Mark Reek

• Develop and execute long-term strategic initiatives that align with corporate goals, focusing on operational excellence and intelligent manufacturing.
• Lead cross-departmental teams to drive the adoption of innovative technologies and processes, ensuring alignment with business objective and market trends.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) to assess the effectiveness of strategic initiatives, providing regular updates to executive leadership.
• Oversee change management processes to facilitate the implementation of new technologies and workflows, ensuring minimal disruption to operations.
• Conduct market research and competitive analysis to identify opportunities for growth and innovation, guiding strategic decision-making.
• Manage multi-million dollar budgets for strategic initiatives, ensuring optimal allocation of resources to maximize ROI.

• Drive the continuous improvement strategy across all manufacturing operations aligning with corporate goals and industry best practices.
• Analyze production processes and workflow to identify areas for improvement, implementing solutions that enhance productivity and reduce operational costs.
• Utilize advanced analytics and metrics to monitor performance, develop reports, and present findings to senior management for informed decision-making.
• Lead change management initiatives, ensuring effective communication and engagement with stakeholders to facilitate smooth transitions during process upgrades.
• Work closely with engineering quality, supply chain, and operation teams to implement best practices and ensure alignment on continuous improvement efforts.
• Oversee the deployment of intelligent manufacturing technologies, including automation and IoT solutions, to enhance production capabilities and data collection.

Achievements:

• Led initiatives that resulted in a 20% reduction in productions downtime, boosting overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) across multiple manufacturing sites
• Implemented lean manufacturing principles that achieved annual savings of $5 million through waste reduction and process optimization.
• Spearheaded the integration of industry 4.0 technologies, resulting in a 50% increase in data-driven decision-making capabilities and improved production accuracy.
• Successfully managed cross-functional projects with a total budget of $20 million that delivered ROI estimates and were on time in terms of functional delivery.

• Fostered a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging staff to share innovative ideas and providing resources for professional development.
• Improved overall team efficiency by streamlining project management processes and implementing new collaboration tools.
• Implemented data-driven decision-making strategies, leading to more informed business choices and positive outcomes.
• Prioritized tasks and allocated resources appropriately to keep teams focused and productive.
• Assisted senior leadership in managing all aspects of operations.
• Managed cross-functional teams for multiple large-scale projects, successfully completing each on time and within budget constraints.
• Reduced operational costs by identifying inefficiencies and implementing cost-saving measures in various departments.
• Deployed warehouse management system reducing overall material faulty by $3MM annually (FIFO integration with ERP system, quality verification & hold control, data to dollar insights real-time)
• Worked cross-functionally with each facility in North America (42) to integrate their Operational Excellence data into a control tower for real-time visibility to daily cost metrics driving a high level of a cost focused culture ($30MM capital with a $15MM ROI annualize through productivity improvements, increased OEE, reduction of downtime, improved equipment reliability, predictive analytics)

• Increased production efficiency by optimizing plant layout and implementing process improvements.
• Reduced costs by eliminating materials waste and unnecessary labor hours.
• Directed employees and related programs to maximize team productivity and facility output.
• Provided direction and leadership to all levels of employees and managers.
• Led, trained and coached plant staff to facilitate high levels of productivity and quality.
• Grew total production capacity by 500M lbs. (capital project of $25 MM installing extruding assets) along with crewing by 125 employees during Covid.
• Reduced overall cost per lbs. by 50% from $2.50 to $1.25 by incorporating Operational Excellence methodologies (Daily Management System, Focused Improvements, Autonomous Maintenance, & Preventative Maintenance)

• Leadership
• Development of site strategic plan for all of production departments to support an annual budget within a 2-3 year growth plan.
• Coaching, mentoring, and development of all plant & production department.
• Accountability for management of external technical relationships with contractors, equipment vendors, ingredient vendors, & corporate resources.
• Provide technical leadership and site compliance with EPA and OSHA requirements in concert with designated functional experts to maintain a safe working environment for all employees.
• Provide site leadership to achieve maximization/optimization of capital assets and site utilization as well as lead safety initiatives in technical areas.
• Planning & Execution
• Develop short term and long-range capital investment plans for production lines to increase throughput, improved ergonomic operation, and focus on cost reduction.
• Help support and develop robust production planning process focusing on efficiency, changeover reduction, and performance improvements.
• Continuous Improvement
• Develop and support strategies with Continuous Improvement (CI) methodologies into the Master Plan.
• Provide leadership for the application of CI tools, and training to meet business objectives.
• Provide site leadership for technical solutions to operational problems including system optimization, debottlenecking, and troubleshooting when needed.
• Support and develop resource pool for ongoing CI projects and tasks.
• Training & Development
• Coach and develop Production Supervisors and Leads into strong leaders that support Beyond Meat’s strategic leadership program.
• Provide strategy and support for maintenance teams, development of tools and resources, personnel selection, training, and development.
• Develop robust training plan for all production related critical roles.
• Development of Playbooks, One Point Lessons, Job Aides for critical roles and tasks.

• Gather data, analyze, and interpret results for product/process development and support continuous process improvements on yield for tactical as well as strategic long-term projects.
• Effectively communicate work instructions, yield reports, and roadmaps to drive yield improvement.
• Provide training where appropriate to improve over-all capabilities and knowledge.
• Develop, test, and document workable procedures presented at a level suitable for the intended users.
• Be a technical leader and go to personnel for product yield data analysis, change control and process flow.

• Maintain safety programs to ensure a safe working environment.
• Sustain adequate knowledge of product and equipment to ensure ability to direct employees to perform the job properly.
• Maintain a high standard of employee relations.
• Uphold or exceed goals on yields and efficiencies.
• Strive for continuous improvement of product costs.