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Brian Kopas

Background

  • 1987 Earned a BS in Forest Products & joined Weyerhaeuser. Learned Deming principles from Bill Conway of “If Japan Can, Why Can’t We?” fame.
  • 1993 Joined Foldcraft/Plymold, a 100% employee-owned company providing foodservice furnishings to global chains.  Over the next 19 years  I held progressive roles including VP of Operations.  Earned a MS in Mfg Systems in ’94.
  • 1998 Led Foldcraft’s Lean Transformation with TBM consultants as our teachers and coaches.  Every function was transformed resulting in an 85+% reduction in lead-time, a tripling of output with no resource adds, supplier of the year honors from multiple chains and national ESOP company of the year honors for our approach to leadership.
  • 2013 Joined Viracon, mfgr of glass cladding many of the world’s tallest buildings including The Freedom Tower, and the Burj Khalifa to lead its Lean Journey.
  • 2015 Joined Fabcon Precast as Dir. Of Mfg for N. America’s largest designer, producer and erector of precast concrete buildings for customers such as Amazon and Google. Led a $200k/month swing from loss to profitability at our poorest performing facility.
  • 2019 VP of Ops for CDI, designer and mfgr of industrial dehumidification equipment that creates environments necessary for surgery, pharma and electric vehicle battery production.
  • 2021 Joined TBM as a consultant guiding clients on their Lean Transformation journey.
  • 11/1/22 Joined SA Partners!!

About Me

  • Live near Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota with Deb, my wife of 28 yrs,
  • Daughter Anne (27) writes for UK-based Fishawack, a commercialization partner for the healthcare industry when not writing her “Great American Novel”.
  • Son Rob (24) is an aerospace engineer for Salt Lake City Utah-based Janicki Industries creating parts for Lockheed Martin and SpaceX when not camping, hiking and mountaineering.
  • We love to camp, hike, bike, ski and travel.  The Candian Rockies are a favorite.
  • The family that runs together stays together! We’ve run multiple marathons and half marathons together. Come run with me after work.
image of Brian Kopas