Erik Smith PE, ASQ CSSBB, CQE

Senior Director of Engineering | Strategic Planning | Financial Results | Capital Equipment | KPI’s at Solecta, Inc.
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(386) 825-5501
Location
San Diego Metropolitan Area
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Dan Burrows

Skip is a driven, intelligent, and passionate leader who is all in in making Solecta succeed. He is tireless in seeking to understand and make things better. He coaches, teaches, and mentors his team and colleagues and challenges us to always learn more and always do better. But he challenges himself the most. Working shoulder-to-shoulder with Skip is an honor that makes everyone around him stronger.

Randal Bennett

Hard-working, energetic, thoughtful, carefully considering possible outcomes, Erik is one of the brightest engineers I know. His thought processes are incisive and insightful, he picks up new concepts and ideas with ease. He will be an excellent asset in any endeavor to which he sets his hand.

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Credentials

  • Professional Engineer, Mechanical Engineering: Thermal and Fluids Systems
    State of California Board for Professional Engineers, Land Surveyors, Geologists, and Geophysicists
    Jun, 2014
    - Nov, 2024
  • Senn Delaney Facilitator Certification
    Senn Delaney, a Heidrick & Struggles company
    Mar, 2012
    - Nov, 2024
  • ASQ Certified Six Sigma Black Belt
    American Society for Quality
    Sep, 2023
    - Nov, 2024
  • Certified Quality Engineer (CQE)
    American Society for Quality
    Aug, 2023
    - Nov, 2024

Experience

  • Solecta, Inc.
    • United States
    • Environmental Services
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Senior Director of Engineering | Strategic Planning | Financial Results | Capital Equipment | KPI’s
      • Oct 2020 - Present

      Promoted to Senior Director for recognition of extraordinary contributions. Report to the COO.- Lead a technical staff of 7. Hired and developed team lauded by C-suite as “punching above its weight.”- Accountable for $5+M of capital expansion. Board of Directors and C-Suite praised engineering team for excellent execution of rigorous capital equipment specification and vendor search and selection processes.- Co-leading NPI development with a Fortune 500 partner under a Joint Development Agreement including leading internal and external negotiation for contract manufacturing.- Coached and trained over two dozen cross functional team members - technical, operations, supply chain, and other professional staff members - on Best Known Methods (BKM's) for effective methods for continuous improvement and change management, including risk management/risk mitigation, project management, statistical methods, team communication, and lean six sigma tools (ex: DMAIC, A3, 5 Why's Ishikawa, value stream mapping, 5S).- Co-led program and project management efforts for over two dozen NPI's (New Product Introductions), new capital equipment initiatives, and other process and equipment improvements. - Led and coached dozens of product, process, and equipment issues resolutions including containment, root cause analysis, corrective action. Applied a variety of Lean Six Sigma techniques including A3, Ishikawa, DMAIC, and PDCA. Show less

    • Director Of Engineering | Automation | Strategic Leadership | Lean Six Sigma | Quality Systems
      • Mar 2017 - Oct 2020

      Recruited to lead turnaround of plant operations and engineering.- Led a 3+ year cross-functional transformation of manufacturing operations that turned around plant operations: - Rescued and re-engineered $2.6M of capital equipment projects. - Increased "front end" continuous roll to roll process membrane manufacturing Day 1 Yield of 0% to 65% in 6 weeks, 75% in 1 year, 85% in 2 years, and 93% in 3 years while increasing capacity 6X to meet sales ramp. - Improved "back end" discrete manual element assembly manufacturing from Day 1 Yield of 80% to 95% in 6 months and 99% after 18 months. Increased capacity 10X. - In pursuit of yield objectives for continuous process and discrete assembly manufacturing, led focused teams, mentored technical staff across the organization, and performed as an individual contributor in equipment refurbishment and re-engineering, process development / process redevelopment, documentation of new Process of Record, and personnel training.- Partnered closely with R&D for successful introduction of 4 major new products. Led R&D efforts for 9 months in development of 1 major new product during R&D leadership gap.- Partnered with Quality and Manufacturing as a key contributor in development of company GMP (Good Manufacturing Practices) systems including document control, change management, and record keeping. Show less

  • SunEdison AG
    • Switzerland
    • Renewable Energy Semiconductor Manufacturing
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Director of Operations | Cross-Functional Leadership | Integration Projects | KPI's | Automation
      • Jul 2015 - Mar 2017

      Promoted to lead productivity and profitability of $100MM, 30+ megawatt solar photovoltaic power plant serving >2500 residential customers located across the United States. Report to COO, Global Residential Small Commercial Solar Division.- Led cross functional team of 8 Engineering, Operations, Technical, Customer Service, Financial, and Accounting staff for achievement of KPI’s including productivity / profitability, Operations, Maintenance, Performance Monitoring, Account Servicing, and Investor Compliance of $100MM, 30+ megawatt solar portfolio serving >2500 customers - Initiated and led a key strategic initiative with a project team of 10 in upgrading from manual to automated, accurate, and scalable billing and invoicing for >1500 accounts. - Led strategic initiatives across Power Plant Operations and Maintenance (O&M), System Performance Monitoring, Account Servicing, Field Service, Investor Compliance, and attainment of all related KPIs (financial, service quality, technical support, customer service).- Certified trainer and key contributor to enterprise-wide training initiative resulting in culture transformation. Show less

    • Senior Product Manager | Cost Reduction | Program Management | Lean Six Sigma | Operating Models
      • Oct 2012 - Jul 2015

      Recruited to lead a global engineering team of >20 (Quality, Process, Equipment and Process Development Engineers) in a highly successful 12-month $40MM R&D, new product introduction requiring capital equipment investment. Reported to VP and GM of Solar Wafers / Cells.- Led project team of 20 in a one-year, $5.6MM factory upgrade and ramp project, yielding savings of $1.6MM (27%) through meticulous analysis and documentation of each BOM line item and subsequent vendor negotiations. Earned Black Belt Certification from SunEdison PMO Black Belt program for this project.- Coordinated contract manufacturing across 5 internal and external companies.- Led 9-month “back to basics” effort to improve plant quality through development of focused troubleshooting processes and staff training, to eliminate catastrophic errors.- Concurrently served as acting Plant Finance Manager during 18-month position vacancy. Launched comprehensive variable cost reduction effort for manufacturing technology to meet cost objectives.- Earned Lean Six Sigma Green Belt for success in designing and implementing a Product Specifications System employed by >1200 manufacturing, supply chain, and product manufacturing staff, vendors, and customers. Led a focused, global team over a 4-month period. Consolidated specification documents by 99%. Standardized and streamlined specifications development by 80% with 200% increased quality. Show less

  • AQT Solar
    • United States
    • Renewable Energy Semiconductor Manufacturing
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Director of Systems Integration | Manufacturing Processes | Cross Functional Team Leadership
      • 2012 - 2012

      - Led cross-functional team of R&D scientists in process development and vendor selection for core “next generation” absorber annealing process - Drove Manufacturing Engineering efforts, including Design of Experiments and Statistical Data Analysis for 4 back end processes, including development and integration of equipment sets for high volume ramp - Recognized by peers for exceptional specification, documentation, and data analysis and information visualization skills with diverse tools - JMP, Excel, and Tableau Show less

  • First Solar
    • United States
    • Renewable Energy Semiconductor Manufacturing
    • 700 & Above Employee
    • Manufacturing Engineering Manager | Project Management | Stakeholder Management | Team Building
      • 2010 - 2012

      Recruited to core leadership team of a startup development factory. Reported to Director of Operations. - Co-led a manufacturing staff of >80, Program and project managed team in seamless integration of core processes and equipment sets during demanding full-line startup, production ramp up, process development, and 24x7 sustaining efforts. - Led staff of 6 engineers in equipment and systems integration and sustaining operations and engineering including Continuous Improvement, and development of Response Flow Checklists (RFCs) and Root Cause Corrective Action (RCCA) to meet tight production development timeline. - Directed Continuous Improvement efforts for constraint tool set resulting in availability improvement from <25% at equipment startup to >60% in 6 months. - Performed strategic and tactical financial forecasting, planning, and analysis for comprehensive factory supply chain of >$10M (spare parts, consumables, direct materials). Show less

  • View, Inc.
    • United States
    • Software Development
    • 300 - 400 Employee
    • Operations Manager | Plant Turnaround | Operational Transformation | Coaching | Team Leadership
      • May 2010 - Dec 2010

      - Performed plant turn around and rebuilt facility of 50 engineering and operations personnel from R&D lab environment to disciplined pilot line production in 6 months. - Instituted and enforced common sense safety, housekeeping, and cleanliness rules. - Led development and implementation of environmental, health, and safety (EH&S) programs including engineering controls and procedures for laser safety, eye protection, safe glass handling, compressed gases, and third party field certification. - Managed troubleshooting, maintenance, and repair of facility systems including mechanical contractors for equipment installation and plant expansion, electrical plant, HVAC, chillers, evaporative cooling towers, and chill water system, and security and badging systems. - Identified and corrected 3 critical facilities and supply chain materials issues that threatened line shutdown. - Negotiated, planned, and executed hiring and training plan of 24x7 operations crew of 1 supervisor and 8 technicians. Show less

  • Solyndra
    • United States
    • Renewable Energy Semiconductor Manufacturing
    • 1 - 100 Employee
    • Sr Mgr, Systems Integration | Cross-Functional Change Management | Automation | Capital Equipment
      • Sep 2007 - May 2010

      Led >12 teams of Operations, Automation, and Software Development professionals in full lifecycle management of 3 major initiatives, delivering transformative processes and systems to facilitate rapid launch of startup production facilities to full capacity. - Implemented world-class Fab 1 Manufacturing Execution System (MES) for startup/ramp to >80K starts daily.- Re-architected the Manufacturing Execution System (MES) to achieve >40% direct manufacturing headcount reduction, and reduced yield loss and critical data loss caused by automation errors by over 98%.- Delivered Fab 2, the company’s first-ever, highly automated, high-volume production facility (Manufacturing Execution, Automated Material Handling, Individual Tool Operations). Conceived and developed specifications, test plans, training, and troubleshooting, enabling >8MM transactions/day.- Coordinated and collaborated across 12+ technical groups (Integration Engineering, Process Engineering, Equipment Engineering, Manufacturing Engineering, Quality, IT, and Automation) to capture critical quality data including incoming materials quality, in situ and in line SPC (Statistical Process Control) data, and mid-line and end of line yield and technical performance data.- Trained staff of 15 engineers to delegate sustaining and troubleshooting system processes. Show less

    • Operations Manager | Plant Startup | Operational Excellence | Team Building | Quality Systems
      • Apr 2007 - Sep 2007

      - Performed plant start up for initial pilot plant operations to support process and product development.- Negotiated, planned, and executed hiring and training plan of 24x7 operations crew of 15 skilled and semi-skilled technicians to perform equipment assembly, manual material handling, WIP information tracking, and basic maintenance. When requested to transfer to an engineering role, trained replacement Operations Manager to assume former responsibilities.- Devised common sense manual method for WIP tracking data that evolved into next role for fully automated data capture. Data proved critical for initial process and product development in pilot plant operations. - Collaborated with industrial engineering and manufacturing engineering teams to devise initial manual and semi-automated material handling methods that evolved into full scale automation solutions. Show less

  • Intel Corporation
    • United States
    • Semiconductor Manufacturing
    • 700 & Above Employee
    • Senior Process Engineer | Quality Control | GMP | TQM | KPI's | SPC | OCAP’s | Statistical Analysis
      • Jan 2005 - Apr 2007

      - Collaborated with cross functional teams of engineers, technicians, and contract vendors to perform sustaining manufacturing engineering/process engineering of $8M of automated capital equipment. Managed equipment and processes qualification, process development, and sustaining engineering from startup to 100% capacity in two 12-month periods. Accountable for detailed analysis of and meeting Key Performance Indicators in all aspects of equipment, product, and process safety, quality, yield, capacity, TQM maintenance, and training.- Led team continuous improvement efforts in root cause analysis and identifying corrective actions for frequent critical automation tool interruptions that jeopardized product quality and capacity. Recalibrated Statistical Process Control (SPC) tool parameters that led to cost reduction of $250,000 in scrap and reduced production line delays by 80%.- Led task force in statistical analysis and benchmarking of equipment quality issues. Implemented corrective actions, decreasing maintenance by 50%. Re-engineered process, reducing downtime by 84% and delivering best-in-class quality.- Collaborated in development of Good Manufacturing Practices and quality systems. Developed PFMEA, Process Control Plans, and Statistical Process Control (SPC) charts for hundreds of product and equipment parameters. Developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's), Response Flow Checklists (RFC's), maintenance procedures, and prepared technical justifications for Change Control Boards.- Managed equipment safety lock out tag out (LOTO), troubleshooting, calibration, corrective and preventive maintenance with company and contract vendor personnel.- Collaborated with integration, process and yield engineering teams on dozens of continuous improvement initiatives in safety and quality improvement. Applied Design of Experiments (DOE) in process engineering optimization. Managed technology transfer to 3 partner high volume manufacturing factories. Show less

    • Operations Manager | Operational Excellence | Manufacturing | TQM | KPI's | Cost Reduction
      • Aug 2003 - Jan 2005

      - Recruited following successful military service to lead 26 technicians in wet and dry etch systems operations and TQM maintenance; team represented 20% of the workforce and 40% of factory output.- Recognized by senior operations and engineering leadership for team leadership and team building success in turnaround of a disengaged, underperforming department into a motivated, productive, cohesive “go-to” team through engaged, fair leadership style, coaching and mentorship, and with a focus on open communication, cross training, and career development.- Collaborated with and led direct reports in successful cross training with constrained personnel availability during production launch for operations and TQM maintenance qualifications across tool sets. Resulting team experienced high productivity, high levels of engagement, and zero turnover.- Collaborated with Operations managers in other departments and across shifts to drive factory Continuous Improvement change initiatives.- Partnered with operations team leadership in development, measurement, and adherence to Key Performance Indicators for factory safety, output, TQM maintenance, technician training, and New Product Introduction (NPI).- Innovated a Test Wafer (TW) operations management system to improve quality control; system subsequently adopted by 4 Intel factories. Implemented TW system, recording zero downtime situations.- Key member of operational and production planning and management efforts that led to launch of first successful company 300mm high volume manufacturing production facility and ramp to 10,000 wafer starts per week.- Key contributor in crisis management response to and recovery from critical high pressure factory "lines down" situation after discovery of copper contamination in front end of the production process. Show less

  • US Navy Reserves
    • Armed Forces
    • 500 - 600 Employee
    • Operations Officer, Program Manager | Program Management | Project Management | Information Security
      • 2003 - 2005

      • Concurrently performed as Program Manager for Information Security at Space and Navy Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR). Awarded Navy Commendation Medal (only junior officer of group of 6) for exemplary performance. • Concurrently performed as Program Manager for Information Security at Space and Navy Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR). Awarded Navy Commendation Medal (only junior officer of group of 6) for exemplary performance.

  • US Navy
    • United States
    • Armed Forces
    • 700 & Above Employee
    • Strike Officer | Technology Transfer | Integration Projects | Negotiation | Logistics Management
      • Dec 1999 - Jan 2001

      Active duty military experience as Tomahawk Strike Officer with COMUSNAVCENT/COMFIFTHFLTAwarded Navy Commendation Medal for exemplary performance. Awarded additional Navy Achievement Medal for superior performance of 3 month logistics management project.- Managed war plans training for 12 ships in 3 carrier battle strike groups. Led team of 2 skilled technicians.- Managed critical automation including automated computer controls, computer databases and communications systems.- Collaborated with UK military personnel to negotiate common coordinated operating procedures.- Managed logistics planning for ship to ship movement of missiles in theater in response to crisis situation.- Performed presentations to 3 star Admiral and staff.- Qualified as Staff Watch Officer to maintain situational awareness for 3 star Admiral and staff of in theater carrier battlegroups and other assigned US Navy ships and aircraft. - Developed and managed training program to Standard Work Instructions (SWI's), Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's), Out of Control Action Plans (OCAP's), Response Flow Checklists (RFC's), and maintenance procedures.- Honorably Discharged Show less

    • Division Officer | Engineering Management | Quality Processes | TQM | OCAP's | Crisis Management
      • Dec 1997 - Dec 1999

      Active duty military service as Division Officer / Main Propulsion Assistant onboard USS GEORGE PHILIP (FFG-12)Awarded Navy Commendation Medal for exemplary performance.- Led a team of 15 skilled technicians in the operation, TQM maintenance, and training of ship's $40M main propulsion (capital equipment) plant including gas turbine engines, main reduction gearing, automated controls, fuel oil and lubricating oil storage, purification, and delivery, mechanical and hydraulic power transmission, and miscellaneous systems.- As Assistant Chief Engineer, managed daily safe operation, TQM maintenance, and training for a department of 3 managers and 50 skilled technicians for ship engineering facility (capital equipment) plant including main propulsion, automation / automated plant controls, water and electric generation and distribution equipment, fire fighting, safety systems, and miscellaneous engineering systems.- Managed environmental health and safety (EH&S) and regulatory compliance programs including lock out tag out (LOTO), water generation, hearing protection, electrical safety, fire safety, waste discharge, spill response, and air quality coordination with Air Pollution Control District.- Managed emergency response, including communication, troubleshooting, and repair during shipboard engineering plant equipment failures.- Managed Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) quality systems including fuel oil quality, lubricating oil quality, and water quality programs, calibration and quality lab, engineering records, and training documentation. Managed training program to division and department Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's), Out of Control Action Plans (OCAP's), and maintenance procedures.- Key member of ship's leadership and management team for successful completion of a 4 month shipyard maintenance including safe plant startup inspection and qualification of material condition, operation, and maintenance of engineering, fire, and safety systems. Show less

    • Division Officer | Team Leadership | Operations Management | Project Management | Systems Thinking
      • Apr 1995 - Nov 1997

      Active duty military experience onboard USS MOBILE BAY (CG-53)Awarded Navy Achievement Medal for superior performance- Selected to perform as Strike Officer / Missiles (M) Division Officer. Led team of 15 skilled technicians in the operation, TQM maintenance, and training of $100M capital equipment plant of 3 missile launchers, 130 missiles' ordnance, and critical automation including automated computer controls systems, and computer database and communications systems.- Project managed successful cross functional planning and training for and completion of ship's cruise missile qualification following shipyard maintenance period.- Managed training program to division Standard Work Instructions (SWI's), Standard Operating Procedures (SOP's), Out of Control Action Plans (OCAP's), Response Flow Checklists (RFC's), and maintenance procedures.- As First Lieutenant/Deck Division Officer, led team of 35 skilled and semi-skilled technicians in the operation, TQM maintenance, and training of $15M of capital equipment plant of ship's small boats and boat handling equipment, aviation (helicopter) facilities, ground tackle, underway replenishment systems, weather deck paint and preservation, and safety systems.- Led logistics management planning, communication, training, and execution for underway ship to ship shipboard fuels, aviation fuels and stores replenishment operations.- Project managed and led successful cross functional repair, refurbishment, testing, and qualification of aviation landing, refueling, and safety facilities following 6 month shipyard dry dock. Show less

Education

  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Master of Science - MS, Electrical Engineering
  • Massachusetts Institute of Technology
    Master of Business Administration - MBA
  • United States Naval Academy
    Bachelor of Science - BS, Systems Engineering

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