Todd Kayhart

SENIOR OPERATIONS EXECUTIVE

I deliver where the traditional approach has failed.

Build. Fix. Scale.

Turnaround · Greenfield · Scale-Up

22+ YEARS
8 TURNAROUNDS
$250K+ 90-DAY SALARY ROI
100% SUCCESS RATE

Six Sigma Black Belt · GE Lean Green Belt · Kepner-Tregoe · Named Patent Inventor · Victor, NY

Todd Kayhart

Build. Fix. Scale.

BUILD

Create the foundation.

Systems, teams, and infrastructure built from scratch or the floor up — greenfield launches, org design, ERP architecture.

  • Greenfield plant launch & scale-up
  • Team org design & culture build
  • ERP architecture & governance
  • HR, procurement, quality & R&D build
FIX

Diagnose root cause, not symptoms.

Cross-domain data overlay surfaces what function-based reporting hides. Stabilize first, then optimize.

  • 8-step turnaround process
  • Dual-lens intake & floor observation
  • Cross-domain data overlay
  • Baseline measurement discipline
SCALE

Multiply what works.

Take proven operations and expand without degrading performance — multi-site rollout, capacity expansion, integration.

  • Multi-site network management
  • Capacity expansion planning
  • Post-acquisition integration
  • Operational replication & standards

Build.

Benjamin Moore — Newark, NJ

Former site leadership proposed a $1.5M capex — approved by management — to solve what was not actually the problem.

Flagship site. 12-month mandate: improve or close. Filtration downtime attributed to equipment inadequacy. The actual constraint was a detection-delay and single-housing architecture problem.

$5K INTERVENTION COST vs. $1.5M PROPOSED
$5.8M 5-YR AVOIDED COST
1st COMPANY RANKINGS, ALL CATEGORIES
  • 100% elimination of filtration downtime via GUI-integrated alarm + backup housing deployment
  • Worst to first across all company rankings — eclipsing Johnstown, previously taken from 3rd to 1st under the same leadership approach
  • OSHA recordables down 50% YoY; company-best 344 days without a lost-time accident
  • Corporate divestiture decision reversed — plant remains operational today
  • Led SAP go-live and Century luxury paint line scale-up

PALIoT Solutions — Coating Process Optimization

The coating baseline in place could not support commercial production. The unit economics simply didn't work.

Coating baseline established at process launch was economically unviable — triple the optimal application rate with over a gallon of overspray per unit. Unit economics could not sustain commercial production at that specification.

COATING APPLIED vs. OPTIMAL RATE
93% OVERSPRAY REDUCTION
59% PER-UNIT COST REDUCTION
  • Systematic process analysis established correct application parameters from first principles
  • 45% reduction in material consumption — eliminated excess application at the source
  • 66% improvement in cycle time through process redesign
  • Doubled production rate while restoring unit economics to commercial viability
  • 25-point thickness measurement across an 80-unit sample subset — heatmap guided spray robot pass sequencing, turning overspray into a controlled coverage advantage
  • Oval spray chamber identified as root cause of repeatability failures; transition to round chamber eliminated the issue entirely

Fix.

PPC Broadband — Syracuse, NY

Nobody had noticed because nobody was looking at the data against the prior economic model.

500 employees, 24/7, 19 nationalities. A prior CI initiative had replaced economic run quantity discipline with make-to-order — breaking the sequencing wheel and collapsing cost absorption.

Red MACHINING PROFITABILITY STATUS ON ARRIVAL
Red → Black DEPARTMENT & MACHINE ABSORPTION
90 Days RECORD LOW TO RECORD HIGH ENGAGEMENT
  • Mined SAP data to reconstruct pre-CI operational baseline and identify root cause
  • Sequencing-wheel break identified as cause of absorption collapse; returned to economic run quantity discipline
  • Machining area moved from red to full cost absorption virtually overnight
  • 50% reduction in scrap and rework across the value stream
  • Beat the Boss Challenge deployed — workforce engagement drove record-high scores within 90 days

PPC Broadband — Assembly Operations

Five hundred people. Seven shifts. Nineteen nationalities. Assembly output not moving.

Despite the machining recovery, assembly output remained stalled. The operation required a complete redesign — floor layout, role assignment, and operating model — executed across one of the most complex workforce environments in the engagement portfolio.

500 EMPLOYEES · 7 SHIFTS · 19 NATIONALITIES
200% ASSEMBLY OUTPUT INCREASE
99% PAST-DUE REDUCTION
  • Complete floor relayout — physical flow redesigned from the ground up
  • New role assignment operating model built around the actual workforce composition
  • Workforce took ownership of the new model and executed without management dependency
  • Dramatic improvement achieved in a compressed timeline across a 24/7 operation
  • 99% past-due reduction driven primarily by the assembly transformation

Carestream Health — Rochester, NY

Neither the supply chain director nor the Manufacturing director could see the pattern from their own seat.

Plant Manager scope: x-ray lines, digital detectors, NDT, pooled-asset refurbishment. Material outages paralyzing production. Directed elsewhere for months — root cause identified in 20 minutes once the right data sets were overlaid.

Zero PRIOR SUPPLY CHAIN FIELD EXPERIENCE IN ROLE
90% MATERIAL OUTAGE REDUCTION
72% MONTHLY OUTPUT INCREASE
  • Months of misdirection resolved: cross-domain overlay of workforce hire dates × parts outages surfaced root cause in 20 minutes
  • No field supply chain experience in the role — institutional vendor knowledge had no foundation to build on
  • Legacy SAP recovery rebuilt procurement discipline; cross-training initiatives reduced single-point dependencies
  • Process flow and scheduling optimization in the test labs improved throughput and delivery reliability
  • 71% OTD improvement; 30% reduction in escaping defects; gains sustained through CEO-change restructuring

Scale.

PALIoT Solutions — Shortsville, NY

A greenfield that had failed to launch for two years. The operational foundation believed to exist did not.

120K sq ft facility stalled at launch. Week one surfaced cascading installation failures, a critical resignation, and an FM Global audit failure looming. Senior leadership restructuring 30 days post-arrival added instability on top of operational failure.

6 mo. FAILED-LAUNCH TO FULL PRODUCTION
$1.1M ANNUAL SALARY SCOPE ABSORBED
93% OVERSPRAY REDUCTION
  • Promoted to VP of Manufacturing at month 5; operated at de facto COO scope
  • Absorbed 7 executive-level functions: Manufacturing, R&D, Quality, Procurement, Logistics + more
  • Brought HR, compliance, and procurement platforms to full operational readiness
  • Custom ERP architecture: 57 tables, 8 functional phases — designed and deployed
  • Named inventor: RAPTR pallet design — highest strength-to-weight ratio of any wood-based pallet on market; exceeds all ISO standards; 17 lbs lighter; legacy field damage failure modes eliminated

Marley Spoon — Newark, NJ

Cost-cutting logic that appeared rational in each individual decision, catastrophic in aggregate.

~$125M DTC meal-kit manufacturer. Newark greenfield stalled 3 months in. Productivity: 1 order/man-hr vs 6-unit target. 150 of 170 workforce were unvetted temps with no screening process in place.

1→7.5 ORDERS PER MAN-HOUR (TARGET: 6)
650% PRODUCTIVITY IMPROVEMENT
55% CUSTOMER COMPLAINT REDUCTION
  • All-hands meeting naming conditions directly; two-week adjustment window with consistent enforcement
  • Disciplined workforce reset: systematic separations, rebuilt build plan with validated contractor
  • First deployment of the Greatness Narrative workforce engagement model
  • 98.2% inventory accuracy achieved; throughput built to 17 orders/hour
  • Restored on-time delivery across 3 fulfillment centers; company subsequently acquired

The Pattern — 22 Years, One Mandate

2010–13 General Electric Ops Manager / MRP Lead
$1M+ LEGACY DEFECT RECOVERY
2013–18 Benjamin Moore Production Mgr → Plant Mgr
1st ALL MEASURABLE CATEGORIES
2018–19 Karnak Corp. VP Operations
4 MANUFACTURING SITES MANAGED
2019 Marley Spoon Head of US Production
650% PRODUCTIVITY GAIN
2019–20 Atlantic Spring VP Operations / GM
95% PAST-DUE REDUCTION
2021–23 Polymer · Belden · Carestream PM → VSM → Head of Mfg
3 CONSECUTIVE RECOVERIES
2024–26 PALIoT Solutions VP Mfg (COO Scope)
COO OPERATING SCOPE
Todd Kayhart

Todd Kayhart

Senior Operations Executive · Build. Fix. Scale.

toddkayhart@yahoo.com · 518‑775‑9264 · linkedin.com/in/todd-kayhart · Victor, NY

I deliver where the traditional approach has failed.