BlueSwarf Customer Support Center

Greg Eckerman, MSE, Executive Master Lean Six Sigma Black Belt 
Greg Eckerman has over 30 years experience, including 14 years at AlliedSignal Engines, 6 years in the energy industry, and 9 years as executive consultant in Lean and Six Sigma. With a background in mechanical/structural engineering and program/project management, Mr. Eckerman has broad industry experience in application of Lean Six Sigma to production processes, having implemented programs at numerous Fortune 500 companies worldwide. Mr. Eckerman is a frequent author and speaker on subjects pertaining to Lean and Six Sigma. Most recently, Mr. Eckerman served as Co-Founder and COO of GlobalVantage, an aerospace engineering services company with CNC machining capabilities. Prior, he served as the Managing Director of the Six Sigma Academy (founded by the principal architect of Six Sigma at Motorola) and at the AIT Group. At AlliedSignal Aerospace, Mr. Eckerman held the position of Director of Technical Excellence, AlliedSignal's Design for Six Sigma program. Mr. Eckerman earned his BSE and MSE in mechanical engineering from Arizona State University and is a registered Professional Engineer. He is a member of ASME, ASQ and the Project Management Institute, he is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and an Executive Master Black Belt, specialized in strategic deployment design and execution.

Dave Barton, Co-Founder
Dave Barton has over 25 years of experience in the metalworking and machining fields. He was Founder and President of American Machinist Supply in San Jose, California. He founded BlueSwarf in the Silicon Valley in 2002, moving it to Penn State University's Innovation Park at the end of that year. Mr. Barton was chosen as one of the six original partners of National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining. As an early entrant in B2B eCommerce, Mr. Barton served as Executive Vice President of venture-backed internet start-up MachineTools.com and served as a consultant to Federal Express, Autodesk, Milacron, Yahoo and eBay. He also served as National Sales Manager of Rutland Tool & Supply (later known as Airgas Direct Industrial) and President of Omat Contol Technologies USA. Mr. Barton earned a BS from Arizona State University. Mr. Barton was one of the subjects of the 2004 best selling book, LIFE 2.0, How People Across America Are Transforming Their Lives by Finding the Where of Their Happiness, by the Publisher of Forbes, Rich Karlgaard. Barton co-authored "Servization of the Cutting Tool Supply Chain" with Dr. Vittal Prabhu and Dr. Chen-Yang Cheng for the International Journal of Production Research. Barton was named the E.V. Bishoff Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Pennsylvana State University.

Dr. Tom Delio, Co-Founder
Dr. Tom Delio is considered one of the nation's leading authorities on high speed machining and machine tool dynamics. Dr. Delio co-founded, along with renowned machine tool pioneer Dr. Jiri Tlusty, Manufacturing Laboratories Inc.(MLI) and continues to serve as its President. Dr. Delio's has worked at MLI for the past 13 years performing development work in high-performance machining and commercializing MLI's resulting products. This work includes high-speed spindle development, design of high-speed and high-precision machine tools, adaptive controls for high-speed machining and dynamics characterization methods of machine tools. Most recently Dr. Delio has led work on MLI's new product line for measurement and characterization of machine tools for the production shop environment. He has authored several papers in the area of spindle speed control and holds a patent that is utilized in several of MLI's products. Dr. Delio was selected as one of the six original partners of National Center for Defense Manufacturing and Machining; he is a Registered Professional Engineer; Certified Manufacturing Technologist and was the Recipient of the 2003 Pinckney Award (American Helicopter Society). He holds a BS, MBA and PhD from the University of Florida and a MS from Pennsylvania State University.

Dr. Scott Smith, Co-Founder
Dr. Scott Smith is the inventor or co-inventor of many of the cutting-edge techniques used for the optimization of machine tool performance. Smith has 20 years of experience in high-speed machining, process development, machine design, and machine dynamics. Smith is President and a co-founder of OpSource, Inc., a company that uses machine dynamics knowledge to produce high-quality, reliable, on-time machined components. Smith was one of the founders of Manufacturing Laboratories, Inc. (MLI) and currently serves as a member of the board. Smith is a professor and chairman of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. He previously served as the Associate Director of the Machine Tool Research Center at the University of Florida. He is a Corresponding Member of CIRP (the International Institution for Production Engineering Research), he is on the Executive Committee of the Manufacturing Engineering Division of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, and on the Board of Directors for the North American Manufacturing Research Institute of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He holds a BSME from Tennessee Technological University, and both MSME and PhD from the University of Florida. Smith is a licensed professional engineer in Florida.

Dr. Bethany Woody
Dr. Bethany Woody completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering (2005) at University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Dr. Woody is a cofounder, of InsituTec Inc (2001), and has worked with government and industrial companies such as the NIST, Caterpillar, Boeing, and Bell Helicopter. Her primary roles at InsituTec include management, business development and customer outreach. Past collaborative efforts have included projects in the machining of titanium (Bell Helicopter), aluminum and nickel aluminum bronze. Her masters project was recognized by the American Helicopter Society (AHS) Robert L. Pinckney Award for bringing breakthrough technology from the laboratory and research environment to the production floor. Dr. Woody’s current research interests include machine tool dynamics, high speed machining technology, and advanced manufacturing techniques. These efforts have led to significant experience in high speed machining, machine tool dynamics, process plan development, precision manufacturing, and uncertainty analysis.

Mike Gugger, MBA - Certified Lean Trainer, Six Sigma Green Belt
Mike Gugger represents BlueSwarf in New England. Mr. Gugger most recently served as the Manager of Consulting Services for CONNSTEP, where he managed their Lean Delivery team. CONNSTEP is the Connecticut member of the NIST Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) network. Prior to his position with CONNSTEP, he served as the Division Manager of Engineering and Technology at Symmetry Medical, Inc. and focused his efforts on upgrading production technology and driving continuous improvement throughout the organization. He initiated the company’s Lean revitalization, including the startup of Symmetry Medical’s Total Production Maintenance (TPM) system and set-up reduction driven through team-based initiatives. Mike spent ten years working in various management capacities at TechSolve, Inc., Ohio’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership, where he demonstrated strong technical expertise in machining services and lean processes. While at TechSolve, Mike’s roles included Manager of Machining Services, Manager of Special Projects for supply chain and lean engagements, and Manager of the company’s Manufacturing Research Lab. He also served as a Tooling and Process Research Engineer for the Machining Xcellence Group at TechSolve, Inc. Mike holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Lowell and received his Master of Business Administration from Capella University. He is a Certified Lean Sensei, GE trained Six Sigma Green Belt, and NIST certified Lean Training Leader with more than thirty published articles and research papers.

Scott E. Miller, P.E.
Scott Miller represents BlueSwarf in the Midwest and is one of the industry’s leading experts in CAD/CAM, product development and process optimization technologies. Mr. Miller is the founder and President of The Innovation Machine, a network of specialized engineers & product specialists that architect & implement complete, integrated Product Development Systems of People, Process, Technology, Machines, and Material. Mr. Miller served as President of the Chicago chapter of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA). Mr. Miller founded idesign Golf, a contract golf club manufacturing company with a large machining facility and served as Vice President of Kahler International. Mr. Miller earned a BS in Industrial Engineering from Penn State University and is a graduate of the Navy Supply Corps School. Mr. Miller served as an officer in the U.S. Navy.

Paul Cronin, Marketing Manager
Paul Cronin is a former two-time All-Academic Big 10 defensive back for the Penn State Nittany Lions. After graduating with a degree in Advertising and Public Relations from Pennsylvania State University in 2005, Mr. Cronin continued his football career in the Arena Football League. In 2008, he returned to State College to found Blue Line Images, a custom graphic design firm. Mr. Cronin developed the business model for Blue Line Images, creating an online ordering system, fulfillment center and affiliate program.

Jason Cassell, Eastern Region Sales Manager
Jason Cassell has over fifteen years of experience in the metalworking industry and represents BlueSwarf in the Southeast. He has held sales and management positions at Okuma, Robert E. Morris, MSC Direct and Machine Tools.com. Mr. Cassell has been with BlueSwarf since its inception in 2002. He has conducted extensive research and study in the areas of toolholder design, balancing and machine tool dynamics. Mr. Cassell attended Marshall University on a football scholarship and received his certification as a Certified Machine Tool Sales Engineer (CMTSE). Mr. Cassell is based out of the BlueSwarf Charlotte, North Carolina office.

Kristin Bushong, Director of Social Media
Kristin has over ten years of experience in internet operations and marketing. Ms. Bushong has served as Marketing Coordinator for Growing Tree Toys and Webmaster for HappyValley.com. She was Content Manager for the award-winning GoPSUsports.com, the official website of the Penn State Nittany Lions athletic teams. Her responsibilities included managing CoachPaterno.com. Ms. Bushong attended Ohio State and Penn State Universities, is a fan of San Francisco Bay Area sports teams and married with one child.

John Heim, Board Member
John Heim has 20 years of construction and real estate experience and is also a partner in numerous residential and commercial properties in Harrisburg and Central Pennsylvania and in oil exploration and drilling ventures in eastern Texas. He was the co-founder and President of Tricore Group, LLC a land development and construction management company in central PA. Mr. Heim received training in the Army for heavy equipment operation and road work in the Engineer Corps and began general contracting while attending Susquehanna University. Mr. Heim graduated from Susquehanna with a B.S. in business administration where he was a varsity football letterman and second team all-American. He has served as a mentor with The Second Mile Friend Fitness program and on the community advisory board for Easter Seals of Central PA. He resides in Warriors Mark, PA with his children.


BOARD OF ADVISORS

Dr. Tony Schmitz
Tony Schmitz received his BS in Mechanical Engineering from Temple University in 1993, his MS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida in 1996, and his PhD in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Florida in 1999. Schmitz completed a post-doctoral appointment at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and was then employed as a Mechanical Engineer from 1999-2002. During this time, he was also a lecturer at Johns Hopkins University. Schmitz accepted an appointment in the University of Florida’s Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (UF MAE) in 2002 and joined the Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Science Department at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in 2011. His professional recognitions include: 2011 Sports Emmy Award (NBC Learn) for the Science of NFL Football video series, 2010 North American Manufacturing Research Institute/Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) Outstanding Paper, 2009 UF MAE Teacher of the Year, 2005 SME Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer award, 2004 Journal of Tribology Best Paper Award, 2003 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator Award, 2003 National Science Foundation CAREER Award, 1999 Measurement Science and Technology Highly Commended Article, 1999 National Research Council Postdoctoral Research Associateship (NIST), 1999 Temple University Gallery of Success Inductee, 1998 Department of Energy/National Academy of Engineering Integrated Manufacturing Predoctoral Fellowship, and 1994 National Science Foundation Graduate Traineeship. Schmitz also serves as an associate editor for Precision Engineering and the ASME Journal of Manufacturing Science and Engineering.

Dr. David Dilley
Dr. David Dilley founded D3V in 2004 to provide machine tool vibration services designed specially for the metal - cutting industry. Dilley has been working in the metal - cutting industry for 10 years with 6 of those years at GM Powertrain as a tool and die supervisor, senior process engineer, and senior project engineer. In 2001, he was awarded a Boeing Fellowship to research drill and reamer vibrations with Boeing's Military Advanced Manufacturing R&D. D3V is currently working with Manufacturing Laboratories, Inc. to develop drilling and reaming software to complement MFLI's MetalMAX technology. Dilley has numerous journal and conference publications, and has lectured classes at Oakland University and University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Dilley holds a BSME from the University of Missouri in Columbia, MS Engineering Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic and both MSME and Doctorate from Washington University in St. Louis.

Dr. Robert Winfough
Dr. Winfough has served at several high-level management positions at AmeriForge and at Ingersoll Milling Machine where he had responsibility for the technical direction of many activities from evaluating machine performance to leading measurement acquisition and evaluation of existing equipment. Some of his major projects at Ingersoll include vertical octahedral hexapod, advanced reconfigurable machine for flexible fabrication, and precision high-speed machining with vibration control as well as the development of the horizontal octahedral hexapod machine. Winfough had corporate-wide responsibilities for conducting advanced dynamics analysis work on all high velocity machines at Ingersoll. His activities included evaluation of high-speed spindle units; performance of manufacturing process analysis for cost reduction, process enhancements and evaluations of designs; and development of linear motor based machines. Winfough has taught various courses including SME's High-Speed High-Power Machining seminar. Dr. Winfough was awarded the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME) as a John T. Parsons Outstanding Young Manufacturing Engineer for 2000. He has a doctorate from the University of Florida.