William Forbes

Responsible for design, engineering, program management functions. Implemented new product development process, including 3 year roadmaps.

Managed all product development, including product design, fashion, engineering and project management. Successfully expanded the Ergobaby brand into the stroller category. Built 5 year innovation roadmap, including 3D knit baby carrier (now sold as Aerloom).

Consumer juvenile products company including Safety 1st, Cosco, Eddie Bauer and Maxi-Cosi brands. Manage product planning, development and launch activities for a diverse product portfolio, including softgoods and hardgoods for baby gear, car seats and connected health/monitoring products. Review/approval of category strategies, long-range plans (LRP) and 3 year roadmaps to achieve P&L goals.
• Utilized consumer-centric, "First-Time-Right" tools and techniques to achieve >4.5 Star reviews on all 2015 product launches.
• Introduced Innovation process and utilized Scrum for fast delivery of consumer-winning products.
• Re-Tooled Industrial Design and Fashion teams to achieve "5-Star" Design Thinking development, focusing strategies on key consumer insights. Result is new product introductions in car seats, strollers, and home product outselling previous product 2:1 at higher margins.

Responsible for the overall U.S. Car Seat Business P&L (~$170M), including new product development and category strategy/planning.
- Focused development on consumer-based innovation to differentiate and grow both Safety 1st and Cosco sales. Last three platform launches have nearly doubled margin % while increasing sales volume vs. prior product, with one item exceeding $45M in sales for the first year.
- Created category strategic plan, 3 year product roadmap and manged product portfolio. Achieved 10% increase in sales and approximately 3% increase in category margins.

North American Regional Technical Lead/ Director, Global Strollers. Consumer baby products company including Graco, Aprica and Teutonia brands. Managed product development & program management for $450M in business.
• Reduced new product development lead times by approximately 50% by streamlining stage-gate process, improving cross functional team collaboration, and improving launch process with Asian manufacturer.
• Launched record number of innovative new product platforms in 2011 (including Dynamo Lite™, Fast Action Fold™ and Ready 2 Grow™), resulting in point-of-sale increases of ~20% and. overall sales growth of almost 10%.

Turn-around Team/Private Equity Consumer juvenile products company. Responsible for product development, functions (Industrial Design, Softgoods Design, Program Management, Asia Engineering, Model Shop).
• Developed and delivered new consumer-driven innovations to market as part of "Safety Made Easier" strategy, including Infinite Slide™ and SureLatch™ technologies.
• Increased child restraint sales by over 50% in 7 years, with concurrent increases in margin and EBITDA.
• Built business value (EBITDA) significantly, resulting in 2 succesful private equity ownership changes over 6 years.
• Established production of infant car seats in China, resulting in over $800k annual savings in the first year.
• Moved all Asian stroller and car seat production from single source to new supply base, saving over $5M/yr.
• Championed the development of company's in-house crash test facility and computer analysis tools.

Directed group of 18 engineers in program launch and production support activities for airbag, seatbelt, and steering wheel programs. Directed TRW worldwide plants for resolution of all launch related performance and quality issues. Promoted four times in seven years.
• Designed, developed, and production launched the first "smart" passenger airbag systems. Sales in excess of 1.3 million units per year, with revenue in excess of $60 million annually.
• Developed and patented a cost reduced inflator design with company savings of over 35% on manufacturing and material costs (greater than $15 million per year saved).
• Served as "Product Performance Advisory Committee Manager" for 2-1/2 years, managing all potential safety and compliance issues for the division. Reported directly to President and CEO, managing all necessary company assets to minimize impact. Successfully coordinated and managed 6 vehicle recalls involving TRW products, totaling more than $80 million, with federal government (NHTSA) and vehicle manufacturer involvement.

Managed team of engineers and technicians, providing composite material and process support to spacecraft & automotive programs.
• Managed materials and SEM labs, as well as projects including a planned Mars mission with airbag landing system
• Designed torque sensor for the Electronic Controlled Steering (ECS) program, currently in production.
• 60% cost and weight savings in spacecraft structures through innovative use of composite materials.