Gregory O’Day

Leads the Peerless Business Unit, overseeing two preheater rotary kilns, a hydrate process, a PQL process, and a transloader operation. Directly manages six salary supervisors, one administrator, and over 60 hourly union employees in a continuous manufacturing environment.

Key Achievements & Responsibilities

• Directed daily plant operations, balancing safety, production, quality, and cost objectives across multiple process areas.
• Improved operational performance and reliability, driving consistent gains in equipment efficiency and fuel utilization.
• Coordinated refractory outages and emergency repairs on kilns with back-to-back outages, ensuring schedules and budgets were maintained.
• Influenced labor, maintenance, and capital spending decisions, including determining overtime levels and prioritizing repairs within budget constraints.
• Developed supervisors through one-on-one coaching, performance reviews, and monthly alignment meetings, fostering accountability and consistency across rotating shifts.
• Led the reliability pillar and served as a key stakeholder in the safety pillar, advancing preventive maintenance and safety engagement initiatives.
• Presented monthly cost variance and KPI reviews to senior leadership, highlighting performance trends and driving cross-functional corrective actions.
• Collaborated with supply chain leadership to adjust production plans and meet enterprise-wide customer demands during both planned and unplanned outages.

Supported daily operations across multiple business units, initially at Mississippi Rotary before being reassigned to the Peerless Business Unit to improve underperforming operations. Provided technical direction for two preheater rotary kilns (RK1 and RK2), the hydrate process, and the PQL process.

Key Achievements & Responsibilities

• Improved production performance and process reliability through daily evaluation of operating data, identification of bottlenecks, and implementation of targeted process adjustments.
• Turned around an underperforming business unit, restoring stability and significantly improving throughput and efficiency within months of transition.
• Enhanced process control through AIC automation, improving loop tuning, process stability, and operator utilization of automated systems.
• Collaborated daily with operations and maintenance teams to resolve process upsets, address equipment failures, and minimize production and quality impacts.
• Provided technical training and troubleshooting support to operators and maintenance teams to strengthen process understanding and reduce recurring issues.
• Supported outage planning and execution through data analysis, root-cause investigations, and implementation of corrective actions to prevent repeat failures.