In a relatively short period of time with Germantown-based KLH Industries Inc., director of finance Paul Fredelake has been a champion of professionalism and continuous improvement, according to KLH president Kevin Heins.
“From day one, he sought out ways to add value. He dove into an automated work-in-process procedure to diagnose and resolve a very complex issue. I was pleased with the result but stunned by how quickly and deeply he got himself involved,” Heins said.
“Paul is an exemplary example of one of our core values to challenge the status quo. He led a team-based approach to reduce the monthly ‘days to close’ that yielded a 60% improvement in the first month. He accomplished this by reviewing existing processes, identifying the lagging inputs, and communicating improvement strategies.
“By leveraging his interpersonal skills, Paul cultivates buy-in from others in the organization. He would describe himself as a people person, which I would add can sometimes be a rarity in occupations that live in numbers. He is proof that finance can provide better, more reliable input when they leave the keyboard and connect with the people,” Heins said.
