JEFFREY KNOBBE
Warehouse/Operations Manager
LOCKPORT
Summary
I have been in the logistics/warehousing industry for over 25 years, starting off as a forklift driver and working my way up to Senior Operations Manager. I have led multiple operations to exceeding expectations with KPIs, cost savings, inventory accuracy, and on-time delivery. My leadership style is educational because I like to learn as I lead my team and provide them with the information and training that they need to be able to be successful in their positions. My background shows that I have been involved with many different types of industries such as 3PL, Manufacturing, Aerospace, and Cold Storage. I have been successful in each of these environments and can provide experience and proven results as an operations/warehouse Manager.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
Work History
Senior Warehouse Manager
Magickwoods
03.2025 - 06.2025
- Managed 1 supervisor, 3 leads, 25 employees Communicated with employees from both India and Canada daily to coordinate shipments. Implemented racking system to add more storage in the building. Developed SOPs for receiving, inventory, picking, and shipping. Designed new pick path to increase productivity by 30% in first month.
Outbound Operations Manager
Readerlink
02.2023 - 03.2025
- Managed 5 supervisors, 6 leads, and over 100 employees Developed Picker Performance Program which raised the building UPH from below 200 to 240. On-Time Delivery was 100% for fiscal year 2023 and continues today. Reduced errors by 65% from January 2024 to today. Strengthened Control Room by creating new SOPs, minimizing length of time for binning/slotting and waving, committing, and printing orders for the Outbound Team. Worked with Transportation team to ensure that our carriers met their commitments and did not miss appointment times to our customers.
Operations Manager
Lineage Logistics
06.2022 - 01.2023
- Managed 9 supervisors, 6 leads, and over 150 employees Improved Turn Times from under 25% to just over 60% in 6 months. Responsible for Meat Packing Department including Exporting, Blast Freezing, and Packaging Cost Savings on labor, corrugate, and supplies by negotiating terms with vendors. Developed Daily Labor Plan to ensure that the team was tracking to complete all orders in a shift. Communicated with vendors, truck lines, and other Lineage buildings to ensure that all parties were on the same page in accomplishing goals for our customers. Served as a founding member of the food safety team Integral part of the BRC Food Safety Audit which received an A+ rating. Initial GFSI (Global Food Safety Initiative) audit for the facility, monitored CCP’s (Critical Control Points) in the boxing room with critical points being the metal detector and training the boxing room employees GMPs (Good Warehouses) for the entire facility.
Shipping Manager
Welch Packaging/Elkhart Transportation
11.2021 - 03.2022
- Managed 16 direct reports: 10 over the road drivers, 5 forklift drivers, and 1 clerk Increased on time delivery from 70% to 90% after three weeks of working Shipped a record $400,000 in one day (previous record was $270,000) due to planning loads accordingly and making deliveries on time. Created SOP’s for both the Shipping Manager and Shipping Assistant Supervisor positions. Organized and conducted team meetings for both departments (Forklift team and OTR drivers)
Inbound Supervisor
RJW
06.2020 - 11.2021
- Managed 18 direct reports: Material Handlers and Receiving Clerks Increased Dock to Stock percentage to 93% (previously averaging 68%). Improved overall moral of team by implementing morning meetings and stretching. Restructured team by promoting leads and cross training the entire team for maximum production.
Warehousing and Logistics Manager
GRUNDFOS
04.2019 - 04.2020
- Managed 6 direct reports : Material Handlers, Inventory Coordinator, and Receiving Clerk. Increased average weekly OTD to 90% (previously averaging 54%). Improved warehouse and production communication by implementing daily meetings with department heads. Created Work Instructions/SOPs for Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Control/Cycle Counting. Established a cycle counting program and performed root cause and implemented countermeasures to improve inventory accuracy - averaging highest inventory accuracy percentage in over ten years (Started at below 60% and currently close to 90% in only 6 months). Reorganized warehouse to better function, thus meeting and exceeding KPIs Created grocery store model where team can pick all the parts that were needed to build pumps with the same five aisles. Completed 5S on the shipping and receiving areas by clearly identifying lanes where items should go and established shipping and receiving lanes for orders due to ship and hot orders for production. Turned receiving trucks around in less than a shift with opening and counting each container that came in the door. Original turnaround time was 48-72 hours, current time is 24 hours or less. Established relationships with outside vendors and significantly decreased freight costs. Cleaned up yard and removed the SLOB inventory, profited from scrap by using VIM recyclers. Implemented safety measures and established clear walkways. Established a recycling program with VIM to pick up all wood and cardboard to keep our floors nice and neat.
Material Handlers, Inventory Coordinator, and Receiving Clerk
REXNORD
02.2017 - 03.2019
- Improved communication across warehouse and production floor by Implementing daily production meetings with all department heads. Created Work Instructions/SOPs for Shipping, Receiving, and Inventory Control / Cycle Counting. Established a cycle counting program and performed root cause and implemented countermeasures to improve inventory accuracy - averaging highest inventory accuracy percentage in over ten years (Started at below 60% and currently close to 90% in only 6 months). Reorganized warehouse to better function, thus meeting and exceeding KPIs Created grocery store model where team can pick all the parts that were needed to build pumps with the same five aisles. Completed 5S on the shipping and receiving areas by clearly identifying lanes where items should go and established shipping and receiving lanes for orders due to ship and hot orders for production. Turned receiving trucks around in less than a shift with opening and counting each container that came in the door. Original turnaround time was 48-72 hours, current time is 24 hours or less. Established relationships with outside vendors and significantly decreased freight costs. Cleaned up yard and removed the SLOB inventory, profited from scrap by using VIM recyclers. Implemented safety measures and established clear walkways. Established a recycling program with VIM to pick up all wood and cardboard to keep our floors nice and neat.Recruited for other opportunity at GrundfosSupervisor of Shipping, Receiving Material Handling (Warehouse Manager) Supervisor six (6) team members in Shipping, Receiving, Component and Spare Parts Departments. Manage work schedules and adjust manpower requirements through the various departments to maintain flow. Act as a player/coach for the team to assist in executing the teams daily/weekly/monthly standard work tasks. Created spreadsheets illustrating inventory accuracy percentage for cycle counting and captured shipping expenses from the customer service side to provide accurate data. Implemented Quantum View from UPS, so buyers are able to see shipments coming from the customer service side to the receiving dock to evaluate costs and time of delivery. Created solution allowing employees to pull serialized orders faster, cutting almost 4 hours a week in labor. Created a new process/storage location for shafts and completed TPI (Transaction Process Improvement) for the process (Overall created 9 TPI’s and performed 2 Kaizen Events). Developed software to obtain POD’s for International Shipments by allowing team to manually enter tracking numbers. Worked with team to implement 5S in the supply area, created labels and organized area for easier access. Brought inventory accuracy up from 96.5% to 98% in 7 months without inventory being locked or controlled. Initiated a cost savings process saving the company $8K by using LTL transportation over UPS/FedEx. Successfully completed the implementation of 5S for 2 facilities under the Rexnord name (Downers Grove, Twinsburg, OH) Completed Management Training through Rexnord’s RBS Training Program. Maintained an inventory accuracy percentage of 99% for a calendar year. Successfully moved physical inventory into new location without any product loss. Instrumental in helping to design the layout of the shipping receiving department in our new Center of Excellence.
Senior Warehouse Supervisor
INNOTRAC CORPORATION / RADIAL
11.2008 - 02.2017
- Supervise a team of 25 - 100 employees based on volume and managed up to $160 million in inventory. Created locations to make room for new incoming product for client. Created SOP documents for all departments including picking, packing, receiving, and shipping. Responsible for maintaining all OSHA recordable incidents and documents. Conducted training for managers and supervisors on how to handle injuries and accidents in the facility. Trained new team of associates to exceed SLA (Service Level Agreement) and expedite company goals. Doubled hourly production in returns department: increased UPH (Units Per Hour) while decreasing number of hours used to complete a job. Conducted time study using all types of associates (older, younger, male and female) to establish a firm UPH expectation. Began training the trainers so that expectations and the production numbers were understood and met on a consistent basis. Reduced SLA from 48 to 24 hours by adding additional stations and put away personnel during a 30-day period. Mentored and developed 15 associates into management positions within the company, while still maintaining a bench of personnel. Established cycle counting program, empty bin checks and auditing the put away process. Successfully ran 4 physical inventories, completed them with a 98% accuracy rating. Implemented new returns process which decreased client discrepancies from over 200 to less than 60 in 3 weeks. Reconfigured racking in picking module which created more active locations for products.
Education
Bachelors - English
Western Illinois University
Associate of Arts - General Education
Joliet Junior College
Joliet, IL 05.2001 -
Skills
- Decision Making
- Inventory Accuracy
- Productivity
- Logistics Operation
- Root Cause Analysis
- Inventory Control
- Continuous Improvement
- Multitasking
- Supervised Teams of 5 to 250 associates at a time
- Stocking Inventory
Timeline
Senior Warehouse Manager
Magickwoods
03.2025 - 06.2025
Outbound Operations Manager
Readerlink
02.2023 - 03.2025
Operations Manager
Lineage Logistics
06.2022 - 01.2023
Shipping Manager
Welch Packaging/Elkhart Transportation
11.2021 - 03.2022
Inbound Supervisor
RJW
06.2020 - 11.2021
Warehousing and Logistics Manager
GRUNDFOS
04.2019 - 04.2020
Material Handlers, Inventory Coordinator, and Receiving Clerk
REXNORD
02.2017 - 03.2019
Senior Warehouse Supervisor
INNOTRAC CORPORATION / RADIAL
11.2008 - 02.2017
Associate of Arts - General Education
Joliet Junior College
05.2001 -
Bachelors - English
Western Illinois University