Scott Squires
VICE PRESIDENT / DIRECTOR OF OPERATIONS
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About
Operations executive with 15+ years leading manufacturing, production, maintenance, engineering, facilities, quality, capital programs, technical support, and multi-site operating teams in high-accountability industrial environments. Proven record improving safety, production output, uptime, labor performance, maintenance reliability, quality systems, cost control, and margin performance where operating discipline must improve quickly. Aggressive, hands-on change agent known for stepping into complex operations, exposing the real constraints, installing accountability systems, and turning plant-floor execution into measurable business results.
Experience spans material handling equipment, semiconductor equipment, oilfield equipment, precision fabrication, dry pet food manufacturing, automation, and industrial service operations.
Operating philosophy: make safety non-negotiable, build a daily operating cadence, identify the constraint, stabilize labor and maintenance discipline, hold leaders accountable for results, and convert disconnected departments into one operating system focused on throughput, quality, cost, cash, and customer performance.
Experience
Plant Engineering Manager - ETHOS PET BRANDS - Brownwood, TX
(2024-02 - 2026-02)
Led engineering, maintenance execution, capital planning, contractor coordination, reliability improvement, and operational support for a high-volume dry pet food manufacturing operation under FDA and GMP guidance.
- Increased production capacity +150%, from 840K lbs/week to 2.1M lbs/week, by attacking operating constraints, stabilizing equipment performance, improving maintenance execution, and supporting production flow.
- Built and executed a 3-year capital improvement plan focused on capacity, reliability, safety, compliance, uptime, and plant modernization.
- Led 12 maintenance technicians and 13 contract service providers, setting execution expectations around downtime response, PM discipline, equipment readiness, and contractor accountability.
- Implemented SCADA data collection and monitoring and supported MES / CMM systems to improve production visibility, quality control, and operating decision-making.
- Led capital work including Line 1 metal detector replacement and partnered with Jenike & Johanson on bulk solids flow remediation affecting uptime and throughput.
Director of New Products & Technical Support / Contract - E-PICKER - Fort Worth, TX
(2023-06 - 2023-11)
Directed new product support, customer feedback, field performance improvement, technical issue resolution, engineered specials, supplier coordination, and product readiness for lithium-ion forklift equipment.
- Led technical support for lithium-ion electric forklifts, converting field issues into product, supplier, service, training, and customer-support improvements.
- Evaluated onboard and shop-installed battery charging systems to improve serviceability, customer application fit, product support, and field reliability.
- Worked with contract manufacturers to build components used to refit forklifts to meet customer special requirements.
- Built AI-animated technical training materials to improve operator and technician understanding, reduce support burden, and improve consistency of field execution.
Production Manager - LEGACY OIL TOOL / GEODYNAMICS PORTFOLIO - Millsap, TX
(2019-06 - 2023-09)
Led production operations for perforating systems and downhole oilfield products in a high-demand, safety-sensitive manufacturing environment. Directed labor, quality coordination, production flow, inventory discipline, safety improvement, NPI execution, and margin recovery.
- Recovered gross margin from -3.7% to +14% by improving production discipline, pricing alignment, routing accuracy, material usage, cost control, and operational accountability.
- Managed 42 production operators, 4 quality technicians, and 5 supervisory / office staff.
- Improved safety performance, contributing to EMR improvement from 0.98 to 0.84 through stronger safety expectations, corrective action discipline, and frontline accountability.
- Reduced inventory by $1.2M through improved part data, material control, production planning discipline, and inventory accountability.
- Improved quote lead time from 35 days to 7 days and increased quote win rate +14% by tightening alignment between engineering, production, costing, and execution capability.
- Launched new product work in 2 months, delivering 3% under budget and 11% below price target.
VP, Design & Manufacturing - CARVER PRECISION SYSTEMS - Stephenville, TX
(2016-09 - 2019-06)
Led design, manufacturing, customer requirements development, prototype refinement, supplier coordination, installation planning, and commercial execution for custom industrial systems.
- Developed and sold a $3.5M automated cattle feeding system for a 6,000-cow dairy operation, doubling mixing and delivery capability and supporting $1.7M in annual savings.
- Defined customer requirements, developed controls concepts, built and refined the prototype, wrote the purchase agreement, and supported site planning with the customer's civil engineer.
- Led design-for-manufacturing decisions, fabrication planning, supplier coordination, installation readiness, and customer handoff.
Engineering Manager - TOTAL EQUIPMENT AND SERVICE - Granbury, TX
(2014-09 - 2016-09)
Led engineering, manufacturing support, quoting, fabrication process improvement, production readiness, and operating visibility for FRAC fleet fabrication and structural weldments.
- Reduced quote lead time from 35 days to 7 days and increased win rate +14% by improving engineering response, cost accuracy, production understanding, and quoting discipline.
- Wrote structural and hard-surfacing weld instructions for FRAC fleet equipment, improving consistency, quality, manufacturability, and production execution.
- Improved process flow, setup reduction, routing accuracy, tooling support, manufacturing readiness, and SCADA visibility.
Manufacturing Engineering / Facilities Manager; Global Manufacturing Engineering Leadership - FMC TECHNOLOGIES - Stephenville, TX
(2010-08 - 2014-09)
Held site and global leadership roles supporting advanced manufacturing, facilities, capital execution, manufacturing engineering standards, NPI integration, and global process improvement.
- Executed more than $80M in capital programs supporting greenfield manufacturing development, facility readiness, advanced equipment installation, and production capability.
- Led manufacturing engineering teams impacting 13 manufacturing sites in 7 countries, including up to 150 indirect international engineering and technical employees and 8 in-country Manufacturing Engineering Managers.
- Directly led 16 manufacturing engineers, 7 CNC programmers, and 5 toolmakers.
- Chaired the Global Manufacturing Engineering Council, establishing manufacturing standards, training requirements, and manufacturing engineering's role in new product development.
- Helped implement Stage Gate discipline in the NPI process, improving launch readiness, manufacturability, and operational accountability.
- Advanced manufacturing capabilities included robotic machining, laser cutting, laser measurement, cryogenic machining, in-machine inspection, zero-defect systems, and process standards by product group.
Branch Manager / Contract - JMP Engineering - San Antonio, TX
(2008-04 - 2009-04)
Led branch operations, automation project execution, customer coordination, technical teams, quality system development, and local operating performance. Managed 8 engineers and 3 direct labor employees.