1. Ethan Edwards – Continuous Improvement / Operations Leader
P a g e | 1
Ethan Edwards
1926 W. Burnside St., Portland, OR 97209
Phone: (503) 957-8426, Email: mention123@gmail.com
Continuous Improvement and Operations Leader
Operations leader with experience executing change at all levels of an organization, in five countries,
with five different and unique languages and cultures. Certified Lean Six Sigma Black Belt with millions in
verified savings and successes applying tools on shop floor, in the office and in marketing and sales.
Experience ranging from working with senior leaders on strategic planning and organization
transformation, working with middle managers to make culture change real, to working with cell teams
on daily and ongoing continuous improvement at gemba.
SKILLS
 Organizational Change
 Team Building
 Strategic Planning
 Six Sigma
 Statistics
 Lean Growth Tools
 Experimentation
 Innovation
 Kaizen
EXPERIENCE
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT – SIX SIGMA
 Achieved over $3M in verified savings, and achieved Certified Lean Sigma Black Belt
 Led the leadership team through strategy development using the policy deployment framework
 Experience using both lean and six sigma tools, and combining tools where necessary and appropriate
 Mentored others in continuous improvement including kaizen event leadership and facilitation
 Led or facilitated over 60 kaizens in manufacturing, business operations and sales in 5 countries
 Led and directed implementation of lean, six sigma and business process improvement in
manufacturing, service, operations, marketing, product development and sales
 Led the relocation of major production line from US to China, including line design and setup in China.
Designed and implemented the first lean cell in China
 Led the lean transformation of the entire service center network, resulting in significantly reduced costs,
and improved quality and delivery
 Directed operations, sales, service and marketing teams on Value Stream Mapping, Root Cause and
Problem Solving and Strategy Development among others
OPERATIONS LEADERSHIP
 Led new product launches in highly technical environment with tight deadlines.
 Managed all aspects of the supply chain process including material planning, procurement to installation
and customer service

2. Ethan Edwards – Continuous Improvement / Operations Leader
P a g e | 2
 Led multiple factory design and setup activities for new and existing products
 Defined and executed over 25 controlled experiments, the results of which led to improved factory
yields and reduced processing times and field failure rates. Owned all aspects of the experimentation
from setting a-priori assumptions, to selecting analysis tools and doing post-hoc analyses and
implementing necessary changes.
 Designed, developed and implemented improved methods for doing manufacturing and testing
resulting in reduced test times, operation times and improved quality
MARKETING AND PRODUCT MANAGEMENT
 Designed, developed and successfully launched 4 new products; 100% increase in the product offerings,
generating more than $3M in incremental annual revenues at higher profitability
 Implemented portfolio management strategies to remove underperforming products; shifted customers
to more profitable products and reduced maintenance costs
 Led development of new software product targeted at current customers; increased customer retention
and average number of product purchased by each customer
 Implemented improved web presence to increase customer access to data, increasing transaction
volume and contacts and reducing transaction costs.
 Developed and implemented strategies to increase service buying at point of sale; increased the take
rate by 50% in 4 years to record levels each year
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Continuous Improvement Manager, Pacific Foods of Oregon, Tualatin, OR 05/2016 – Present
Strategy and Business Improvement Consultant, Self Employed, Portland, OR 04/2015 – 05/2016
Senior Product Manager, Tektronix, Beaverton, OR 08/2009 - 12/2014
DBS Continuous Improvement Leader, Tektronix, Beaverton, OR 01/2006 - 08/2009
Manufacturing Engineer, Tektronix, Beaverton, OR 03/2001 - 01/2006
EDUCATION
MBA, Portland State University, Portland OR 08/2009
 Concentration in Business Strategy
MS, Industrial Engineering, SUNY - University at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY 12/2000
 Concentration in Operations Research and Production Systems
TECHNICAL SKILLS
 Proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Access, Outlook, Lync and Visio
 Experienced with Voice of Customer - design, collection and analyses
 Experienced with Value Stream Mapping
 Experienced using systems modeling software
 Experienced using 5S, SMED, standard work, daily management and other lean transformation tools