|
Some of his achievements
include the automotive industry’s first Computer Engineered Ride system,
Automated Program Timing Schedules, development and launch of the Cougar(1)
and
Mercury Grand Marquis lines, the industry’s first production Racing Mirrors,
Rear Deck Spoilers, Hood Scoops and Locks, and America’s first domestic
production Moon/Sun Roof.
|
|
(1)
Until I finally read Lee Iacocca's Autobiography I never realized
that when I was asked to join the Cougar Product Planning team it
was such a major deal. Here are a few interesting comments
that Mr. Iacocca made in his book about the Cougar carline. After
Iacocca's fabulous success with the new Mustang, Mr. Ford told
Iacocca "rub some of that Mustang ointment into the Lincoln-Mercury
Division" which badly needed new products. "The Mercury Cougar was a
luxury sports car designed to appeal to the Mustang driver who was
ready for something a little plusher." So both the Cougar and
Mercury Marquis lines were introduced to upgrade the L-M image,
provide the dealers with something exiting to sell and generate
profits that were non-existent at the time. At it's
introduction, "the dealers hadn't had anything to get excited about
in years. They went nuts over the Cougar. Like the Mustang, it
had a sporty look, with a long hood and short deck. As the
dealers expected, it was an immediate success and soon became the
most viable part of the Lincoln-Mercury Division."
|
|
He also spearheaded many
productive strategies and initiatives including numerous Complexity
Reduction Studies, Ford’s first Option Business Review, Corporate Steering
Wheel Programs, and the industry’s high luster aluminum molding program.
He recommended the
proper course of action concerning Ford's compliance with the newly drafted
French Language Acts in France and Quebec, Canada.
Some of John’s other
notable achievements include patenting the world’s fastest electronic
solenoid actuators as well as developing, engineering and patenting a
multi-protocol synchronous/async modem used widely by Chrysler and Toyota
automotive suppliers.
He also pioneered an
innovative TCP/IP Mailbox System to resolve many of the Internet’s and
corporate intranets’ speed and security issues, a system used by the
California-based Toyota Corporate Engineering Office. Another of his
innovations included designing and implementing a PC/UNIX-based
Store-and-Forward mailbox system (to replace mainframe systems) used to
transfer computer-aided engineering drawings (CAD) files between the Toyota
Technical Engineering Center (Ann Arbor, Michigan) and their large supplier
base.
He is currently
expanding into the emerging AS2/AS3 communications market as well as
establishing a Mexican market for electronic invoicing into the Chrysler
Corporation using his company’s new HTTP/s Internet oriented EBMX program.
Drawing on his epic
career with Ford, John is now President of Consul-Tec Inc (“CTI”), a
high-tech development and management-consulting firm he founded and built
from the ground up. His firm provides general and specialized business
consulting for startups, midsize, and Fortune 500 clients, ranging from
simple market research questionnaires to in-depth multi-year marketing
analyses for global enterprises.
CTI’s services include
Organizational / Corporate Development, Restructuring, and Crisis Management
Strategies, short and long-range Strategic Planning, New Product Planning
and Introductions, and Business / Systems Analysis, Design, and
Implementation. John offers Senior-level executives Creative Marketing
concepts and Merchandising Strategies, Complexity and Cost-reduction
Programs, Market Research, Financial and Budget Analysis planning, and
associated management and business development functions.
With dollar figures
adjusted to current-year (2008) economics, the following are just a few
examples of CTI’s accomplishments:
The company formulated
and organized a distribution plan to market a small service-based company’s
software and hardware product lines. Immediately John established 50
US-based dealers, numerous VAR’s, and a European distributor with negligible
(under $10,000) investment. The company’s first-year sales reached
$883,416. Sales rose steadily
thereafter, and by the 5th year were at
$2,406,021, a 172% increase. The
company maintained high profit margins.
CTI also developed and
introduced three new major product lines into a division of a large Fortune
500 company where market segment penetration had seriously deteriorated
due to internal labor disputes. After introducing programs covering
marketing, engineering, manufacturing, financial, and other key factors and
considerations, John was able to unify workers and reestablish efficient
operations. The result was product lines providing the division with a
seven-percentage point gain in market segment penetration and an incremental
profit of $175.1M.
In another instance, CTI
acting as interim President and CEO for an emerging software company with
flagging sales and high debt, it took just 6 months post-consult and zero
cash infusion to get the company out of debt and yielding good sales and
profits. During the next 12 months the company generated nearly $2M dollars
in incremental sales, a 900% increase over original figures. It brought in
nearly $4M dollars the second year, and by the 5th year was
acquired by a large corporation.
On an international scale, John turned around a failing Third World emerging
market operation by evaluating, determining and implementing a new product
entry plan that increased company profits by more than $32M US dollars on an
annual incremental basis.
It also established a
Complexity Reduction Program to correct an international multi-plant
bottleneck brought on by the introduction of hundreds of new unique part
assemblies. The existing facilities could neither be altered without
incurring costly tooling alterations, nor any new facilities constructed in
time to meet production deadlines. As a result of the implemented program a
net savings of 20% was established, and the company has now realized over
$130M in savings from direct and indirect labor, inventory, floor space, and
paperwork reductions.
John also organized and
developed a major eight-hour slide presentation on the Development of a
Modern Product, presented to the People's Republic of China in Beijing
(Peking), at a major Technical Seminar. In-depth detail was provided as to
how a major U.S. multi-national corporation plans and engineers a key new
product from the "Idea" stage, through the "Development" stage to the public
"Introduction" stage covering a typical five-year product program. The
actual presentation was heavily oriented and detailed in the areas of
product, marketing, engineering and manufacturing. The scope, quality, and
depth of the presentation resulted in the establishment of a multi-million
dollar trade agreement between China and the company.
Among his many achievements with Ford, some already mentioned, he also
specified, developed and then introduced Lincoln-Mercury Division's top all
time selling vehicle, the Mercury Grand Marquis which, according to
the September, 2008 Motor Trend magazine, has sold over 4,000,000 units
since its introduction. In addition John
also spearheaded a program to introduce a high luster aluminum molding to all
Ford company car lines, providing the combined benefit of improved
appearance, significantly reduced warranty costs, and company savings of
$0.5M. He also proposed a $272M dollar profit opportunity 5 years ahead of
its time.
On the research and
problem-solving end, John engineered a highly- effective global Noise
Control Solution to satisfy international regulations and promote company
goodwill. He resolved a problem related to low horsepower on the company’s
global 4 cylinder models by increasing net output 10% while simultaneously
achieving piece cost savings of $22.6M. He also established a Complexity
Reduction Program that saved the company $20.4M dollars in direct and
indirect labor costs while improving inventory, plant automation and quality
control functions.
His adoption of an
innovative rotary fuel pump design cut production costs on an in-line fuel
injection pump by $45 per unit while boosting supply to satisfy demand. He
engineered the automotive industry’s first computer-coded release system
resulting in $8.7M dollar annual savings and adoption for company-wide use.
He increased profits by
48% in one year through formation of a product-planning group to develop and
merchandise new Rotunda products to Ford and After Market dealerships.
He boosted dealership
profits through a comprehensive strategy derived from historical and
cost-price-profit analyses to reveal profitable accessory lines and dispose
of unproductive ones. He also investigated and produced a comprehensive
ten-year Option Business Review to suggest new high potential options that
would generate $82.6M in annual incremental profits for the Corporation.
Creatively, he pioneered
the automotive industry’s Computer Engineered Ride system, automating the
selection of front suspension components to produce substantial reductions
in Engineering labor costs and workload demands. He also developed a
sophisticated computerized critical path tracking system to improve
production cycles and time-to-market, as well as reduce cost penalties
incurred from last minute modifications.
He designed, developed,
and presented to corporate management an innovative electronic remote
control car starting device featuring automatic warming and cooling features
to promote passenger seasonal comfort.
John also served as the
liaison between Engineering, Marketing and Financial operations,
synchronizing functions to activate new programs and features, including new
products, expense reductions, warranty improvements and related initiatives.
A sample of other work
related functions included: publication of numerous corporate product
letter, news articles and press releases, international regulatory
compliance policies, and product display models.
_____________________________
|