssociatesNewark, DE- A $4.0B manufacturer of fluoropolymer products and materials. Process Engineer (PharmBio Group – Syringe) Developed a novel process using EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid) to completely remove chlorobutyl rubber mold fouling from the press tooling. The chemical was used as a chelating agent and held the precedence of FDA approval for ocular applications. The process was kept as a trade secret. It resulted in a 15% higher syringe plunger yield translating to about a $390,000 increase in revenues. Developed the foundation, implemented the practice, and trained other Process Engineers in Predictive Maintenance to supplement traditional Preventive Maintenance. This enabled the replacement and repair of critical production equipment before the breakdown occurred and minimized the disruption to manufacturing. The impact was a 93% reduction in downtime from equipment breakdowns as tracked by the CI champion, going from 20 hours per month of downtime from equipment breakdowns on December 2021 to only 1.5 hours by October 2022 on the combined production lines of CP1A and CP1B. This significant increase in production time became instrumental in achieving the delivery of 1.07 million plungers delivered in October for our lead customer’s large PPQ, which led to our being awarded a purchase order for 4 million plungers ($17M). This directly affected the bottom line of the company. Successfully implemented the practice in preform production of robust processes that was first pioneered by Dr. Genichi Taguchi. This is an engineering methodology for improving productivity, by improving the quality of the preform, by minimizing the effects of variations without eliminating the causes, when the causes were too difficult, or too expensive to control, especially in a validated state and regulated business environment. By making the process more robust, the six-month preform yields in the latter half of 2022, on both CP1A and CP1B production lines became identical at 95% regardless of the variations in raw materials and equipment. This sustained consistency in production enabled better estimates of production output, and confidence in making on-time deliveries to our customers. Ultimately, this affects the customers’ confidence and willingness to do business with Gore’s Syringe Group. Sustained increase in PreMold yield, resulting in increased overall throughput on commercial processes, aligned with the team goal of delivering quality parts for LC milestones (on time and quantity of parts for Fitment, Development and PPQ trials). Resolved the historic declining yields of preforms resulting in almost doubling the yields at CP1A Premold from around 54% to 98.3%. Root-cause of the problem was found by applying the principles of adhesion and discovering defluorinated ePTFE generated in the process. Transferred learnings to CP1B. The significant rise in yields translated to $1.7M annual savings of specialty, proprietary film. Process Engineer (Contract – Electronic Cables and Connectors Group) Supported the $1M Europa Program to manufacture satellite cables and interconnects for Northrop Grumman. Coordinated outside suppliers for CT scanning, scanning analysis, and thermal shock testing to comply with customer and government requirements based on the IPC/WHMA-A-620 standards for harness assemblies. Developed anticorrosion processes for electrical connector applications. These include the use of a thiol-based, self-assembled monolayers (SAM) on gold plating to prevent corrosion from copper-ion migration from the beryllium-copper core, through the nickel, underplate, barrier layer. This problem affected ten years of connector subassembly production. Also implemented a chemical review of the assembly area that identified and eliminated silver-oxide and silver-sulfide corrosion on silver-plated copper conductors. Developed corrosion removal process for electrical connector applications through the use of a tetrasodium ethylenediamine tetraacetate, selective chelating agent. This was effective in removing cuprous and cupric oxides without disturbing the nickel or gold plating, or degrading the stainless-steel coupling hardware. Developed cup burr tools to replace pointing tools that were no longer manufactured, to shape cable conductors. Merging technologies from the jewelry and electronics industries produced a manual and automatic system that not only created the required end geometries, but also reduced the cost of the equipment and tooling by 97%. The technology and process were shared with the Shen Zhen manufacturing facility in China where a similar 98% cost reduction was realized. Developed manufacturing processes for Teradyne’s 5G microwave cable requirements that includes the use of industrial presses, tooling, connector and cable assembly techniques, as well as QR coding of cable and harness assemblies linked to an encrypted cloud database. Resolved a variety of processes, toolings and material issues in manufacturing that helped the Electronic Cable and Connector Group (EC&C) to reach record revenues of $240M in the midst of the Covid-19 Pandemic that restricted the staff and engineering presence in the plants. CA Enterprises, Inc.Norristown, PA- An $85M manufacturer of polymer composites. Manufacturing Process Engineer Support and train factory personnel in countermeasures to correct the material properties of silicone-based polymers. This transfer of knowledge led to correcting and saving $40,000 of processed material and avoided environmental disposal concerns. Researched and developed coatings for steel packaging tins to prevent polymers from leaking. This permanently resolved customer complaints, returns and stopped shipments amounting to over $8M in wholesale revenues. Support and implement training for Drexel University interns in composite materials, polymer science, TRIZ methodology for innovative problem solving, Kaizen practices, and Lean manufacturing. Led and sponsored their work which resulted in $30M of savings for the team and the support of new products and materials. Served as an industrial-safety liaison between OSHA, the Norristown Fire Marshal and CA Enterprises in addressing industrial and environmental safety issues for an incident that reduced a $95,000 fine from OSHA to $19,000. This prevented the delay to open the new Norristown manufacturing facility and headquarters. Project managed the technical design, documentation, construction and layout of the new manufacturing facility in Norristown. Then implemented the move of all capital equipment from the Phoenixville facility to Norristown. The facility layout and machine positions were compliant with Mil-Std-1472 Rev G for human engineering, anthropometry and ergonomics. These measures avoided medical disability compensations for the employer and loss time from work for employees. Trained production personnel and supported documentation and SOPs for a $1M mixer, imported from Italy, capable of producing 2,000-pound batches of putty. The mixer had to be operated similarly to a low-pressure, flash dryer to optimize energy usage and drying efficiencies. CertainTeed CorporationTampa, FL- A $3B manufacturer of building materials and supplies. Senior Project Manager Managed numerous innovation and R&D projects to implement plant production of VAP (Value Added Products) as part of the “Blue Ocean” competitive strategy. This included: Project managed the technical design, fabrication, installation and plant operation to produce AirRenew wallboards in multiple plants. This product removes and neutralizes carcinogenic, volatile organic compounds (VOC) in the air for an improved, indoor, environmental air quality for generations. This resulted in domestic and international sales in excess of $62.5 million. Project managed the technical design, fabrication, installation and plant operation to produce Easi-Lite light-weight wallboards for multiple plants in the US and Canada. This resulted in sales over $187.5 million and maintaining our market shares against three other larger competitors. Project managed the technical design, fabrication, installation and plant operation to produce SilentFX QuickCut sound-dampening, acoustic wallboards. Applied TRIZ innovative, problem-solving methodology to resolve engineering problems. This innovative product resulted in domestic and international sales in excess of $35.7 million. Supported and implemented a combined World Class Manufacturing (WCM) and Stage-Gate process to project manage R&D projects and product portfolio. This resulted in the streamlining of manufacturing processes realizing a savings of $2.2 million annually from plants in the US and Canada. Implemented Value Engineering as part of the World Class Manufacturing process and documentation to realize over $250,000 in cost avoidances and savings. Implemented 3D solid modeling for engineering technical designs that resulted in cost savings averaging about 58% among various projects, and condensing technical design and fabrication times by three weeks. Papa’s Pastry and Baking CorporationWilmington, DE- A $250K manufacturer of high-end, elegant, European pastries, cakes, cookies and confections. Project Manager Increased annual net profits by 30% from establishing a progressive sales campaign during the height of the economic recession. Expanded the company infrastructure to support eight sales sites instead of just one central site. This resulted in a 100% increase in revenues and reduced the need for costly advertisement. Created three, new, high revenue product lines through the implementation of European technology, training and capital equipment. Increased significantly the competitive advantage in custom technical designs through the development and implementation of novel structural construction techniques, which allowed the formation of compound curves and other difficult geometric structures. Accomplished critical field studies, documentation and trend analyses pertaining to consumer behavior and buying habits as a function of the conscious and subconscious psychological motivations as well as seasonal periods. This gave the team the ability to effectively select the proper product mixes to suit different markets and adjust these product mixes throughout the course of time to maximize sales. CPC Corporation of America (formerly Alanx) Newark, DE - A $350M manufacturer of specialty materials for the armor, semiconductor, nuclear, and wear industries. Senior Manager of Advanced Materials Manufacturing Managed the Advanced Materials Team to a record high 70% growth in revenues during the 2006 fiscal year. Supported and implemented process improvements and documentation for the production of ceramic armor monolithic helicopter seats for Armor Holdings (currently BAE Systems) Aerospace Team. This resulted in raising the final product yields from 33% to 90% within two months, and established increasing customer confidence in delivery performance. Armored seats were used in the UH-1W, UH-1N, UH-60L, and CH-46F helicopters. Increased company revenues by $12M per year and eliminated considerable scrap by directing of the Advanced Materials Team’s production staff in the proper material handling procedures to eliminate the aeration and re-aeration of ceramic slip in making Nikon’s Joubans, and Cannon’s X-Y slider bases. The one-and-a-half-year-old aeration problem that plagued these product lines was resolved in two weeks. Designed, engineered and manufactured ceramic-composite parts for Toyota’s hybrid engines. Received the “Excellent Supplier” award for the product of the parts and the successful and complete implementation of Toyota’s Production System (TPS) and Lean Manufacturing within a US supplier. Directed the ESAPI (Enhanced Small Arms Protective Insert) engineering and manufacturing team in the application of vacuum densification processes to overcome the effects of fines in Boron Carbide, Silicon Carbide and hybrid material pre-forms. This resulted in ceramic pre-form yields to rise immediately from 44% to 100%. Created, equipped, and trained a cross-functional manufacturing team to make extremity armor for MSA - Paraclete. Equipment and processes were maintained to such a high degree that the final yield for all types of extremity armor for special operation forces was 94%. Designed and implemented a process to ensure consistent rheological properties of ceramic slip (thixotropic) and their effects on settling and compacting. Data and documentation accumulated help to determine the best slip formulation to achieve the tile with the highest density and modulus with the shortest amount of vibration time for the sediment casting process. This led to the ability to settle and compact a tile in six hours instead of twelve, and doubled the manufacturing capacity of the facility. Launched successfully and trained technicians in the use of an acoustic resonance testing unit into quality control. The unit mapped out the frequency responses of “good” and “bad” armor tiles such that the tiles in production can be checked quickly and effectively for internal defects and abnormalities that were not visible. This resulted in detecting internal cracks, excess porosity, and abnormal densities that would have compromised the integrity of the armor. Created an epoxy-based formulation that enabled the repair of pre-forms and post-infiltrated, ceramic, composite armor tiles for the military aerospace industry. This material and application process reduced scrap by 98%. Armored tiles were used on the AH-64D helicopter. Developed new composite materials for ESAPI and XSAPI body armor. Support efforts resulted in providing the team with a material having the ability to stop the newest M993 armor piercing round containing the Tungsten – Cobalt penetrator. Further details are classified. Reduced costs by $25,000 per month while sustaining high yields at 92% for Ford Crown Victoria car door armor for law enforcement agencies by supporting and implementing changes in the ceramic products. ILC Dover, Inc.Frederica, DE- A $227M manufacturer of soft goods for various industries. Manufacturing Engineer (Contract) Applied Lean manufacturing principles to the production of the SBX radar dome for Raytheon, which resulted in completing the project a week ahead of schedule. Implemented the use of air bearings to maneuver 8,000-pound heat sealing machines in a very confined space. This resulted in the time savings of over two hours per shift. Developed heat sealing equipment for medical and pharmaceutical packaging production at ILC Dover, which resulted in a 15% increase in production capacity. Designed a new heat-sealing head, which reduced the cooling cycle by 20% and increase the speed of each seal by 15%. Reduced the scrap rate in manufacturing the Chemturion® chemical suit valve assembly at ILC Dover from 95% to 8% by creating and fabricating specialty tooling and applying root-cause analyses. Evaluated the installation and operation of the Cincinnati Sub-Zero environmental chamber for the production of ILC Dover’s SSA astronaut suits. Defects in machine technical design were detected that would have caused catastrophic failures in filter housings as well as exposed maintenance personnel to boiling hot water in the event a relay had to be replaced. Coordinated the technical design changes and documentation with the OEM resulting in CSZ to make the recommended changes to all their products and issue a field service notice. Designed and developed illumination units to detect stress areas in Aerostats at ILC Dover. This led to a more rapid inspection of the blimps for use in high duration surveillance such as border patrol and anti-submarine defense. All Metals Fabricators, Inc.Wilmington, DE- A $10M manufacturer of specialty machines, parts and structures. Engineering Manager Reversed net losses to a positive position by $600,000 in 2002 by successfully supporting and executing the company strategic plan based on the company operating philosophy, quality policy, and long and short-term company objectives. This provided a quantifiable method to determine the status of reaching corporate objectives and market position. This achieved the highest revenue since 1997 and was accomplished during difficult economic times for the manufacturing industry when many manufacturing and fabrication firms claimed bankruptcy. Managed the combined efforts of four companies (Quip Laboratories, All Metals Fabricators, Govatos Consulting, and Applied Controls) to technically design, engineer, and support medical and pharmaceutical bulk detergent distribution systems for clinical animal studies at MERCK Safety Assessment Facility, West Point, Pennsylvania; MERCK Research Facility, Boston, Massachusetts; Schering-Plough Safety Evaluation Facility, Summit, New Jersey. Optimized the capabilities of a cross-functional staff to achieve cost targets and on-time deliveries of the systems. Net profits for these projects were 22% above their original targets. Directed the implementation and management of new technology. Implemented Autodesk Inventor, which provided the engineering department with the ability to generate parametric, 3D, solid models and documentation. Engineering designs could be downloaded directly to manufacturing work centers, which resulted in the significant reduction of programming / set up times by 75%. Implemented stereolithography with parametric modeling, which resulted in a 40% reduction in product cost and a 50% reduction in lead time, to deliver various tooling for the automotive glass industry. Implemented the quality management system in compliance with ISO 9001 standards and documentation. Led and trained the entire team from start to ISO certification within four months. Became the Management Representative of the corporate quality management system and maintained the company’s ISO certification through successful internal and external quality audits. SI Systems (Paragon Technologies, Inc.)Easton, PA- A $200M manufacturer of warehousing order fulfillment and assembly line systems. Project Manager Managed capital equipment projects from contract negotiations through commercial start-up and final sign off. All projects managed were delivered on time and under budget and had final net profits 20% or more above their targets. This translated to significantly larger profits than initially anticipated for the company. Managed the robotic gantry development project. This is a research and development project aimed at opening new markets in the material handling industry. Taught capital budgeting techniques to the sales and application engineers to give them the tools to “paint” an accurate financial picture and help in the financial justification to our customers who are interested in purchasing the gantry system. This resulted in a $1.2 million sale of a system. Designed and developed gantry hoist systems. Systems encompassed pneumatic, hydraulic and electrical subsystems integrated into programmable logic controllers. Performed structural analyses for the support members of these hoists for normal operations as well as operations in seismic zones. Gantry hoist and winch systems are still being produced today with few modifications tailored to customers’ needs. These units are used in the material handling industries. Designed and developed flexible powdered bulk conveyor systems for the food, drug and chemical industries. Worked with consulting firms and overseas universities to support behavioral theories of powdered solids in conveyor systems. Education and Certifications MS Management of Technology ● Lehigh University BS Mechanical Engineering ● The Cooper Union Commissioned Officer (Honorably Discharged) ● US Army Corp of Engineers ● Construction Engineering Certified ISO 9001 Internal Auditor ● Prism Solutions Honors and Awards Commendation from the US Army, Colonel Michael Smith (X-Band Radar Project Manager) and Lieutenant Colonel Quentin L. Peach (X-Band Radar Product Manager), from the Department of Defense, Missile Defense Agency, Ground-Based Midcourse Defense, Joint Program Office, for the successful completion of the X-Band Radar Radome, May 31, 2005. Awarded European patent for the Light Controlled Safety Switch, number DE-T2, February 19, 2004. Awarded US patent for the Light Controlled Safety Switch for a Punch Press, number 6,114,690, September 5, 2000. Awarded European patent for the Light Controlled Safety Switch, number EP-A1, July 28, 1999. Awarded the National Defense Medal during the Gulf War, 1992. Awarded the Armed Forces Medal, and Army Achievement Medal during assignment in Grenada, 1992.