THIRTY UNDER THIRTY PROFILES
Patrick Bloss Age: 25 Ford Motor Company Cincinnati, OH
UNDER THIRTY P
atrick Bloss had an interest in engineer- ing for a long time but it intensified during an internship during the summer of 2011 at Morey Corp. in the Chicago suburb of
Woodridge, IL. At Morey, Bloss helped make circuit boards for Cat- erpillar Inc. “So much is going on, it required so much more than engineering to get things done,” Bloss said in an interview. “In a plant, everything is right there, it’s easy to see the effect you have on things.” Bloss described the experience in more detail in
Ford’s entry for the 30 Under 30 awards. The Morey internship, he said, “required a technical knowledge to form a deeper understanding of the pro- cess, open-mindedness to brainstorm a solution, and communication and teamwork to implement a fix.” Besides the circuit board work at Morey, Bloss
also restructured production lines into work cells and helped create a 5-year-plan to the factory’s layout. Bloss graduated
when the automaker was threatened with financial ruin and managed a comeback without a federal bailout. Within six months of being hired, Bloss assumed re- sponsibility for five transmission components. He also has led cross-functional teams to generate continuous improvements in safety, quality, productivity and cost in production processes such as laser welding, gearing machining and assembly. For example, he was co- leader of a scrap-reduction project. That led to a 41% cut in scrap cost per unit for five transmission compo- nents. Ford estimates it will save $2.7 million through 2023 as a result. Bloss currently is engineering special- ist for seven transmission components. For Bloss, the work day varies. “It’s juggling longer
projects that are at different stages with the day-to-day meetings,” he said.
from Purdue Uni- versity in West La- fayette, IN, in 2012, with a bachelor’s of science in mechanical engineering. His grade point average was 3.4 on a 4.0 scale. Bloss joined Ford in 2012 at the automaker’s trans- mission plant in Sharonville, OH. “At Sharonville, we are like a gear center,” he said. “We make gears for virtually every car Ford makes.”
After getting the job, Bloss studied up on his new
employer. He read "American Icon," a book about Ford’s then-CEO Alan Mulally. The executive headed Ford from September 2006 until mid-2014, a period
“When I was coming out of college, manufacturing jobs were not sought after,” he said. “They need to know how important it is. This is the part of the business where they actually make the product.”
Bloss “has demonstrated the impact an engineer can have in a manufacturing organization,” John Or- lando, a Ford area manager, said in Bloss’ entry for 30 Under 30.
Bloss’ mother Kris is an automa- tion engineer. Like
other children who became manufacturing engineers, he played with Legos as a kid. “I absolutely loved Legos growing up.” Later, he developed interest in math and physics. The Ford engineer said other engineering students should consider manufacturing.
“When I was coming out of college, manufacturing
jobs were not sought after,” he said. “They need to know how important it is. This is the part of the busi- ness where they actually make the product.”
July 2015 |
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