Raidan Lage, Project Manager in Charleston, SC, United States
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Raidan Lage

Verified Expert  in Project Management

Project Manager

Charleston, SC, United States

Toptal member since October 15, 2024

Bio

Raidan has a proven record of delivering results in fast-paced environments. He has worked for over a decade in one of the three biggest tier-two automotive companies. With an IT background, Raidan brought his system vision and problem-solving skills to roles requiring Lean continuous improvement, optimized logistics and operations, and digital transformation.

Project Highlights

Production Capacity Improvement
Improved production capacity, enabling the company to reduce one shift while maintaining delivery performance.

Expertise

  • Continuous Improvement
  • DMAIC
  • Digital Transformation
  • Lean Manufacturing
  • Production Management
  • Project Leadership
  • Six Sigma Black Belt Certified
  • Value Stream Mapping

Work Experience

Regional Smart Factory Coordinator, Americas

2024 - PRESENT
ZF
  • Led digital transformation in the Americas region within 11 sites across the US, Mexico, Brazil, and Argentina.
  • Introduced digital shop floor systems that standardized the production process across the region.
  • Assessed plants and created a regional roadmap with strategic tools measured by concrete savings.

Value Stream Leader

2022 - 2024
ZF
  • Delivered record sales for the business unit during my first year in this role.
  • Communicated with customers and suppliers constantly to reduce key product backlogs to zero and end customer escalations.
  • Led a complete process improvement and digital transformation in my area, reducing one shift while maintaining delivery performance.

Continuous Improvement and Digitalization Leader

2018 - 2022
ZF
  • Designed and implemented a site-wide 5S culture program.
  • Studied processes and implemented systems that reduced customer claims related to shipping processes.
  • Led Six Sigma projects that reduced production scrap dramatically.

Information Technology Site Lead

2016 - 2018
ZF
  • Acted as IT project manager in M&A activities involving three companies.
  • Contributed as a database expert to the team that created a system to monitor direct labor efficiency.
  • Created digital dashboards to provide insights into production line performance.

IT Specialist

2013 - 2016
ZF
  • Created processes to save time and provide efficient data in the IT process.
  • Developed processes and systems to save and analyze production traceability data.
  • Acted as the South American representative for the problem and knowledge management database.

Project History

Production Capacity Improvement

Improved production capacity, enabling the company to reduce one shift while maintaining delivery performance.

This project involved increasing the production output through digitalization and Lean manufacturing techniques. These improvements enabled the company to reduce one shift and maintain delivery performance at a much lower cost.

Production Data Analytics

Implemented a production data analytics suite that various stakeholders use daily to improve performance.

I worked with the engineering team to collect and normalize data from every station on all production lines. We also implemented a suite to present the data in a way that provided valuable insights on what needed real-time improvement.

Logistics Quality Improvement

Implemented processes to address customer claims and mitigate quality risks in the logistics process.

Through detailed value stream mapping and process analysis, I designed a process with improved physical flow and digital tools that guaranteed compliance with the shipping process. This resulted in a drastic reduction in customer claims and increased production efficiency.

Education

2013 - 2016

Associate Degree in Information Systems

Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas - Campinas, Brazil

2009 - 2011

Associate Degree in Computer Systems and Networks

Pontifical Catholic University of Campinas - Campinas, Brazil

Certifications

SEPTEMBER 2021 - PRESENT

Lean Six Sigma Black Belt Professional

Six Sigma Global Institute (SSGI)

Skills

Paradigms

Six Sigma, Lean

Other

5S, DMAIC, Six Sigma Black Belt Certified, Lean Manufacturing, Process Improvement, Project Leadership, Production Management, Continuous Improvement, Digital Transformation, Value Stream Mapping, Administration, Business, Computer Networking, Programming, Planning, Dashboards, Production Support, Knowledge Management, Problem Management, Backup & Recovery, Project Management, IT Infrastructure, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), SAP Supplier Relationship Management (SRM), Data Analysis, Data Quality Analysis, International Logistics, Information Systems, Computer Systems, Networks

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