James M. Pitak

James M. Pitak

Operations • Manufacturing • Supply Chain


James Pitak is Vice President of GIEM’s Operations, Manufacturing & Supply Chain Improvement Group


Dedicated to helping companies and private equity firms achieve exceptional shareholder value through the development and execution of critical operational initiatives. James brings current innovation together with 20 years of evolutionary experience in, engineering, operations, manufacturing, supply chain, and general management. James started his career at Fortune 50 companies, e.g. Ford and TRW, then leveraging his product design engineering and program management experience, with passion and drive,
to ever increasing responsibilities both in Asia and the US. James has served in the roles of CEO/Managing
Director (Asia), General Manager, and Director of Engineering & Program Management, for OEM, ODM and contract (EMS) manufacturers.
James just completed a two (~3) year contract with a US$1.7 billion Tier one automotive component manufacturer as EVP Operations East Asia based in Shanghai, China, managing (6) six manufacturing facilities (JV & WOFE), (6) six offices, and 1900 employees with a P&L of US$600M. Highlights - FY 16-17 resulted in a 15% growth in sales revenue, Cost Improvements of 52.6%, record double digit EBIT in 3 plants (11% – 15%).

Engagement Highlights

Supply Chain:

  • Reduced supply chain cost by 7% via low cost sourcing strategy
  • Automated field service material order process saving $250K/ year
  • Cut supply chain cost by 7% via supplier and logistics negotiations

Manufacturing:

  • Corrected 42 facility and manufacturing safety concerns in 3 months
  • Increased manufacturing capacity by 300% using underutilized space
  • Re-organized manufacturing – netting record monthly output for site (2.2M units; $10.8M revenue) with a record $50M quarter
  • Lean initiative reduces change over time by 86%

Operations:

  • Results: 20% increase in revenue and 45% increase in EBITDA

Expertise

  • P&L management up to US$600M
  • Operations Management – multi-site
  • Manufacturing Management
  • Supply Chain Management – Asia
  • Technical/Engineering Leadership
  • NPI / Product Transfer
  • Lean Six Sigma

Parachute James into any situation and he will be up to speed, identify risks and opportunities, implementactions/fixes, and get things done quickly regardless of the culture. James has ‘on the ground’ experience having lived and run operations in 7 different countries and establishing customer relationships in 22 countries. Based out of Southern California, James received both a Bachelor’s and a Master’s of Science in Electrical Engineering from the University of Michigan. James completed extensive PMP training and received his Lean Six Sigma Green Belt certification from the University of California, Irvine and Riverside respectively.


CEO Comments:


"I hired James to manage all operations… He managed multiple issues effectively including: people and leadership, service, cost and quality… quite, assertive, data based style serves him very well in complicated situations. His ability to be flexible and do whatever is needed is perfect for a challenging assignment. I consider James to be world class operations and manufacturing guy that I would use again."

Arthur Salyer, President and CEO at Palladium Energy


"James is a difference maker and a great leader of people… quickly implemented significant cost savings as well as operational and safety improvements… inspired his team to challenge the status quo and seize opportunities for change. I would welcome a chance to work with James again and highly recommend him to any CEO looking for a solid team player that can make an immediate contribution to the bottom-line"

Steven L’Heureux, CEO President & Board Director at Ryko Solutions, Inc

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