Irma Luong: Director of Production in vista, California

FACTORIES/SOURCING * Participated in the vetting of new factories by visiting and meeting the facility prior to sending any orders * Developed collaborative relationships with business partners, key vendors and suppliers to assess capabilities, capacity, growth & long-range planning * Counter-sourced if necessary to achieve design aesthetic and or timely delivery while maintaining competitive price * Worked closely with factory executives and managers to maintain production calendar for on time deliveries * Managed factories production schedules to execute deliveries by the 20th of each month to meet inbound warehouse directive * Scheduled weekly meetings with factories to review production with their team alongside our production team via video call * Visited factories locally, Tijuana and Ensenada 3-4 times a month to have a hands on review of current and future production * Monitored production capacity at each contractor to ensure productivity balance within the market LEADERSHIP * Upon hire trained and led and new and existing team to help company bounce back from a 2 + year back log * Responsible for all product-related queries and supported the Executive Vice President of Domestic Production * Identified top talent and worked alongside VP to provide new opportunities to inspire and grow high performers * Directly led a team of 20 + personnel comprised of production managers, purchasing (blanks and trims), Quality Control in the states and in Mexico * Supervised blanks purchasing manager and trims purchasing manager ACCOUNT MANAGEMENT * Cross functionality ability allowed for ensuring delivery of required components to meet the fast turnaround times (2-6 weeks delivery of any given order) * Managed production managers WIPS alongside each team member using their WIPs * Monitored purchasing PO's to ensure costing met margins while leading team to utilize negotiation tactics for extended profitability * Participated in weekly shipping meetings with management and executive to align inbound/ outbound goals for the month * Managed monthly shipping reports to ensure production calendar was on track with business directive and exceed shipping goals * Monitored all EDI with major accounts - WALMART / TARGET / KOHL'S