PETER C. GATES

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Analytical, innovative engineer, considered a Subject Matter Expert in Blown Film Extrusion.  An outstanding problem solver with proven skills in project engineering, process engineering, product development, equipment design, and continuous improvement through lean manufacturing principles. Consistently achieving new equipment performance on older production lines with minimal investment.

KEY SKILLS: Engineering Management Experience, Process Engineering, Capital Project Management, Product Engineering, Equipment Design and Manufacturing, DOE, SolidWorks 3D CAD expert, Green Belt Training, Six Sigma Process Improvement, Data Analysis, MS Office, and Excel VBA Programming.

EDUCATION: BASc Mechanical Engineering                            University of Toronto                         9/1974-5/1978

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE: 

Sciential Research – Lynchburg, VA        Blown Film Consulting Engineer                                      9/2017–Present

· Offering consulting services to enhance blown film system performance, concentrating on increased productivity, improved product quality, and reduced waste. 

· Design and manufacture of single and multilayer, blown film die packages from 2” to 50” diameter, engineered specifically for customer’s application. I have designed and manufactured approximately 1400 dies in my career. 

· Engineered a simple modification to surface winders, increasing maximum roll diameter from 48” to 60".

· Introduced a new Hot Knife Slitter assembly to improve safety, seal quality, and repeatability.

· Designed and manufactured custom, internal air rings (IBC), increasing film throughput by 15%.

· Re-engineered extruder cooling systems for superior reliability.

· Designed operator platforms to significantly improve safety and provide better die access.

· Redesigned existing bubble cages to provide as new performance at 20% of the cost for replacement. 

Glad Manufacturing (Clorox) - Amherst, VA    Extrusion Platform Engineer                               3/2019–10/2021

· Technical resource for Glad blown film extrusion film production systems. 

· Responsible for equipment design and manufacturing of custom film extrusion equipment to improve blown film extrusion  performance across the Glad North American locations.

·  Provide technical leadership and support to operations on complex problems related to Blown Film Extrusion systems and proprietary systems incorporated into the film lines.

· Capital project manager including responsibility for defining overall project scope, cost, schedule, approval, procurement, and construction management.

· Introduced upgrades yielding >15% increase in production rates.

Scholle IPN - Northlake, IL       Process Reliability Manager/Global Process Engineer            6/2008-9/2017 

· Determined risk levels within existing production systems and developed multi-year strategy for modernization or replacement of mechanical and electrical components, avoiding extended downtime. 

· Capital project manager to establish project scope, specifications, competitive analysis, cost estimates, design review, sub-contract manufacturing, equipment installation, start-up, and follow-up ROI analysis.

· Design and modify film production and packaging equipment to improve product quality and productivity, establish best practices, and create standard work documentation.

· Green Belt project was a $1.6M, concurrent upgrade of two, coextrusion film lines. Major elements included complete replacement of control systems, gravimetric material handling systems, electrical drives, extruder feed throats, gauging systems, barrels and screws, screen changers, and chillers. This provided as new performance and reliability at 10% of the cost for new line installation. 

· Introduced a quality control system to support a cost reduction initiative. Film thickness was corrected from an average gauge of 4% over target and 15% range to 3% under target and 3% range at 3 Sigma.

· Improved preventative maintenance procedures and technical documentation to enhance reliability.

· Global operations support for process improvement and troubleshooting in the US, Australia, and Brazil. 

· A $400K upgrade project was audited after 3 years and determined to have saved the company $3M. EVOH outputs were increased from 1200#/hour to 1900#/hour, while reducing scrap from 15% to 6%. 

· Designed custom testing equipment to optimize films and injection molded parts. 

· Leadership role in design, installation, and experiments on a nine-layer product development line. 

· In collaboration with the Product Development Team, accelerated commercialization of new products, from product design review, lab trials, and process development, through transition to production. 

· Mentored global film process engineers, operations, and production personnel. 

Sciential Research, LLC - Utica, NY                 Blown Film Consulting Engineer                          4/2007-06/2008

· Offering consulting services and manufacture of custom blown film equipment for unusual applications. 

Davis-Standard, LLC - Somerville, NJ   Product Manager, Blown Film Die Systems              1/1991-4/2007 

· Responsible for product management, pricing, technical sales presentations, negotiation, R&D, manufacturing support, quality assurance, technical reports, commissioning, and product design of blown film die, extruder, and air ring systems up to 80” diameter and up to nine layers.

· Developed an air ring that increased outputs by 25% while reducing gauge variation by 30%.

· Provided operational improvement and technical support to customers.

· Extensive sales and commissioning experience in North America, South America, Europe, Africa, China, Australia, and New Zealand.

· Patented a conical die configuration to successfully manufacture compact, multilayer dies up to nine layers and 28” diameter. Used for blown film, small diameter tubing, sausage casing film, and pipe coating.

· Developed unique technologies for extrusion of PVC, PVDC, PET, PTFE, and battery separator films.

Novatech Extrusion Systems - Mississauga, ON          President/Owner                                  8/1987-12/1990 

· Founded a company to manufacture high quality, high performance, single layer and multilayer blown film die systems with sales of $4 million in the fourth year.

· Expanded sales through partnerships with outside equipment vendors.

· In charge of general management, sales, marketing, engineering, project planning, financial analysis, design, prototype development, R&D, quality, purchasing, and sub-contracting.

· Programmed an expert system that simulated and optimized rheological flow in blown film dies, and then generated complete, detailed drawings and bill of materials for single through five layer die packages.  

· I sold my company to Davis-Standard in December 1990 and moved from Canada to the US.

Polysystem Machinery - Mississauga, ON       Engineering Manager/Technical Sales             1/1985-08/1987 

· Responsible for engineering management, technical sales, R&D, QA, scheduling, and the design and engineering of blown film machinery, including extruders, dies, air rings, nips, and winders.

· Reduced manufacturing time of extruders and winders by 70% through introduction of critical path scheduling and innovations in assembly procedures.

· Patented spiral die modification to significantly improve die flow, optics, and gauge performance.

Cryovac, W.R. Grace - Mississauga, ON                  Product Development Engineer                    9/1983-12/1985

· Initiated technical projects to improve process and product performance on PVDC and Polyethylene film lines, bag machines, laminator, and printing presses. 

· Developed innovative air ring design, increasing productivity by 25%, while significantly reducing scrap.

· Designed dies, screws, and air rings for global distribution.

Brampton Engineering - Brampton, ON             R&D Manager / Research Engineer                  6/1978-8/1983

· Responsible for R&D and product development across the full range of company machinery.

· Created die flow simulation software, designed, and then commissioned approximately 300 film die packages, including one of the first, five layer die systems worldwide.

· Developed and introduced the company’s first dual-lip air ring design. 

 5,261,805 – “Flow Mixing Channel” for enhanced film gauge control and improved optics.

5,538,411 – Conical, multilayer die design. 

6,305,922 – Alternative feed configuration for conical multilayer die.

 Gates, P.C. “Film Quality Improvements Through Effective Die Design.”. Presentation at 1986 TAPPI, Nashville, TN. TAPPI Tech. Papers, Book 1, pp. 17-22.

Gates, P.C. “Coextrusion: Mechanical and Practical Considerations in Blown Film Die Design.” Presentation at 1987 TAPPI, San Francisco, CA. TAPPI Tech. Papers, Book 2, pp. 491-499.

Gates, P.C. “Improve Productivity on Coextrusion Die Systems.” Presentation at 1993 SPE, Oak Brook, Illinois. Conference proceedings, Book 1.

Gates, P.C., Lounsbury, D. “Boosting Productivity Through Faster Changeovers.” Presented at 1994 SME Blown Film Technology Conference, Houston, TX.