Robert Francois
Senior Director of Global Quality @Dematic
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WORK HISTORY
Senior Director of Global Quality @Dematic
Grand Rapids, MI, US
Focus: Global Strategy, Standardization, and Systems IntegrationGlobal Leadership- Direct an international organization of 112 Quality professionals across four regions (AMCS, EMEA, ASIA, ANZ), managing departmental budgets and resource allocation for a $3.5B+ enterprise.Quality Strategy Development- Partnered with regional leadership to author the \"Quality Always\" multi-year roadmap. Facilitated a cultural and operational pivot from reactive containment to a proactive prevention model by institutionalizing APQP and PPAP frameworks globally.Cost of Poor Quality (CoPQ) & AI Integration- Engineered a standardized process for categorizing project overruns to isolate CoPQ drivers- Innovation: Deployed a Trained AI Agent to categorize and analyze project data, enabling automated Root Cause Analysis (RCA) to systematically eliminate recurring overruns in future project cycles.Product Readiness & NPI- Spearheaded a global \"Product Quality Readiness\" initiative focused on upstream quality; mandated the use of DFMEA and PFMEA during the design and testing phases to mitigate failure modes prior to market release.Cross-Functional Governance- Established and chair the Global Quality Steering Committee, bridging Safety, Engineering, Supply Chain, and Manufacturing to eliminate silos and synchronize global corrective action (CAPA) response.Digital Transformation- Serving as Global Quality Lead for the S/4HANA implementation; mapping complex quality business processes to ERP modules to automate data collection and enhance global traceability.Systems Optimization (Jira/CAPA)- Engineered and deployed a modern 8D-based CAPA system utilizing Jira to facilitate multi-departmental collaboration- Result: Reduced open CAPAs by 40%(from 551 to within the first 12 months by improving accountability and workflow transparency.
EDUCATION
Iowa State University
Bachelor of Science - BS, Mechanical Engineering
St. Ambrose University
MBA, International Business
ABOUT ROBERT FRANCOIS
As an engineer at heart and an executive by practice, I view Quality as a strategic lever for revenue growth rather than a compliance hurdle. Throughout my career—spanning Automotive, Aerospace, and Warehouse Automation—I have focused on building quality systems that don\'t just find defects, but predict and prevent them.Currently, as the Senior Director of Global Quality at Dematic, I lead a 112-person organization across four global regions. My focus is the intersection of traditional engineering rigor (APQP/PPAP) and Quality 4.0 technology. Whether it is architecting a Global Quality Management System (GQMS) for a $3.5B enterprise or deploying AI Training Agents to automate Root Cause Analysis, I am passionate about engineering predictability into global operations.My approach centers on three pillars- Strategic Transformation: Authoring the \"Quality Always\" roadmap to pivot organizations from reactive containment to proactive prevention models- Digital Integration: Leading global SAP S/4HANA implementations and Jira-based 8D systems to create a \"single source of truth\" for quality data- Financial Impact: Reducing the Cost of Poor Quality (CoPQ) and leveraging quality performance as a driver for customer experience and increased order volume.Core Competencies- Strategy: Global Quality Strategy, Multi-Year Roadmaps, M&A Integration, CoPQ Reduction- Systems: GQMS, SAP S/4HANA, Jira, ISO 9001/14001, AS 9100, IATF 16949, NADCAP- Technical: AI-Driven Analytics, APQP/PPAP, DFMEA/PFMEA, Root Cause Analysis (RCA)- Leadership: Global Team Management (110+), Budgeting & P&L, Cross-functional Governance.Co-author of the AIAG CQE-8 Layered Process Audits.
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