Mark’s Topics – work

(Small individual posts are at the bottom of this extended note)

Work History and Other Comments about
Jobs and Managing

I have a quite varied work history. Mowing lawns and washing cars as a pre-teen, carpentry, factory work, and railroad track gang in teen and college years. Briefly a high school teacher between college and graduate school. This taught me that being a high school teacher was not my destiny. Going to graduate school and entering the academic world had been a clear objective for me from my days at Taft, then strengthened through my undergraduate experiences at Lawrence. So I applied to two of the high ranking schools for slavic linguistics, U. Washington in Seattle and Cornell. I think I chose Cornell for the snobbery of the Ivy league. Though I never spoke about this with my father I suspect it pleased him to have a son attending.  I did not flourish and at the end of my second year during a historical linguistics exam (one of my favorite subjects by the way) I looked out the window at the spring weather. Suddenly the light went on. I know why I am so depressed. I hate this life. So within a day I packed everything in my trusty little car and drove to Ba’s house in Belmonts. Another career track abandoned.

After spending the summer with Ba and Al, occasionally helping out in their bakery and repairing a sailboat that Al had stuffed in their garage, I decided I would get a job as a machinist. I am not sure how I came to the idea of becoming a machinist. But I have always been very good working with my hands and have comfortable feelings about machine shops from visiting my father’s high machine shop in Fitchburg, MA as a kid.

I worked as a machinist at Steven’s-Arnold Inc in South Boston. I got this purely on the basis that the foreman was clearly amused at the idea that he had a guy who spoke Russian and had studied Slavic linguistics working in his shop. I found my feet when it turned out I could talk to the design engineers about their new products and convert their sketches into something that could actually be manufactured in the machine shop. I learned how to use lathes, milling machines, grinders, hydraulic presses, really at the time all of the basic machine tools in common use. I became a competent R&D machinist, one who builds custom metal parts and assemblies for proof of concept research.

then draftsman before entering the mechanical engineering world. This last step was facilitated by night course and full-time courses at Wentworth Institute of Technology (near Northeastern U. In Boston). Added an Associates Degree in Manufacturing Engineering to my resume.

My first real engineering job was at Minuteman Labs in Acton Ma. A small company building monochromatic and spectrometers for chemistry and physics. I occasionally returned to the machine shop when production fell behind

I stopped off for two years at MIT in the role of Staff Engineer in the Biomechanics Dept (Building 3, a right off the Infinite Corridor coming from Mass Ave.). Mostly working on artificial hips and knees. My major function was to act as a translator between the research staff in the lab and the external vendors who made components for research projects.  In general the engineering professors at MIT were astonishingly ignorant of how things actually got made and had a great deal of trouble communicating or even understanding the world of manufacturing. This might be summed up by a question from a PhD candidate in the lab, “What is a lock washer used for?” I want to assure you that I did not laugh. She could perform finite element analysis on our mini-computers.

Three big outcomes from my experience at MIT. It confirmed that I was completely unsuited for the academic environment, something already seemingly proven  by two years at Cornell. Second I was able to schedule my time so that I could spend 3 -4 hours a day in the late afternoon doing construction work at our house at 52 Kinnaird. Third, I added MIT to my resume. This came in handy for the next few years while I was still engaged in the engineering field. I must be a good engineer if I had worked at MIT.

I joined Indikon, a manufacturer of strain gauges for the nuclear power industry. Got this job based largely on the fact that the head of engineering had studied with the head of the Biomechanics Lab at MIT. He didn’t ask very many questions nor did I. Within just a few weeks I realized that I was a complete mismatch for their requirements.

After a couple of years I became the Manager of Custom Products and discovered that management was my talent. After 11 years at a Fortune 500 electronics company and many job titles ending with VP of Business Development. My favorite was Plant Manager – in charge of a 300 person manufacturing plant for electronic switches. Then he was swept out of big corporate America in one of the management purges of the early 1990s.

After wandering around somewhat lost as to next steps, Karen connected me to Bob Forrant who she knew through her job at the Industrial Service Program, a Massachusetts state program to support a flagging manufacturing sector. I drove out to Springfield to meet him at a Dunkin’ Donuts. We chatted about common interests and experience in manufacturing. Nothing specific seemed to be on the table, just a networking meeting. Several days later I got a telephone call from a Prof. Bill Mass at UMass Lowell. He started the conversation, “Bob Forrant said I should hire you”. I asked him what I was being hired to do. He explained and thus began a new career starting a new branch of the Massachusetts’s Manufacturing Partnership, a joint Federal-state project directed by NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology). Over the next couple of years I directed and delivered workshops and consulting projects to local manufacturing companies to help them become more competitive.

Resume – 2017

MARK M. ORTON

114 Warren St. Hudson, NY 12534 USA

Tel: 617-312-8550    mark@markorton.com

 

SUMMARY:

Broad experience in sales, marketing, and operations management.  A strong analytical manager with excellent human resource management skills focused on team building and developing an ethic of quality and urgency directed to the customer.

 

EXPERIENCE:

2017 to date    General Manager                UTHISME LLC             Hudson NY

UTM is a software company with patented encryption technologies offering products in remote patient monitoring to the healthcare market. See UTMHealthcare.com

2004 to date        President      RIVERSIDE BUSINESS COACHING.           Hudson, NY

Business coach to owners and managers of smaller organizations.  Focused on strategy and operations. Global client base in services, distribution and manufacturing – startup to $20 million sales. Coaching predominantly delivered via telephone and web-based conferencing. Lean manufacturing/enterprise consulting to manufacturers and service firms.  See RiversideBusinessCoach.com

 

1999 to 2004       Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer       VALUEDGE, INC.                    Lexington, MA

Valuedge was an innovator in web-based organizational assessment software for use in supplier assessment in multiple industries. Valuedge developed and deployed a custom supplier assessment tool for The Boeing Co.  A commercial product was launched in 2003.  Valuedge was sold to Emptoris, Inc. in 2004. The product is now part of IBM’s ERP offerings. Responsible for product design and architecture, product roadmap, and product extensions. Worked with co-founder partner on all aspects of general company management and strategy. Also consulted to companies to improve their performance in supply chain management and lean manufacturing/enterprise methods.

1995 to 1999       Co-Director        NEW ENGLAND SUPPLIERS INSTITUTE.                     Boston, MA.

A regional industry membership organization of 115 suppliers that worked with manufacturers to improve performance through joint customer-supplier projects, education, and networking. The organization was jointly funded by the Federal and state governments with extensive industry support.

• Organize consortia of state economic development, technical and educational resources
• Develop an industry advisory board
• Develop and deliver workshops, seminars, focus groups in supply chain management and lean manufacturing
• Create marketing program and market to manufacturers and other stakeholders

1993 to 1995  Director  MERRIMACK VALLEY MANUFACTURING PARTNERSHIP, INC.    Lowell,MA

A National Institute of Standards and Technology Manufacturing Extension Partnership Program affiliate. MVMP provided technical, business, and training consulting to small and medium size manufacturers. Incorporated organization, recruited Board of Directors, hired and trained staff of seven consultants. Conducted marketing outreach and sales to small manufacturers. Developed partnerships with other local and regional interest groups and resources including University of Massachusetts at Lowell

1983 to 1992      AUGAT INCORPORATED                                                                               Mansfield, MA

A $650 million Fortune 500 multinational manufacturer of passive electromechanical components for the computer, telecommunications, and automotive markets. Now part of Tyco International, Ltd.

Vice President of Business Development and Product Support    Interconnection Products Group (1992)

Vice President Marketing for Core Products       Interconnection Products Group   (1991)

General Manager  N. Andover, MA manufacturing plant        Interconnection Products Group (1990-1991)

Vice President for Customer Service and Inside Sales           Interconnection Products Group (1987-1990)

Product Marketing Manager                                                        Alcoswitch Division (1985-1987)

Inside Sales Manager                                                                  Alcoswitch Division (1983-1985)

1980 – 1983        Product Design Engineer & Custom Engineerings Manager    C&K COMPONENTS,  Newton, MA

Electromechanical components

1979 – 1980        Research Engineer for the Biomechanics Engineering Group  MASSACHUSETTS INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Cambridge, MA Research on artificial hips and knees.

1977 – 1979        Mechanical Designer                              MINUTEMAN LABORATORIES, INC.,  Acton, MA                        Vacuum UV and soft X-ray monochrometers and spectrometers

1973 – 1976        Machinist                                              VARIOUS COMPANIES

1969 – 1971        Teacher                                                NEWTON SOUTH HIGH SCHOOL, Newton, MA

EDUCATION:   B.A. in Russian Language and Literature, Lawrence University, Appleton, WI, 1969
Doctoral Program in Slavic Linguistics, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY

Associates in Applied Science. Manufacturing Technology & Computer Science, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston MA, 1975

Harvard University Extension Cambridge, MA Courses in Operations Management, Financial Accounting, Financial  Management, International Finance, Cost  Accounting, Corporate Law 1981-1985

Industry Seminars: MRP I (UNISYS two week course);  JIT Production (Schonberger); Professional Selling Skills(Learning International); Six Sigma Black Belt Program (American Society for Quality)

PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS: Examiner for the Massachusetts State Quality Award 1999 – 2003. Member of American Society for Quality 2003 – 2008. Member of Business Networking International 2004 -2011.

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENTS:

Board of Trustees of Hudson Area Library, Hudson NY – 2009 to 2016; 2017 to date. President 2011 to 2016; President 2018 to date.

Cambridge Community Center, Cambridge, MA – 1980 – 1984. Member Board of Directors

Riverside Cambridgeport Community Corp. – 1978 – 1988 Member of Board of Directors; Treasurer

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Other Notes

(listed in ascending order by publication date)