Kurt Jensen

Reporting to the COO, responsible for product operations across several disciplines. Production, Supply Chain and Materials Management Product improvement initiatives Customer Support and Market Engagement Manager of several customer delivery and integration projects Customer advocate and champion Operations systems and infrastructure Product Manager for the company's Autonomy Development Kit

‘Chief Customer Advocate’ for tier 1 consumer goods manufacturers. Reporting to the President and GM. Identified and collected essential market and customer intelligence and feedback for product strategy. Defined new product KPI's and capabilities as a member of Product Strategy Board. Developed new product specifications together with Bosch's largest customer to address new applications and new market segment. Built a global team. Hired, trained, coached and mentored team members in USA, China, Taiwan and South Korea. Re-purposed and re-trained global team to mitigate challenges in the corporate sales organization. Own the direct application engineering, technical sales, customer service and quality with tier 1 consumer technology manufacturers. Drove growth and development of new and existing customers, yielding 300% growth in business volume from 2014 to 2017. Identified and addressed staff performance issues and interpersonal issues. Improved process efficiencies by up to 300% through improved systems and processes. Solved several customer problems, resulting in multimillion-dollar revenue gains. From 2/2018: Also Snr. Director of Quality of high-speed, high volume manufacturing and distribution of MEMS devices.

Reporting to the President. Responsible for all aspects of Production, Manufacturing Engineering, Engineering Change Management, Vendor Relations, Supply Chain, Logistics and Export Compliance. Established the production and assembly facility, hired and trained staff, developed all processes and work flows for inventory management, vehicle assembly, vehicle testing and material handling. Managed New Product Introduction (NPI) Operations, including overall planning, supplier chain, assembly and test procedures, production scheduling, and coordination with engineering, quality, testing and logistics. Implemented an on-line Manufacturing Execution System and a Production Management System. Built, tested and shipped more than 100 autonomous vehicles, while under continuous revision change. Reduced takt time for autonomous vehicle builds by 50% through 5S, lean, improved work/material flow, processes and tools. Improved by 10X, the reliability of the core vision technology through improved materials and assembly processes. Maintained an impeccable safety record with zero lost time due to injury over three years. Took ownership of design for manufacturability of a new autonomous vehicle. Shipped first delivery on time. Negotiated supply contracts, schedules and pricing with OEMs and contract manufacturers. Identified, qualified, negotiated contract with European partners for manufacturing, assembly, test and distribution.

Established mission-critical customer support department for deployment and field support of autonomous vehicles. Deployed dozens of autonomous vehicle fleets in manufacturing and warehousing in North America and Europe. Wrote service contracts and service & maintenance manuals. Developed strategies and processes for deployment. Reduced service cost and improved quality and efficiency by transforming from field repair to field replacement.

Responsible for a $16M/year program for managed services of IT, telecommunications and other technology at over 700 locations. Wrote business plans and negotiated contractor’s deliverables. Managed contractor's performance through monthly, formal reviews and KPI’s for responsiveness, quality and cost. Negotiated and managed outsourcing of service center with more than 60,000 repairs annually. Completed the project within 6 months without impact on service levels and response times. Wrote business plans aligned with Circuit City’s corporate objectives and negotiated contractor’s deliverables. Continuously developed the contractors to understand the unique environments and requirements of the Circuit City locations, resulting in a customer experience that continued to improve for the duration of the program. Negotiated the contractors’ required response to new initiatives and requirements. Directed execution of 15-30 large projects annually for new store builds or major store upgrade projects. Managed internal relationships with all other Circuit City departments, including conflict resolution, HR related matters Implemented several programs designed to improve the quality of service and reduce the lead time to service, including a fast-track parts replacement program and a training program for Circuit City’s 30,000+ associates.

Principal consultant on numerous customer projects for strategy development, specification development, technology selection, RFQ development, contract negotiation, procurement, implementation and project management. Reduced annual costs by 10% and significantly improved service levels by developing 5-year corporate strategy for IT and telecommunications utilization and writing RFP for an international organization with 35 sites. Negotiated and wrote $3.5M contract for the Parliament of New South Wales. Reduced cost by $250,000 and improved service levels for the supply of Managed Telecommunications Services. Reduced annual cost of services by $40M and greatly improved service levels for 28,000 customers on a $300M program for the Australian Federal Government. Project managed implementation of IT, telecom facilities, PBX and Call Center for a start-up carrier and completed project on time and budget. Negotiated and wrote time-critical $5M contract for the NSW Department of Public Works for the supply of server farm, desktop applications and system integration services.

Implemented, managed and directed business unit of Brüel & Kjær's Australian subsidiary. P&L responsibility for Business Development, Sales and Operations. Transformed the business model from equipment sales to a system sales approach, yielding tremendous growth: From 1995 to 1997, increased annual sales revenue from $300,000 to $2.4M. Won $1.5M contract for turn-key system installation in competition with leading global players. Project managed turn-key delivery of a $2.1M, 400-channel industrial data acquisition, analysis and monitoring system and several other 50+ channel systems for industrial facilities. Built Project Management Office (PMO) from the ground up, to ISO 9001 standards. The PMO became Brüel & Kjær’s Project Management Center of Excellence for the Asia-Pacific region with responsibility for all projects in the region. Developed a highly efficient approach to writing proposals for system sales against large RFQs, reducing production time from approximately 20 days to 5 days, while improving the overall quality and professionalism. Hired, trained and coached team members in all elements of system specification, design, configuration, installation and commissioning.

Member of the Business Unit Management Team and contributor to the company’s global business strategy and product development strategy. Responsibility for managing and supporting subsidiaries’ success in global sales projects within power and heavy industry market segments. Responsible for go/no-go decisions on proposed client projects. Area sales responsibility for Japan, Australia and New Zealand. Made breakthrough system sales into power generation in Japan and Australia. Provided expert sales support to South Korea, China, Hong Kong and others, when required. Wrote & presented proposal and won $2M system sale in competition with major international players. Developed, managed and led the on-going delivery of a global corporate training program for subsidiary staff that greatly improved the competency of sales and support staff competency in sales, service and support of the company's high-tech products and services.

Thesis in Acoustics, Sound and Vibration. Also completed a short research program at Yale University, USA