ROBERT W.

FOUTS
rfee20de@westpost.net
650-368-5398 (hm)
650-576-9548 (c)
SENIOR MANUFACTURING & OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE
High performance, results-driven Senior Executive with a career demonstrating vi
sionary leadership, expertise and distinguished performance in operations, quali
ty assurance and manufacturing engineering within the electronics and medical de
vice industries. A catalyst for change, combining tactical execution of strategi
c initiatives with strong leadership of cross-functional staff and development o
f key alliances to capture and enhance overall quality, productivity, business a
nd bottom-line financial performance.
* Strategic Planning & Execution
* Analysis & Problem Resolution
* Team Performance Optimization
* Process Analysis & Reengineering
* Productivity & Performance Improvement * Vendor Selection & Negotiations
* Quality Control Leadership
* Supply Chain Management
* Cost Reductions & Profit Growth
* Purchasing & Materials Management
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
MODIFIED POLYMER COMPONENTS, INC., Sunnyvale, CA 2000 - 2010
$16M medical device and diagnostic components manufacturer. Builds catheters, i
ntroducers, tubulation sets, and partial medical device assemblies.
Vice President, Operations
Senior operating executive with full responsibility for strategic planning, deve
lopment and operational management encompassing all manufacturing processes, eng
ineering and quality assurance. Established and built strategic alliances with
vendors and key customers to reduce expenses, drive profitability and deliver qu
ality. Oversaw and played integral role in staff recruitment, training, cross-f
unctional team leadership and development. Identified and implemented continuou
s-improvement measures in costing, logistics and lean manufacturing.
* Accelerated revenue growth from $4M to $16M.
* Developed and implemented manufacturing documentation system that significantl
y improved meeting medical device requirements.
* Led successful ISO implementation for 9001 and 13485.
* Developed cost model and implemented cost based pricing that directly contribu
ted to achieving profitability every year.
* Created automated manufacturing costing system that drove profit improvement.
* Optimized productivity through development and implementation of automated bar
code based time tracking systems for operations.
* Led facility move from 10,000 to 26,000 sq. ft with no shut down and on-time d
elivery of all products. Sales grew 50% the next year.
* Successfully orchestrated and directed introduction of many new products, whic
h facilitated company growth.
RAYCHEM CORPORATION (Now Tyco Electronics), Menlo Park, CA
$1.8B materials science company that invented and manufactured many breakthrough
technologies and products in the electronics, telecommunications, aerospace and
other process industries.
Lead Project Manager, Facilities/Plant Move, Polyswitch Division 1998 - 1999
Oversaw the construction of a new 120k building including managing the project t
eam and directing the physical move of manufacturing operations that generated $
50M in revenue, 250 million component volume from a Raychem subcontractor to new
facility in Juarez, Mexico.
Manufacturing Engineering Manager, Chip Manufacturing, Polyswitch Division 1995
- 1999
* Planned, developed and executed the creation of a Polyswitch subassembly area
that produced 1.5 billion components per year.
* Completely retooled and upgraded factory, converting from operator fed and con
trolled to an automated process.
* Developed new innovative method of producing Polyswitch chips using continuous
rolls. Grew to producing 500 million units.
* Improved quality of chips and downstream assembly yields from 65% to 90%, whic
h greatly increased production volume while reducing cost.
* Increased capacity fivefold with cost reduction in component shaping and testi
ng operations.
* Improved quality of cutting that resulted in a significant reduction of final
test failure rates.
* Consistently met volume targets, with high quality and reduced costs during pe
riod where production was doubling every year.
* Served as beta-site for Raychem during SAP implementation process.
* Achieved QS 9000.
Project Engineering Manager, Plastics Manufacturing, Polyswitch Division 1992 -
1995
* Developed capacity model that resulted in highly accurate forecasting for mach
ine usage, material acquisition, and project scheduling. Devised and implemente
d controls and automation strategy.
* Specified, justified, procured and installed, two major pieces of plastics pro
cessing equipment worth $3.5 million.
* Consistently met production capacity demands as business was doubling every ye
ar.
Engineering Manager, Advanced Engineering, Polyswitch Division 1989 - 1992
* Recognized as the visionary for the future of Polyswitch manufacturing managin
g a large, complex engineering group and outside consultants to realize goals.
Annual revenue began at $60M and grew to $250M by the late 1990s.
* Directed and managed the complete upgrade and remodel of the 60K sq ft Polyswi
tch manufacturing facility including equipment, with budget of $25M.
* Secured and managed the start of automated compounding and extrusion to the di
vision, with budget of $9M.
* Led group that automated the radial leaded version of Polyswitch devices with
budget of $1.8M.

EDUCATION
M.S., Organic Chemistry, San Diego State University, San Diego, California
B.S., Chemistry, UC Davis, Davis, California
AFFILIATIONS
* Society of Plastics Engineers, Member
* Society of Manufacturing Engineers, Member
* American Society for Quality, Member
TECHNICAL SKILLS/TRAINING
* SAP
* Statistical Process Control, Design for Manufacturability
* PC, MAC, MS Office
* FileMaker Pro
* FMP Enterprise Management System