Daniel Victoria Gallegos

Operations Executive with a proven track record in automotive and industrial manufacturing (Ford, Delphi, American Axle, Faurecia) and full plant leadership, with 5 successful startups from the ground up — most recently turning an operating loss of -26% into a 22.4% profit margin in 8 months, with a 100% new workforce. Board-level P&L accountability, crisis management with global OEM customers, and a Lean/IATF 16949 culture instilled in every operation under his leadership. Advanced user of Artificial Intelligence (Claude) applied to manufacturing: automating executive reporting, real-time KPI dashboards, and business intelligence for decision-making.

Plant Manager at ARNECEL (2026-01 – Present)

Reporting to: Alejandro Redondo, General Director. Manufacturer of electrical wire harnesses for OEM appliance and electronics customers (Koblenz, Elica, IMBERA, Metal Frio, Melecs). Brought in following the acquisition of Sedka Manufacturing's operation, mandated to start up and stabilize the plant with a 100% new workforce.

• Turned the operating result around from a -26% loss in the first month of startup to +22.4% profit by month 8, exceeding the Board's 20% target.
• Grew monthly revenue from $1.1M to over $3.6M MXN (more than 3x), sustaining sales above $3M for 3 consecutive months against target.
• Reduced direct labor cost (% of sales) from 34% to 18.7%, beating the 22% target, through line balancing and an accelerated learning curve for an entirely new workforce.
• Certified the plant to ISO 9001 within 7 months of operation.
• Simultaneously met all 3 mandate targets (profit, labor cost, sales) by August 2026, in month 8 of startup.
• Applies Artificial Intelligence (Claude) to automate business processes and procedures — including production scheduling — as well as executive reporting and KPI dashboards, and to research commercial information on customers and the market.

Co-Founder & General Manager at SEDKA MANUFACTURING SAPI DE CV (2018-03 – 2025-12)

Reporting to: Partners. Manufacturer of electrical wire harnesses for electronics and white-goods customers. 60 direct and indirect employees.

• Held full P&L responsibility and grew monthly revenue 8-fold (from $20K to $160K USD, +700%), turning cashflow from negative to positive in 6 months.
• Certified the company to ISO 9001:2015 and built a Lean Manufacturing culture from the ground up.
• Built and developed an organization of 60+ employees from startup, with full organizational development responsibility.
• Sustained zero major quality incidents for 36+ consecutive months.
• Led the orderly wind-down and transition of the operation (2025) following the sale of the business.

Regional Quality Manager at FAURECIA (2017-01 – 2018-03)

Reporting to: Brad Ring, Regional VP Mexico. Top 10 global automotive supplier.

• Developed and implemented the regional quality strategy for 5 manufacturing plants.
• Led a 4-month improvement project at the San Luis Potosí seating systems plant, by special request from the Division VP, working directly with the Plant Manager to optimize manufacturing operations and quality systems.
• Led IATF 16949 certification initiatives across manufacturing plants.
• Plant under his coordination recognized as global "Best-in-Class" within Faurecia.

Supplier Quality Assurance Regional Sr. Manager at AMERICAN AXLE & MANUFACTURING (AAM) (2011-04 – 2017-01)

Reporting to: Jim Peters, Americas Purchasing Director. Tier 1 automotive driveline technology supplier. 7 engineers reporting to him, managing quality assurance across the Americas region.

• Responsible for deploying quality assurance systems across 100+ Tier 2 suppliers, a $300M+ USD portfolio.
• Delivered multiple zero-defect launches.
• Reduced quality escalations by 50% through supplier crisis-management protocols.

Supplier Quality Assurance & Plant Quality Manager at MEI (MARS ELECTRONICS INTERNATIONAL) (2010 – 2011-03)

Reporting to: Francisco Vallejo, Global Quality Director. Added Plant Quality at the Querétaro facility to global supplier quality operations. 11 engineers and 8 technicians reporting to him.

• Established quality guidelines working directly with customers across multiple regions.

Global Supplier Quality Assurance Manager at MEI (MARS ELECTRONICS INTERNATIONAL) (2003 – 2010)

Reporting to: Jeff Sansone, VP of Purchasing. Manufacturer of coin and bill payment technology. 8 engineers and 16 technicians reporting to him, leading global supplier quality operations across China, Mexico, Geneva, USA, and the UK.

• Led a global supplier quality team across diverse manufacturing processes (plastics, electronics, machining, stamping, packaging, assembly, and more).
• Delivered $80,000 USD in cost savings through strategic supplier negotiations as Packaging Commodity Manager.
• Evaluated and qualified manufacturing plants in China for MEI acquisitions.
• Improved supplier quality to under 10 PPM.
• Recognized with the President's Award for two consecutive years for outstanding performance and results.

Operations Manager at IMI NORGREN MANUFACTURING (2002-04 – 2003-04)

Reporting to: Eric Huerta, Plant Manager. Industrial manufacturer of pneumatics and fluid-control components. Led a team of 8 Engineers, 4 Supervisors, and 120 Workers in a complete greenfield plant startup.

• Coordinated the startup of the Manufacturing and Quality organizations of a new greenfield plant, building complete teams.
• Transferred and launched 10 new production lines from sites in the USA and UK, with 120 workers under his charge, achieving a zero-disruption startup with all lines operational within the planned timeline.
• Improved capacity, efficiency, and quality versus the original sites within 6 months, within the approved budget.
• Purchased and installed manufacturing and quality lab equipment, establishing a comprehensive quality laboratory and testing capability, and developed and implemented an ISO 9001:2000 quality system that achieved rapid plant certification.
• Integrated Lean Manufacturing tools and Value Stream Mapping to optimize production planning.
• Held full responsibility for Quality, Product Engineering, and Manufacturing, scaling from startup to full production capacity.

Junior Manager, Quality System and Receiving Inspection at ARVINMERITOR (2001-02 – 2002-04)

Prior Experience (1990 – 2002)

Quality Manager at LINDE PULLMAN DE QUERÉTARO (2000-01 – 2001-02)

Greenfield plant startup

Receiving Inspection & SQE Supervisor; Supplier Development Engineer at DELPHI SAGINAW STEERING SYSTEMS (1997-03 – 1999-12)

Greenfield plant startup

Supplier Quality Assurance Engineer; Vehicle Resident Assistant Engineer; SPC Specialist at FORD MOTOR COMPANY (1990-09 – 1997-02)

Prior Experience (1990 – 2002)

Master's Degree in Lean Management of Operations and Business (in progress) – Alfra Institute

Industrial Engineer – Instituto Politécnico Nacional, UPIICSA

Executive Development in World-Class Manufacturing, Management Skills, and Finance for Non-Financial Managers – ITESM Campus Querétaro (2003 – 2011)

Special Management Program – Tom Peters Special Management Program (2008 – 2008)