Blaise Steele

Manage staff of 6 to enhance operations software applications and systems to increase operational efficiencies in the processing and delivery of mail and packages. Responsible for introducing operational business intelligence that improves operational efficiencies in aligning mail and package workload to staffing, reducing number of handlings for the final delivery of mail and packages, and identifying opportunities in planned end-to-end postal network flow. Responsible for a platform providing employees with current, relevant, and accessible knowledge to both perform current job duties and build skills for the future, and a platform for micro-learning and to share best-practice experiences. Responsible for applications that provide critical metrics, workload, work hours, productivity, and performance reporting critical for planning and downstream business intelligence systems.

• Manage staff of 12 to enhance tracking capabilities (for internal postal operations as well as external customers), close visibility gaps within the postal end-to-end network, and engage with mailing customers on tracking needs • Responsible for Informed Visibility® Mail Tracking & Reporting (MTR), which provides mailing customers with near real-time end-to-end tracking data of their mailings, from postal acceptance to logical delivery events from carriers • Responsible for Mail Visibility Applications (MVA) – internal mobile apps used to scan mail/package, handling unit, or container barcodes that provide postal management with data and tracking history critical to its timely delivery • Oversee proposed changes to barcode structure that enhance visibility • Implemented barcode enhancements to improve tracking of voter ballots, and successfully piloted customer interface to enable vote-by-mail tracking • Developed solution to track mail prepared for next handling, successfully proved concept and business logic, and deployed internal visualization to track performance • Responsible for programs that enhance tracking of bundles/periodicals, newspapers, courier handoffs, mail/package to parent associations, air mail tracking, handling units labels, manual sorts, and mail rejected from automation

• Program manager for Informed Visibility® Mail Inventory & Predictive Workload (MI&PW), which provides near real-time data of mail processing on-hand and predictive volumes by facility and processing step for postal management • Utilize agile process methods to manage the MI&PW program schedule, including determining and reviewing business rules and design, prioritizing development backlog, user story acceptance, reviewing testing (SIT/CAT) and defect resolution, and maintaining program budget • Oversee program pilot and national deployment, and finalize communications to system users and key stakeholders • Deployed the core business logic to provide end-to-end tracking of mail and packages through the postal network • Deployed internal near real-time visualizations that improve inbound trailer tracking, provide predictive inbound volume counts, provide enhanced mail processing planning, and show actual mail processing performance to plan, allowing postal management to transition from reactive to proactive management of mail processing

• Manage staff of 2 industrial engineers and provide mail processing support to 37 facilities • Handle industrial engineer hiring, leading to 5 internal promotions and 25 external hires to date • Certified as Lean Six Sigma Black Belt (March 2016) after improving letter mail on-time processing from 86% to 95% within 3 months in Chicago, IL facility by leading cross-functional team of 6 members in use of LSS tools and DMAIC methodology • Eliminated $1.1MM in annual processing and maintenance costs by developing workload balancing plan in Chicago, IL facility resulting in 9 fewer machines (24%) and 17% less machine changeover time • Coach team members in LSS Kaizen events to obtain their LSS Green Belt certification • Project manager for operational consolidations and facility capacity modeling in the Midwest, resulting in the closure of 12 mail processing facilities, consolidation of 18MM average daily mail pieces, equipment reduction of 19% and overall network savings of $83MM annually • Approved capital equipment projects resulting in $24.8MM of equipment in 2015 spanning 17 projects in 12 facilities • Led lean processing standardization efforts among 37 facilities after directing successful process improvement pilot in Milwaukee, WI facility utilizing LSS tools and DMAIC methodology

• Certified as Lean Six Sigma Green Belt (May 2012) after successfully leading cross-functional team of 10 members in reducing standard letter mail delays in Carol Stream, IL facility from 29.4% to 4.1% of on-hand volume in 3 months exceeding target of 10% in Zip-Forward event utilizing LSS tools and DMAIC methodology • Decreased double-handling (rework) in Carol Stream, IL facility by identifying 18% of trays in the letter tray preparation unit that could be sent directly to the downstream operation • Coordinator during peak mailing seasons to assist all Midwest facilities with volume forecasting, equipment capacity modeling, staffing analysis, contingency offload planning, and leasing requests

• Led the consolidation of all originating mail into the Carol Stream, IL facility, resulting in a reduction of 180 employees and providing $10.3MM in annual savings • Modeled equipment capacity and staffing requirements, and handled the transition of hundreds of employees into new work schedules and job responsibilities • Responsible for facility staffing and led monthly discussions with the unions regarding operational position needs • Developed and implemented workload balancing plan to reduce machine idle time, resulting in a reduction of 134 employees • Justified capital equipment to automate the manual operation of preparing letter trays for processing, resulting in savings of 22,066 annual work hours

• Developed an approved capital equipment justification to improve the productivity of the postmarking operation, resulting in a reduction of 3 employees, increased hourly throughput by 3,000 per machine, and 20 minutes earlier completion time • Justified capital equipment to automate the manual operations of preparing letter trays for processing as well as sorting flat trays for dispatch, resulting in savings of 26,145 annual work hours • Participated in a team of six to standardize distribution operations in Chicago delivery offices, redesigning layouts and creating standard operating procedures, resulting in carriers returning back to the office timely after their routes and reduced overtime • Worked in a team of two to create a standard process for handling customer complaints, leading to a new system deployment with improved tracking and follow up, resulting in cost savings with the removal of the original website operated by a third party

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