Larry Nyman's Career Site

Acronym dictionary

I am currently seeking a challenging position as a ‘Quality Manager’ or ‘Quality Engineer’. I am confident that the introduction you are about to read will make you realize that I have the capability and ambition to assist your company in delivering higher-quality, higher-reliability services/products, on time, and produced at the lowest possible cost. Through value-stream mapping, I have studied every function of a company and can recognize efficient and effective practices. I have been trained to WOW the customer. I’m sure I can WOW yours!

I earned a BS degree in Electrical Engineering Technology from New Jersey Institute of Technology and majored in telecommunications. I graduated with honors (magna cum laude) with a 3.77 GPA. Through the AT&T Corporate Training Center and Virginia Tech, I received a Professional Certificate in ‘Process Quality Management’. Throughout the years, I have taken many courses to develop my skills... please feel free to review my training record.

Prior to 1985, I worked for a few local manufacturing companies. Two of the companies specialized in simulators (e.g., helicopter, airplane, process plants, and nuclear power plants) that were used for training purposes. I was a wireman, a prototype builder, a field technician, and an installer, respectively.

Between February 1985 and August 1991, I was a 'Design Engineer’ designing printed wiring boards and assemblies used in undersea telecommunication applications (aka undersea fiber optic cable). In August 1991, my Quality career began when I was challenged to come into the factory where my designs were being manufactured to increase throughput and reduce waste. First as a Manufacturing Engineer and soon after, as a Quality Engineer. The primary product was an undersea fiber optic cable network that connects countries and continents together for high-speed telecommunication purposes. Key components of the network included high-strength fiber optic cable (rests on the sea floor), optical amplifiers (amplifies an optical signal using lasers and erbium doped fiber), cable-laying vessels (fleet of 13), power feed equipment (a High Voltage power plant), termination equipment (connects undersea cable to the local telephone network), software (for supervisory and disaster recovery), and buildings that housed the termination equipment. The business refers to the undersea products as “wet plant” and the land-based products as “dry plant”. For obvious reasons, the wet plant is highly reliable and is designed/manufactured to function, maintenance and error free, for a minimum of 30 years!

As a ‘Manufacturing Engineer’, I re-engineered the workflow and work instructions of three wet plant product lines in class 1K/10K clean rooms: a hybrid integrated circuit (HIC) assembly/laser trim and test line, a printed wiring board (pwb) assembly/solder and test line, and a fiber optic splicing and test line. I introduced routine clean room audits to reduce nonconformities and assure long-term reliability through consistency. I also managed sixteen employees performing Incoming and Final Inspection activities.

As a ‘Quality Engineer’, I implemented Lean Manufacturing techniques to the entire wet plant product line. For example: I changed the way equipment calibration was performed by using statistical process control (SPC) instead of yearly calibration frequencies (used golden standards); flowed every business and production process to identify the bottlenecks so the processes could be better controlled/predicted (used theory of constraints); introduced the concept of just-in-time (JIT/kanban) so we wouldn’t build too far ahead of what the next process could consume (eliminating the need for rework if the design/raw material changed); introduced various methods of preventing mistakes (poka-yoke) from occurring (used color coding, keying, kitting, counting techniques); introduced and managed an electrostatic discharge (ESD) program to reduce the damage of sensitive product that may occur during handling; and trained employees on how to effectively use SPC on soldering, fiber splicing, testing, and inspection operations to reduce variation and rework. Using my experience with product design, I was the key contributor during the Design Review process and implemented failure modes and effects analysis (FMEA) concepts to ensure that the quality and reliability was designed into product before manufacturing started. Due to a request from our global customers, I led the effort to implement ISO-9001 at the facility and functioned as an enterprise-wide Lead Auditor. I also qualified employees, equipment, and opto-electro-mechanical product lines. My reputation led to being selected by the President of AT&T to serve as a Malcolm Baldrige auditor within AT&T.

Around 1996, Tyco, International purchased the Undersea Division of AT&T and the new company became known as ‘TyCom’. In July, the company reorganized and I was promoted to ‘Quality Manager of Manufacturing’. During this assignment, I managed a staff of nine employees and directed the implementation of key safety programs that helped the company reach VPP-Star status (minimal OSHA oversight). I was responsible for managing the Internal Audit, Corrective Action, and TQM (quality circles) programs, as well as the Final Inspection (called ‘Pedigree Review’), Document Control, and Material Review Board functions. I managed a team of auditors who were charged with selecting and evaluating suppliers and performing internal audits. As a member of the Leadership Team, I implemented a Balanced Scorecard and was responsible for establishing/deploying business objectives and tracking results. I also introduced Japanese-based quality techniques (5S, Hoshin, and Kaizen) to stimulate continual improvement. When there was a quality problem detected at a downstream process or in the field, I was the "goto" person wholead the effort to perform failure mode analysis, root cause analysis, and corrective action. This included making presentations to internal and external customers to assure them that the problem will not recur. For my dedication and perseverance on such matters, I was awarded the Ernest Shackleton Award (given to employees who exhibit extraordinary leadership qualities). Due to the efforts of myself and my team, the factory was able to increase production from 12 units per week to 80 units per week (throughput) while reducing scrap (waste) by > 65%.

In March 1999, I was offered a very challenging position as ‘Quality Manager of R&D, Marketing, and Networks’ at TyCom Laboratories. The facility designed wet plant, dry plant, network nanagement software, and cable-laying ships. During this assignment, I implemented a New Employee Orientation program, developed a knowledge management tool that helped to reduced design cycle time by ~50% and the total number of call center employees by 28%. I implemented an enterprise-wide documentation system and managed an ISO-9001 scope extension to incorporate the Network function (manages the wet plant’s traffic). I re-engineered the equipment calibration process to facilitate the calibration of equipment in a more timely and efficient manner. Also, for a short time, I worked as a Technical Support Engineer while the 24x7 Call Center was being adequately staffed.

By late 2002, the telecommunications market had gone sour and I eventually found myself (along with 4500 of my colleagues) seeking employment after 17 years with the same company. For the next five months I was marketing and selling real estate after I received a New Jersey Real Estate license. I was then hired by American Water as their ‘ISO Program Manager’. My objective was to optimize and standardize existing business practices and promote continual improvement. Their products are drinking water, underground infrastructure, and water services. As you can imagine, these products are also highly reliable, as well as being regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Here, I led the implementation of ISO-9001 and ISO-14001 into two large Water Treatment Plants (160 million gallons per day), a Water QC Laboratory, a Call Center, and an Engineering/Capital division. Currently, American Water is the only private water company in the country to hold both ISO-9001 and ISO-14001 certifications. They are also the only US water utility to have an ISO-9001 certified Call Center. To date, the company has saved over $1.2M in operating costs due to their proactive ISO programs. We also saw a huge improvement in time (from 4 days to 24 hours) it takes to collect and report data and respond to water quality events. For the first time ever, the company is performing key functions consistently throughout North America- saving training costs and becoming more competitive. I was the key contributor of an aggressive five-year plan to implement ISO programs throughout North America while concurrently growing the business. This initiative brought much publicity within the water business and the ISO certification publications. I conducted many one-on-one interviews with these entities.

In 2004, I was selected to be a guest speaker at a World Health Organization (WHO) conference to discuss how ISO programs can be used to reduce the risk to the public and how to prepare a water company to implement HACCP (a customer risk management program used by food and beverage industries). As an active member of the American Water Works Association (AWWA), I was asked to teach at a major workshop for US water utilities on how to incorporate an Environmental Management Program into their operations to reduce and control environmental catastrophies.

I was a key member of several leadership teams; such as, ‘Ideas Into Action’ (manages an enterprise-wide suggestion program), ‘Business Plan’ (develops and communicates long term strategies), ‘Policy Deployment’ (manages and communicates business mission and targets), ‘Environmental Council’, ‘Safety Committee’, ‘Best Operating Practices’, and the ‘Water Quality Investigation Team’ (manages the interaction between the Call Center and the Laboratory).

In October 2004, I was appointed as the ‘Knowledge and ISO Manager’, with the added responsibility of facilitating the sharing of design and engineering information amongst the North American Engineering function. I was a major player in several optimization projects that were managed similar to ‘six sigma’ (DMAIC) projects within a team environment. For instance, we re-engineered the documentation system to make it easier for employees in the field to receive and provide up-to-date information regarding their daily job assignments. This project (called ‘Service First’) is now being deployed nation-wide. We implemented a process for ‘walk-arounds’ at the plants. We implemented a formal process to determine if a customer is being billed for their water service (called ‘Shoeleather’).

In early 2005, I accepted a ‘Senior Quality Engineer’ position with a semiconductor company because I missed the thrill of working with cutting-edge technology. Currently, I’m leading several improvement teams within wafer fab to implement a formal New Employee Orientation, to develop a training database, to re-engineer the Document Change Control process, and to develop a Knowledge Management methodology. To date, I have restructured the Internal Audit, Corrective Action, and Management Review processes so they are fully aligned with the corporation's balanced score card initiatives. I also re-engineered the RMA (return) and nonconforming product process and found product worth $117,800 that was not being accounted for. I am responsible for supporting global customers (such as, Intel, Motorola, Samsung, Scientific Atlanta, RIM, Kyrocera, and LG) for broadband wireless products and monitoring Asian assembly and test sub-contractors. Recently, I performed a series of supplier audits in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and the Philippines.

My management style is very hands-on. Although I can easily interpret data, the information you can get from walking around the workplace (or as the Japanese call it, "gemba") is the most reliable. By sitting behind a desk in my office, I don't feel the pulse for what can be improved. I’d prefer interacting with the people who work in the day-to-day operation. I have always made a habit of conducting a regular ‘walk-through’ in search of potential improvement opportunities. This ritual also sends the message that management is committed to helping employees perform their job better. I learned early on that one of the easiest ways to increase profitability is to ensure that the workforce is satisfied - happy employees equate to happy customers.

Although my current work is very challenging and has provided me with the opportunity to use my technical and people skills, my ultimate goal is to relocate to Florida. Hence, the reason I've sent you this link.

Some words I would use to describe myself:

Here are some of my supporting documents:

My Resume
Training Record
Skill Set Summary
Quality Improvement Techniques (large file)
Example of my work-1(Presentation at WHO/NSF conference)
Example of my work-2 (Developing a Quality Manual)
Example of my work-3 (Quality Assurance Plan)
Example of my work-4 (ISO 9001 Audit Training)
Example of my work-5 (ISO 14001 Audit Training)
Example of my work-6 (Suggestion Program)

Ways you can reach me:

Business Affiliations:

ANADIGICS, Inc.
American Water
TyCom
Lucent Technologies
Bell Laboratories
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Tau Alpha Pi
Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
American Water Works Association
World Health Organization
American Society for Quality
American Productivity & Quality Center
Knowledge Management
Real Estate

My Interests:

Last updated on 06/03/06 at 7:35PM by LPN.

Email: larry_nyman@msn.com