As an Industrial Engineer with Hormel Foods, I focus on continuous improvement. I am responsible for managing labor variances for various departments, leading cost savings projects, process improvements, and ergonomic improvements. This involves a complete understanding of the manufacturing process. I work in cross functional teams that include Operations, Quality, Maintenance Engineering and R&D to drive continuous improvements in all aspects of Hormel's business. In my Purchasing Manager role, I lead a team of three employees to make sure that all of the ingredients and supplies are ordered and delivered on time to our facility. We also manage and inventory all equipment and parts for the facility. We focus on execution of purchasing and our JIT system to ensure manageable in-house inventories and costs. In addition to my normal duties I have also: - Chaired the ergonomics committee for a plant of 2,000+ employees. I work to organize meetings, track injuries, manage ergonomic projects, and solicit ergonomics suggestions from union and management employees with the ultimate goal of preventing injuries. - Project work at/with several other Hormel Facilities - Supervisory role as the plant Purchasing Manager - Trained in Hormel's Six Sigma - DMAIC Project Process and utilize the methodology in projects and leadership positions.