Jeffrey Bruner

Lead the strategic sourcing, vendor management, and procurement operations for the leading manufacturer of raised access flooring and data center containment solutions in the US. My focus is on driving cost efficiencies, strengthening supplier partnerships, and ensuring material availability to support complex, multi-site manufacturing environments.

I founded JMB Consulting to partner with manufacturing, distribution, and consumer goods companies and help them optimize their manufacturing process, logistics, and procurement operations, streamline supply chains, and unlock cost-saving opportunities. Bringing nearly two decades of industry experience to advise clients on vendor strategy, sourcing, operational improvements, and capital projects.

Managed multi-site manufacturing operations (8 sites across New England and Upstate NY). Leader of a diverse team of regional managers. Executed major Capex investments including a brownfield project encompassing the construction to operational transition. Output from this location was ranked 2nd in the country after just 5 months. Achieved a significant year-on-year reduction in Operational Variances, with a $2 million improvement within the first six months of 2023. Leveraged vendor relationships and expertise to negotiate and lower the cost of goods

Capitalized on the extensive size and scope of over 60 production facilities in the East region to achieve significant bottom-line savings. Implemented strategic negotiations for multiyear deals and rebate structures. Maintained key supplier relationships across the enterprise allowing easier barrier of entry when green fielding or acquiring new businesses. Demonstrated effective acquisition price leveraging, resulting in major savings during the acquisition of various businesses across the East Region. Skillfully negotiated state and local tax incentives, as well as grants from electric and gas companies, for a greenfield facility in North Carolina. During the challenging period of the Covid pandemic, executed a robust plan to maintain stock availability by leveraging strong relationships and collaborating closely with key suppliers. Ensured uninterrupted service to customers despite supply chain disruptions.

Led the implementation of the Operations Performance System I developed for North America and spread it across the Northeast locations (21 manufacturing facilities), resulting in improved operational efficiency. Focused on procurement and quality channels for cost savings and bottom-line improvements. Introduced strategic procurement initiatives to identify and capitalize on areas with the greatest potential for savings. Analyzed all manufactured products, highlighting which sku’s should be purchased instead of manufactured in order to optimize profits. Skillfully negotiated deals across the company, resulting in bottom-line savings of $1.3 million within the first year. These deals encompassed various categories such as cement, aggregate, additive, color, packaging, pallets, office supplies, and mobile equipment. It also led to my next role overseeing procurement for the East Region. Provided oversight to the Quality department, focusing on optimizing mix designs to enhance product quality and consistency. Identified and implemented cost-savings measures by changing vendors and reducing costly aggregates while maintaining compliance with ASTM testing standards for finished goods.

Selected as one of the five key members of a North American team responsible for developing and implementing performance-enhancing initiatives in production plants. Our goal was to develop a process that could be rolled out across our production facilities across NA within 6 months. Major contributor to standardizing a production tracking system, to monitor and optimize production across all lines, with a focus on labor and downtime reduction. I was the subject matter expert for Labor within our facilities. I developed Tableau dashboards and analytics to drive cost-savings through on-time starts, optimizing overtime vs new hires, and standardizing production line setups.

Oversaw the manufacturing operation for 3 production plants and 1 storefront selling direct to the consumer. Heavily focused on teambuilding for site leaders, lean manufacturing, and capex execution. Accomplished improved forecasting accuracy by implementing S&OP methodologies. Focused on reducing TWC and utilizing transportation more efficiently to lower the impact on internal transfers. Leveraged regional purchasing power to maximize savings opportunities by linking purchases together. Utilized Labor planning tools and engaged with our manufacturing talent to build strong cross functional teams. Received Plant of the Year award for two facilities (2013 and 2014). Each came ranked #1 out of 16 for the Northeast region.

Manager of an Architectural Products plant that specializes in manufacturing concrete products for the commercial masonry, professional landscaping, and consumer DIY markets. Managed a unionized workforce of 30+ employees including union negotiations. Effectively grew an independent sales account focused on patio and wall products to $500k. Developed accurate Bill of Materials (BOM’s) outlining true standard costing enabling a comprehensive understanding of margins by product line. Prepared buildup models to forecast production months in advance and eliminated the need for running the plant 7 days a week during peak seasons improving the supply chain. Help to facilitate the Lawson ERP system training across North America. Created standard work procedures efficient system navigation.

Travelled to Oldcastle locations across the US implementing a company driven initiative called Everyday Excellence. Focused on Production, Maintenance, and Inventory strategies to save the company money. Implemented Energy Savings Initiatives across 15 production facilities in the Northeast. Combine savings of $250k in less than 10 months on the project.

Introduced continuous process improvement meetings to the facility which generated increased throughput and labor savings across 3 production lines. Completed line studies on the new facility to determine optimal personnel required to run production lines. Built forecasting and bill of material systems in Excel to accurately plan out what to manufacture and look at true costs.