Nate Barber
Continuous Improvement Consultant
​
Blending Lean and Six Sigma strategies and tools with a Kaizen leadership style, I have delivered exceptional business results as Opgrade LLC for diverse clients around the globe by fostering cultures of continuous improvement and operational excellence. In doing so, my teams and I have reduced costs and increased revenues, providing 3x–5x ROI and forging consensus from the C-suite to the shop floor.
p: 210-399-3997
e: nate.barber@opgrade.com
EXPERIENCE
Founder
Oct 2012 - Present
Opgrade LLC
Opgrade provides its clients with a structured approach to continuous improvement and teaches the concepts of Continuous Improvement (including Lean, Six-Sigma, and Agile) to 12-16 client-selected Improvement Leaders. Opgrade demonstrates several successful improvement events (kaizens and discovery events), then coaches the client’s Improvement Leaders to take charge of their own improvement events, empowering them to see and fix their own problems.
Selected engagements and results include:
-
Enabled clients to control and track CI progress
-
Cut the cost of poor quality for vitamin and supplement producer, generating $5.1M of annual savings
-
Tightened control, boosted efficiency
-
Avoided needless expense
-
Streamlined order entry by 85%
-
Cut changeover time in half
-
Drove EBITDA for a steel company by cutting inventory waste
-
Improved customer service, accelerated cash flow
-
Slashed response time and labor
-
Optimized order-to-cash conversion cycle (3C)
-
Streamlined production planning
Vice President
Mar 2005 - Oct 2012
Barber & Barber Associates, Inc.
Accountable for all specialty engineering projects and staff as well as marketing and information technology. In 2012, founded Opgrade by purchasing several of Barber & Barber’s assets to help parents retire.
Selected engagements and results include:
-
Gained a competitive edge for the family business
-
Performed many RAM (Reliability, Availability, Maintainability) studies, optimizing ROI
-
Conducted a risk management study for an LNG liquefaction expansion project
.png){kind=small}
Process Engineer
Jun 2001 - Feb 2005
Fluor Corporation
Produced solutions for Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) projects ranging from $50M to $1B in the Oil, Gas, Power & Chemical Industries.
Selected engagements and results include:
-
Performed many RAM analyses
-
Facilitated Fluor's 2004 annual Global Town Hall Meeting
EDUCATION
Master of Business Administration (MBA)
Business Administration and Finance
*Recipient of the
Drymala Leadership Award
Dual-Major Bachelors of Science in Engineering (BSE)
Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering
*Graduated Cum Laude
EXPERTISE
Continuous Improvement (CI)
Hoshin-Kanri Strategic Planning
Lean Manufacturing
Program & Project Management
Business Intelligence (BI) Dashboards
Kaizen Facilitation
Six Sigma
Agile
Process Optimization
Operational Excellence
Change Management
Management Consulting
RESULTS
Cut cost of poor quality for vitamin and supplement producer, generating $5.1M annual savings. Created roadmap of improvements needed to reduce overall waste by 50%. Facilitated 5-day Discovery Event with large (20+ person) cross-functional client team. Guided client on application of Opgrade strategy, creating project plan and timeline (Gantt chart) for implementation of each initiative to deliver annualized COPQ savings within 24 months.
Streamlined order entry by 85%. Client's order entry process was plagued by excessive paperwork and logistical obstacles. Facilitated a 5 day kaizen event that included activities such 5S (with audit scorecard) and spaghetti mapping. Piloted the automation of the order validation process and other improvements. Cut time spent in the manual distribution of paper information by 85% and eliminated 8.4 miles of walking per week, or 438 miles per year.
Optimized order-to-cash conversion cycle (3C). Led client’s team through a 5-day Hoshin Kanri strategy workshop at their industrial products facility to identify opportunities to reduce waste and improve profitability. Populated RACI (who is Responsible, Accountable, Consulted or Informed) grid for each action and each opportunity and displayed everything in a single X-Matrix Strategic Plan. Improved profitability $792K over 13 projects and kaizens.
MULTIMEDIA
Linkedin Video:
.png)
%20Scheduling.png)
TECHNICAL PROFICIENCIES
Lean Six Sigma
5S, Standard Work, Kanban, Kaizen, and SMED
ERP Platforms
Oracle, SAP, and Microsoft Dynamics
Statistical Analysis Tools
Minitab and Sigma XL
Microsoft Power Platform
PowerBI, PowerApps, and PowerAutomate
Team Management
Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Project Web App
Simulation Software
Reliability Simulators, Process Simulators, and Discrete Event Simulators
​
MEET NATE
Q & A
Q
A
Who are your main influences?
• Jesus Christ - My Lord & Savior
• Marisa Barber - My lovely wife
• Edward Deming - Lean management principles visionary
• Mark DeLuzio - Principal Architect of the Danaher Business System (DBS)
Q
A
What is your greatest accomplishment?
• 20 years of marriage with 5 children.
Q
A
What are you working on right now?
• I created a COVID-19 Dashboard in PowerBI to visually see and understand the progression of cases and deaths at the national, state, and county levels
• “Guideline for Establishing Criticality Rankings for Fossil Power Plant Systems and Components”, an equipment criticality ranking roadmap for the Electric Power Research Institute (epri.com)
• Opportfolio, a proprietary Continuous Improvement Project Portfolio, which helps management ensure the improvements they implement are sustainable and profitable across the enterprise
• Opcast, a proprietary equipment reliability and asset management simulation software
Q
A
What are your goals for the future?
• Raise my 4 sons and 1 daughter to be gentlemen and a lady
• Write a book entitled “Business is Simple (But Not Easy)”
• Be recognized as a preeminent business transformation thought leader
• Semi-retire well and travel the world
Q
A
What gives you inspiration?
• Working as a team to make substantial improvements that excite frontline workers
• Seeing improvements be kept and improved further by an enabled workforce
• Seeing others excitedly use what I have taught them
Q
A
What's your greatest strength?
• Teaching and facilitating disparate groups to reach consensus and move forward
• Effectively creating and communicating strategies that are successfully implemented
Q
A
Why did you choose your profession?
• I like working with people to improve their jobs
• I enjoy teaching others how to make their everyday lives better
• I enjoy seeing different parts of the country and world (and rarely eating at the same restaurant twice)
Q
A
What new technologies stimulate your interest?
• Business automation with Microsoft’s Power Platform
Q
A
What are some of your favorite business books?
• The Advantage, by Patrick Lencioni
• Great by Choice, by Jim Collins
• Lean Transformation, by Bruce A. Henderson and Jorge. L. Larco
• Who’s Counting, by Jerrold M. Solomon
• Understanding Variation, by Donald J. Wheeler
INTERESTS & HOBBIES
TESTIMONIALS
“It was always a pleasure to team up with Nate. He has the keen ability to analyze a project and develop a comprehensive road map. After careful consideration of project deliverables, resources and time constraints he gives highly reliable estimates to clients. If he detects risks, he does not hesitate to point them out, and develop a mitigation strategy. He treats all members of the team with respect and values their input.”
- Robert R. Database Specialist at Kaiser Permanente
“Nate is an absolutely brilliant engineer with a terrific business acumen. He is a natural born problem solver and possesses diverse skills that are a benefit to any group or project. He is driven, focused and committed to delivering on any and every promise he makes.”
- Jonathan P. - Reported Directly to Nate
“I have had the pleasure of watching Nate in action at Fluor Corporation, in facilitation of corporate level town hall meetings. Nate is extremely versatile and is respected by all who come in contact with him. I would not hesitate to give Nate any position that requires sound judgement, hard work, and a strong business ethic.”
- Daniel N. - Fluor Knowledge Management
“Nate's both a team player and friendly leader in diverse situations. I was lucky to get to know Nate during our MBA studies, and can testify that he not only has great intellectual aptitude but keen emotional and social intelligence as well. I would highly recommend Nate, whether in business or personal environments!”
- Antonio G.VP, Project Development & Engineering at Silverpeak
“Nate is a consummate professional who provokes critical thinking to business problems while enabling/facilitating solutions that meet the needs of the business. His focus on achieving strategic clarity is a true asset. I would gladly work with him again.”
- V. Adele C. Retired Lead Organization Effectiveness Consultant at USAA
