Jay Rex - Senior Advisor

Jay has more than 27 years of manufacturing experience at some of the world’s most respected companies including General Motors, Harco Industries, Border Foods, Delphi, ITT and Venture Vehicles.  In addition to his extensive industrial experience, Jay is also a certified HAACP manger and has completed Better Process Control training as required by the FDA.  As a Senior Advisor at TriVista, Jay works closely with clients on Lean and Operational Improvement Projects to execute shop floor improvement initiatives across multiple functional areas.  Jay has extensive expertise implementing Manufacturing Systems, Lean Manufacturing tools and techniques, Just-In-Time (JIT) production, Production Control mechanisms, Change Management, and Quality Systems.  Jay began his career in manufacturing engineering with a major automotive manufacturer. He started in process engineering and worked in process development, tool design, machine design, full time statistical problem solving, and robust engineering for tooling and processes.

Recent Experience:

• Led the implementation of a multi-phased operational improvement project for a manufacturer of canned and frozen peppers.  Key areas of focus where labor efficiency, damage reduction, raw material yield improvements.  Labor savings of $750,000 was achieved through improving the machine uptime and eliminating non value added work. Damage was reduced by 75% resulting in a savings of $1,500,000. This was achieved through moving equipment to eliminate fork lift touches, changing the packaging of WIP, and modifying the lift trucks to protect the product. Savings of $450,000 in product yield were achieved by improving the equipment, controlling the usage more accurately and eliminating redundant material handling.
• Led Implementation of improved manufacturing processes and improved product quality through continuous improvement and innovation for large automotive manufacturer

Jay received two bachelor’s degrees – his bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering technology and a bachelor’s of science in organizational leadership from Purdue University.  Jay is a certified Lean Practitioner, and received much of his training from Dr. Taguchi himself.