Brian Brettschneider

Expatriate assignment. Overall production, AME, and logistics responsibility for complete (trim, foam, and JIT) automotive seating facility in Shenyang, China, with 780 employees, $440 million USD turnover. Worked with engineering, program, and launch teams to deliver flawless launches exceeding ROS and financial Task Force targets. Attained BMW benchmark status for performance KPI’s and recognized SJJ products as superior to European built variants.

Expatriate assignment in Chengdu, China.. Lead program and launch management teams for six VW automotive programs (seating and interiors for 2 high value vehicles, with 500,000+ annual volume, $600M USD revenue) in a Greenfield site launch in Chengdu, China. Facilitated the definition of project scope, goals, and deliverables; develop full scale project plans; manage Financial Roadmap and customer negotiations; constantly monitor and report on progress of project to all stakeholders.

Expatriate assignment in Vietnam and South Korea. Global responsibility for Quality at plastic injection manufacturer operating six plants (3,200 employees) in Asia and Europe. Developed complete Quality System Manual, defining common Quality metrics, development process, reporting structures, problem solving guides and related training materials.

Position initially based in Canada then into expatriate assignment in Shanghai, China. Managed Quality deliverables for all GM North America products shipped to overseas CKD production in China, South Africa, Venezuela, Colombia, and Taiwan. Single Point Contact for global customers to resolve all launch, quality, delivery and packaging issues with North American internal and external suppliers. Joined GM’s Shanghai partner in consultancy to executive team on Western project management.

Part of GM’s ‘Top Focus’ team, providing midterm crisis resolution at troubled automotive suppliers. Directed supplier’s top management to GM global procedures, Quality Systems Basics, and standardized Lean Manufacturing Processes. Champion for several key quality projects using Six Sigma leadership and Shainin statistical techniques.

Commissioning engineering lead and Test Facility supervisor for CECEUD demonstration plant. Responsible for operations and preventative maintenance with skilled trades in hot nuclear activity environment.

Officer in Canadian Armed Forces.

Thesis in Nuclear Engineering.