Riad Ardahji

WORK HISTORY

EDUCATION

ABOUT RIAD ARDAHJI

I am an engineering and operations excellence leader with 20+ years of experience transforming manufacturing organizations, executing large‑scale capital projects, and driving Maintenance Excellence, reliability, and ROI across global operations. My career has been built on leading complex change, elevating performance, and empowering teams to deliver results that stick. I’ve been repeatedly selected by CEOs, CFOs, and senior executives to lead high‑visibility initiatives — from Toyota’s Monozukuri deployment in North America, to global Lean transformations, to robotic automation programs delivering multimillion‑dollar savings. My work has reduced backorders from $5.5M to under $1M in six months, improved Sigma levels from 4 to 5, restored double‑digit returns to underperforming business units, and positioned organizations for growth or divestiture. My expertise spans Lean, TPM, asset management, capital project leadership, robotics/automation, and advanced manufacturing. I’ve overseen capital portfolios up to $60M, launched reliability pillars across multiple sites, facilitated 45+ Autonomous Care Workshops, and designed systems that improved OEE, throughput, and quality. I’m also passionate about developing people — training Lean facilitators, coaching engineering teams, and securing workforce development grants to expand technical capability. At my core, I’m a transformational leader who believes in giving teams the freedom to grow, challenge assumptions, and take ownership of results. Colleagues describe me as honest, passionate, and the person who “gets the job done.” I thrive in environments where operational excellence, innovation, and disciplined execution come together to create meaningful, measurable impact.