David Arias Fuentes

Industrial Engineer pursuing a Master’s Degree in Medical Devices Engineering, with 4+ years of combined experience in manufacturing operations, supply chain, and continuous improvement, including medical-device experience at Abbott.

Background in time-and-motion studies, process mapping, bottleneck analysis, Lean Six Sigma, 5S, root-cause investigations, KPI development, and cross-functional problem solving. Contributed to initiatives that shortened product-release lead time by approximately 2–3 days and created an automated workflow that reduced recurring manual effort by 87.5%. Knowledge of ISO 13485, FDA 21 CFR 820, and regulated manufacturing practices.

BUYER at Huntsman (2024-06 – Present)

Manufacturing / Polyurethanes

• Designed and implemented an Excel/VBA solution to streamline supplier communication and open-order follow-up; reduced recurring processing effort from approximately 8 hours to 1 hour per cycle (87.5% reduction).
• Analyze SAP purchasing, lead-time, inventory, and material-availability data to identify bottlenecks, supply risks, and exceptions that may affect production schedules across assigned plants.
• Coordinate structured issue resolution with Planning, Manufacturing, Warehouse, Quality, Finance, and suppliers; follow up on material discrepancies, nonconformances, and delivery constraints.
• Improve consistency of operational reporting and follow-up through standardized Excel trackers and data analysis, while managing multiple deadlines and production priorities.

LOGISTICS CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT ENGINEER at Abbott (2023-04 – 2023-12)

Medical Devices

• Led and supported continuous-improvement activities across logistics, sterilization, and product-release workflows, partnering with Operations, Quality, Microbiology, Sterilization, Planning, and Value Stream teams.
• Performed time-and-motion studies, process mapping, and cycle-time analysis to identify non-value-added activities, process constraints, and opportunities to improve manufacturing-related workflows.
• Investigated microbiology-related release constraints and supported corrective improvement actions that contributed to an approximately 2–3 day reduction in product-release lead time.
• Developed Power BI and SharePoint dashboards to monitor sterilization workload, backlog, process KPIs, and release trends, supporting data-driven prioritization and operational decisions.
• Applied Lean methods, 5S, root-cause analysis, standardized reporting, and SAP/MES troubleshooting to support process consistency, documentation, and audit readiness.

ENGINEERING INTERN – LOGISTICS & STERILIZATION SUPPORT at Abbott (2022-06 – 2023-03)

Medical Devices

• Supported a sterilization-process improvement initiative using Lean Six Sigma methods, process data analysis, time studies, and bottleneck identification.
• Measured cycle times and analyzed release-flow constraints to improve understanding of throughput, delays, and handoffs between operations and quality functions.
• Worked with Quality Assurance, Microbiology, Sterilization, and Value Stream teams on operational reviews, KPI tracking, and follow-up of improvement actions.

ENGINEERING INTERN – PLANNING at Abbott (2022-02 – 2022-06)

Medical Devices

• Used SAP to review inventory, material requirements, open orders, and shortage risks; coordinated with Planning and Operations to support manufacturing continuity.

Master’s Degree in Medical Devices Engineering – Tecnológico de Costa Rica (TEC)

Bachelor’s Degree in Industrial Engineering – Universidad Fidélitas (2021-06)