Current Resume

1. Ken Heitritter Resume Page 1 of 2
Highlights of Experience
General Management, Strategic Planning, Capital & Projects Management, Team Builder, Mentoring,
Lean/5S, TPS, Kaizen, Zero Defects and 6 Sigma, Doing it right the first time is primary, Process
Knowledge Mechanical & Electrical, Cost reductions, Turnaround Leader, Change Agent, New Business
Startup, Funding & Economic Development, Facility Design & Construction, New Account Development,
P&L, ASME, Gear Production, Casting, Painting, Machining, Stamping, Comprehensive Industrial
Equipment knowledge, Product and System experience -- built to order and built to stock, high and low
volume, Supply Chain Management.
Accomplishments
 Turned around a Company ($50.0 M) from financial default to repaying its debt in 180 days.
 Positioned a Company to obtain a sale of its Manufacturing business to a Fortune 500 company.
 Reshaped a 100 year-old company into an aggressive competitor, organic growth of 30% in 4 years
 Reduced thru-put from 40 weeks to 4 weeks on a $35M manufacturing business in 5 years
 Improved inventory turns from 3 to 10 in 18 months while improving OTD for a $7.5 M business.
 Assessed and implemented 3 multi-user business systems hardware and software
 Proposed and implemented two green field start ups. Capital budget of $10M. Created one piece flow in
both and established a 24 hr 7 day 4 shift system in one.
 Saved an accumulated 30 million dollars per year at various companies in last 20 years.
 Strong product & process knowledge of: Electric Motors and Gear Motors, Controls, Conveyors, Die
Casting, Molding, Metal Fabrication, ASME Fabrication, Private Label product production, Gear
Production, Injection Molding, Stamping, Machining.
 Started a Manufacturing business from business plan & financing, through Product Design, Customer
attainment & Production. Grew business to $3.6 mil in 2nd year Sales @6% pretax; then sold it in 2005.
 Strength of knowledge includes: finance, sales, marketing, operations, engineering and quality.
 Literate with various business systems, including, but not limited to, 4th Shift, SAP, Oracle, Sage, Intuit,
Microsoft and Adobe.
 Implemented: Lean/5S, TPS, Kaizen, Zero Defects and 6 sigma, Doing it right the first time is primary.
 Champion of Lean-Six Sigma and Stake holder education
 Hired and Mentored Key Managers whose current titles are:
 VP Global Supply Chain of Emerson
 Sr. Vice President of Klein Tools
 Global Operations Director of Ingersoll-Rand
Education
 Bachelor of Science Industrial Technology, Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, IL.
 Roosevelt University and Chicago Circle -Business, Marketing, Finance, Human Resources, ISO, and Legal
Facets of Business.
 Attended many training programs; most notable: Phil Crosby – Zero Defects, Dr. Edward Deming – TQM,
Eli Goldratt - Theory of Constraints.
Page 2 of 2

2. Experience -- 20 plus years for both private and Fortune 100 companies.
• Current - Independent Consultant.
• Vessel Systems, Inc., Dubuque, IA
President/owner ($3.5 M in Sales)
• Bodine Electric - Chicago, IL; promotions leading to General Manager ($70 M in Sales)
• Emerson - St. Louis, MO; promotions leading to Unit Manager (Multi-national $24 B +)
• Technical Advisor—College of Engineering—Iowa State University—5 years
• Private & Public board experience
Contact Information
Ken E. Heitritter
10715 Eagle Ridge Court Peosta, IA 52068
Business Cell: 563/543-3000
E-Mail: keneheitritter@msn.com
Web site: http://www.linkedin.com/pub/7/390/329