September 18, 2007 - Berg Companies announce key
personnel
(Spokane, Wash.) – Today the Berg Companies announced key personnel
changes at both Berg Integrated Systems (BIS) in Plummer, Idaho, and
for the Berg Companies, in Spokane, Wash.
Darren Stuck, Berg Companies Director of Lean
Manufacturing
Formerly the General Manager at Berg Integrated Systems (BIS), Stuck
will now take the reins as Director of Lean Manufacturing for all Berg
Companies entities. In this capacity, Stuck will now oversee
the lean processes, continual improvement initiatives, and lean
manufacturing initiatives for the entire family of Berg
Companies. Stuck comes to the position as a regional industry
leader in manufacturing and lean manufacturing
practices.
“BIS experienced unprecedented
progress under Darren’s leadership and his keen ability to laser focus
in on problem areas that needed resolution,” said Andy Barrett,
President of Berg Companies. “He helped us streamline our
standard product lines, overcame significant infrastructure challenges
with facilities overhauls, and today the production teams for our
premier product, Expandable Shelter Platforms, is operating smoothly
and efficiently. Darren is best in class when it comes to not
just understanding lean processes, but actually putting the rubber to
the road through the implementation of lean concepts. We are
always trying to reach that next level, and with a focus on lean, and
with Darren’s leadership, our company will be
state-of-the-art.”
Prior to joining the Berg
Companies, Stuck worked in the dairy industry for over two decades,
most recently as Operations Manager for Eastern Washington with Wilcox
Farms, one of the Northwest’s largest fluid milk producers.
During his tenure at Wilcox Farms, Stuck lead many of the lean
initiatives company-wide.
As
the Director of Lean Manufacturing for Berg, Stuck says he intends to
take a holistic approach to solving problems.
“The Berg Companies family
represents four different operating divisions, in two locations, within
two different states,” said Stuck. “We have to focus our Lean
efforts on these challenges for quality with our products, customers,
personnel, but also for our vendors and partners that we work
with. How we position ourselves today is pivotal to our
growth plan, and Lean processes can really make the difference to keep
our company competitive at the top of the class in the
industry.”
Currently, Stuck serves as
Co-founder and Chairman of the Inland Northwest Lean Management
Consortium (www.inlandnwlmc.com), a group of high-profile manufacturing
and service providers that promote lean manufacturing best-practices
and education, while fostering economic growth in the
region.
John Dickson, Berg Integrated Systems General
Manager
Dickson will step into the role of General Manager at Berg Integrated
Systems. Dickson joins Berg Integrated Systems with over
twenty years of aerospace experience in research and development ,
manufacturing and program leadership at the Boeing Defense
and Space Group in Seattle, WA.
Additionally, Dickson was
recently ranked second in the world, within a pool of over
3,000 other trainers, as a certified Dale Carnegie Course
trainer.
“We are very pleased to
announce John as an important part of the team moving forward at BIS,”
said Barrett. “He has a strong background in rapid
prototyping, engineering and lean conversions on the fly.
When it comes to management skills, John is best in class.
With the type of growth that we are going after in the next few years,
we are excited to have John on board, he is a great addition to our
executive leadership team.”
Dickson’s educational
background embodies a strong engineering background, with a B.S. in
Mechanical Engineering from
the University of Washington, and an M.S. in Engineering Management
from Washington State
University.
Most recently with
the Boeing Defense and Space Group, Dickson was part of the senior
management team on the F-22 Raptor, responsible for leading program
lean activities. In addition to the F-22 Raptor program,
Dickson also took part in DarkStar Unmanned Air Vehicle, Sea Launch,
and B-2 Bomber programs as part of the research and development,
manufacturing, and quality management teams.
“I look forward to the
challenges of a growing company, and I will guide BIS where it needs to
go in the future,” said Dickson. “My approach has always been
to engage the workforce to help foster new ideas, with the goal that
our employees consistently make good business decisions no matter what
component of the business they take part in. Potentially,
there are many future leaders within the ranks of BIS, and I hope that
we can create as many opportunities as possible for the type of
positive growth we want to see for BIS, and for the community of
northern Idaho and the
region.”
The original Berg
enterprise was formed as F.O. Berg in Spokane, Wash., in 1883, as a
fabrication business for industrial fabrics, such as canvas.
F.O. Berg long-served the agricultural, mining and forest industries as
well as the military. Today, the Berg Companies family is one
of the top 100, oldest, continuously operating business entities in the
state of Washington and includes Berg Manufacturing and Berg Flexible
Containment companies, in addition to Berg Integrated Systems, a
Tribally-owned enterprise of the Coeur d’Alene
Tribe.
