Kenneth W. Probst is a Six-Sigma certified Quality Engineering Manager with over 25 years of experience managing teams and projects around the world. He has worked in various industries including consumer electronics, data storage, and telecommunications. Probst has a background in electrical engineering, quality control, and process improvement. Currently he is a Senior Quality Engineer supporting several customers at iQor Aftermarket Services.

1. Kenneth W. Probst
10182 Green Moss Cove
Cordova, TN 38018
Mobile: 901-361-7077 Home: 901-379-8618 Email: ken_harley98@yahoo.com
Six-Sigma certified Quality Engineering Manager experienced in managing teams in the United States,
Malaysia, China, Singapore, Thailand, Europe, & Mexico.
Responsibilities include the repair & test operations for consumer products. Communicate directly with
various departments including engineering, production, IT, quality, and materials. Duties include resolving
complex technical issues and working efficiently under pressure in a fast-paced, “reverse logistics” business
model. Communicate in conversational Spanish for work projects when in Mexico. Manage NPI engineers in
Singapore, China & Malaysia.
FEATURED EXPERIENCE
Quality Engineer/Process Engineer, Assignment: iQor New Business Park
•
• Developed initial test setup for the new product repair lines including time studies and detailed work
instructions.Kaizen techniques used resulting in process flow enhancements,higher yields, & reduced cycle
times.
• Data analysis completed for tracking yields, fail trends, top hitters Pareto, with corrective actions presented to
customer.
• Provided written and verbal product performance reports to customers on a weekly and monthly basis.
• Worked directly with management from Sonos,Vivint, NCR, and Philips corporations to meet customer
requirements.
• Trained and certified all test operators on the line with the process work instructions.
• Implemented total QMS systemwith control plans for customers including Gage R&R reports and statistical
control methods using Minitab tools. Developed customer based OBA reporting system.
• Responsible for ISO9001 corporate compliance team providing efficient preparations for upcoming audits.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
iQor Aftermarket Services 2015 - Present
• Senior Quality Engineer supporting DirecTV, Sonos & NPI customers. Implemented QMS system
including OBA trigger mechanisms. Developed new processes for reduction in VMI failures based on OBA
findings with root cause analysis and corrective actions. Direct weekly conference calls with customers
regarding quality initiatives.
Flextronics Global Services March 2012 - 2015
• Quality Engineering Supervisor for Apple product repair service operations, providing technical training &
documentation for analyzing & repairing technical issues related to Apple laptops. Managed the incoming
quality (IQC) of materials including managing PCBA inspectors according to IPC 610-D standards to
ensure parts acceptance in the test process.Resolving technical issues with circuit board suppliers in China
by identifying known issues with CLCA. Provided “Design for Manufacturing” FMEA reports directly to
Apple engineering and management teams.
• Managed 2 engineering technicians and 2 PCBA inspectors for incoming parts quality issues.Conducted
materials purges and implemented corrective actions to the suppliers for resolution. Communicated weekly
via conference calls with supplier in China to ensure real time solutions.Provide defect analysis with
pictures of issues and proposed actions for resolution. Developed and provided special tooling for line techs
to perform laptop repairs.

2. • Directed special projects for Apple Quality improvement initiative that includes Design of Experiments
(DOE), quality control plans, process enhancements,time studies,capacity models, and new product
introductions (NPI).
• Implemented process changes to reduce workmanship issues by providing “foolproof” solutions such as IT
dropdown menus; PCBA overlay templates, defective component isolation flow charts thus eliminating a
“shotgun” approach to troubleshooting by the deployment of Poka Yoke techniques.
• Prepared product and process reports by collecting, analyzing, and summarizing information and trends
using Mini-Tab, Excel spreadsheets,flowcharts, Keynote, and PowerPoint slide decks. Provided FMEA’s,
DOE, & DFM documentation & review results with suppliers and management. Knowledge of ISO 9001
standards.
Teleplan International July 2009 – March 2012
• Senior Product Engineer for television converterbox repair and refurbishing in Mexico. Includes creating
failure analysis debug procedures, work instructions,SOP’s, and supporting NPI product ramp to high
volume production.
• Lead Engineer for process engineering team performing repairs to component level including BGA’s.
• Experienced in RF signal technology including SMT. Analyzed technical issues to component level for
various manufactures & cable providers including Pace, Comcast, Motorola, AT&T, Cox, Cable One, &
Time Warner.
• Developed scrap reduction project resulting in 11% decrease in scrap rates resulting in over $30K
savings/month.
• Provided detailed slides to define and measure quarterly metrics and presented in weekly & quarterly
reviews.
• Hired as contract consultant engineer to reduce scrap of set top boxes & promoted to full time within 1
month.
• Reduced overall scrap rate from 16% to 6% in a 30 day time frame and hired as a full time engineer.
• Integrated a state of the art disk drive test process resulting in $560K savings/yearwithout any capital
investment.
Hewlett Packard 2007 – 2009
• HDD (hard disk drive) Principal Hardware/Firmware Test Engineer for Raid Array qualification laboratory.
• Principal Fiber channel HDD qualification engineer. Critical position for maintaining FC and SAS HDD
qualification schedule for current and future enterprise large storage business.Led project teams by
delivering and documenting new products.
• Expert in evaluation of hardware performance to investigate, integrate, develop, define and validate FC
HDD hardware and firmware prior to release to manufacturing. Part of this role included working with
and managing HDD vendors,including managing HP specifications, reviewing/approving vendor reports,
design reviews, firmware change management and othervendor supplied information. Job also requires
trouble shooting possible disk drive issues seen in HP enterprise storage systems.
• Managed HDD & SSD vendors such as Seagate Technology, STEC, and Hitachi to manage 8D’s and
problem resolution associated with the test qualification process.This included directing weekly technical
meetings with high level managers and proposing solutions to critical technical issues.
•
Seagate Technology 1995 – 2007
Senior Program Manager, 2003 - 2007 Global Customer Service Organization, McAllen, Texas - Managed the
repair and refurbishment of disk drives (20,000/week) by employees in Mexico for all worldwide customer returns.
This included yield improvement activities, process improvement and NPI (new product introduction) on customer
warranty returns and refurbished drives at Jabil Corporation (service provider) in a Reynosa Mexico Maquiladora.

3. • Facilitated $5 million increase in revenues from additional customer shipments by improving test process core
yields by 15% in 6 months.
• Saved over $50K in material cost during three-month time frame by developing and managing a Six-Sigma
project.
• Managed and developed projects working with Engineering VPs and Business Unit Managers in a Mexico
Maquiladora factory, increasing product yields and reducing production costs.
•
• Senior Firmware Manager, 2000 - 2003 Firmware Integration Group, Longmont, Colorado
• Managed 4 Firmware Engineers for the release of disk drive code for the drive self-test in the Asian factories.
• Managed customer coding needs including consumer electronic (CE) customers for desktop and portable drives.
Served Dell, HP, Sony, Compact and other major OEM customer needs,meeting critical timelines in fast-paced
environment.
•
Manufacturing Engineering Manager, 1996 - 2000 Product Sustaining Engineering, Longmont, Colorado
Electrical/Firmware Manager for 9 engineers and 1 technician providing detailed failure analysis of disk drives to
component level on early engineering models through the end of product life. Team also conducted failure analysis
of customer returns,initiating corrective action implementation and providing design solutions. Responsibilities
included salary planning, capital budgets,expense budgets,employee performance appraisals, staffing and project
planning.
EDUCATION / CERTIFICATIONS
BSEE, Electrical Engineering Colorado Technical College, Colorado Springs, CO
BA, Psychology, Minor Management, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX