Yakov Kaplan

Past

• Director of Engineering at Veeco Instruments, Inc.
• Sr. Engineeirng Manager at Magnecomp
• Director/VP of Engineering at Dymatix

• Staff Engineer at Gem City Engineering

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Education

• BelSUT

Connections

28 connections

Industry

Industrial Automation

Yakov Kaplan’s Summary

Accomplished result oriented professional with over nine years of business and engineering management background coupled with individual contribution in all aspects of the engineering and developing state-of-the-art manufacturing processes and capital process automation equipment. Recognized for ability to deliver breakthrough technical and business solutions. Proven record of: planning and execution of program development for novel processes and manufacturing solutions; delivering simultaneous various–scale, mission-critical projects on time and budget; wide-ranging experience in taking project from concept to fully operational manufacturing solutions; technical leadership and direction to a team of process, hardware, and software engineers. Have strong conceptual and problem solving skills. Team based management style and excellent interpersonal/communication skills.

Yakov Kaplan’s Specialties:

Process & Automation for Manufacturing
· Mentoring & Coaching
· Programs Budgeting, Planning, & Launch
· Standards, Methods, and Procedures Development
· Proven Technical & Business Problem Solving Skills
· Cost Analysis and Cost Saving Action Plans
· “Out-of-the-box” Technical and Business Thinking
· Orange Belt 6-sigma, FMEA
· Team Building & Manpower Planning
· OSHA and Other Safety Standards Compliance

Yakov Kaplan’s Experience

• Director of Engineering

  Veeco Instruments, Inc.

  (Public Company; 51-200 employees; Industrial Automation industry)

  June 2006 — August 2007 (1 year 3 months)

  o Directing and managing Engineering department (20+ multidiscipline salaried personnel team: Mechanical Engineering, Controls Engineering, Software Engineering, Documentation Control) in full scope of sustaining and development engineering for HDD lapping and dicing equipment.
  o Restructured engineering team and strive to create a culture of accountability, team orientation and successful outcomes focus; Mentor group supervisors and lead strategic planning; Promote teamwork and collaboration within the engineering and manufacturing organization and other functional areas; Work with project and functional teams to meet schedule milestones; Spearheaded development and implementation of Engineering Master Schedule and according team infrastructure
  o Keep team focus on engineering sustaining efforts and lead development of next generation solutions
  o Developing manpower requirements and work closely with HR and employment agencies to identify, screen, and hire technical talents.

• Sr. Engineeirng Manager

  Magnecomp

  (Public Company; 51-200 employees; Consumer Electronics industry)

  March 2005 — June 2006 (1 year 4 months)

  o Directed and managed Process Engineering group (8-12 salaried personnel team) in full scope of engineering and R&D development of state-of-the-art processes and production equipment for pilot and high-volume manufacturing of the hard disk load beam assemblies.
  o Managed assigned operations to achieve goals within available resources; plan and organize workloads and staff assignments; monitor program progress and direct changes as needed; Guided, led and motivated project teams composed of multiple disciplines and levels of expertise; manage remote employees and contractors; Supervised multiple projects and programs ranging from $100K to 3,450K budgets.

• Director/VP of Engineering

  Dymatix

  (Public Company; 11-50 employees; Industrial Automation industry)

  April 2000 — March 2005 (5 years)

  o Managed engineering department (6 –10 salaried personnel team); developed and led company’s technical policies and business direction.
  o Spearheaded transition from outdated product-specific automation technologies to industry’s first all-in-one highly adaptable and market-flexible factory automation platform that have dramatically improved product efficiency, lowered manufacturing expenses, and increase size and range of competitive market.
  o Delivered 20% in material and manufacturing cost saving as a consequence of innovative engineering and aggressive material, components, and technologies selection.
  o Decreased 20% material inventory and improve 20 - 50% time-to-market development through universal automation platform philosophy implementation.

• Staff Engineer

  Gem City Engineering

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Industrial Automation industry)

  September 1996 — April 2000 (3 years 8 months)

  o Function of the position included engineering leadership and individual contribution from concept through estimation, design, fabrication, testing, troubleshooting, and implementation. Supervised up to 20 designers and drafters for duration of the various custom capital equipment projects.
  o Supervised and led multiple projects ranging from $80K to 1,500K budgets.
  o Attained project completion on time, within budget, and functional guidelines.
  o Led implementation of the engineering standards (ANSY, GD&T), 3D design software (Solid Edge, ANSYS). Developed and enforced implementation of various engineering department design guidelines and documentation control standards (ECO, ECN).
  o Played active role in implementation and compliance of FDA, OSHA, SEMI, and CE safety standards.

Yakov Kaplan’s Education

• BelSUT

  MSME , Hardware and Industrial Systems Engineering , 1979 — 1985