Leadership Portfolio

Daniil Rapoport
Chat Assistant

Professional Summary

Senior Quality & Problem Solving Engineer with 15+ years of experience driving operational excellence at Ford Motor Company. Proven track record of leading cross-functional teams without formal authority, resolving complex Underbody, Chassis, and Systems engineering challenges, and managing supplier conflict to achieve robust Prevent Action Closure (PAC). Extensive FMA analysis expertise: DFMEA, P-Diagram, Boundary Diagram, Interface Analysis, Functional Analysis, RCL, CPA, Quality History, SCCAF and advanced problem-solving methodologies (3L5W, 14D, 8D, 6Sigma / DMAIC). Early adopter of AI tools usage — writing prompts and generating AI-assisted workflows.

Professional Experience

Ford Motor Company | Dearborn, MI

Grouped progressive roles in quality, problem solving, and product development (1999 - 2006, 2014 - Present)

2019 - Present

Problem Solving, Prevent Recurrence and Program FMA

  • Lead complex, high visibility, problem-solving investigations on CCRG/GRID assigned projects under ambitious timing constraints (Root cause confirmed in less than 30 days for safety, 48 days for non-safety), directly supporting the Prevent Recurrence and FSA reduction strategic initiative. Highlighted projects:
    • 23-666 Bronco Sport 1.5L Carbon Canister fires - (Underbody / Fuel Systems) (Severity 10)
    • 25-641 P702N BEV Brake Caliper Bolt loose - (Underbody / Chassis) (Severity 10)
    • 26-019 Escape Trans assembly issue - (Powertrain / Driveline) (Severity 10)
  • Presented project statuses and deep dives in weekly chief peer reviews curated by Global FMA and Problem Solving Chief, effectively communicating RC and 3L5W problem solving milestones to leadership.
  • Utilized advanced analytical tools (Ford LLM, AI Notebook, 3L5W, 6 Sigma, Quality.ai) to effectively scope assigned items, identify and verify root causes and implement robust systemic prevent corrective actions.
  • Drove cross-functional collaboration engaging core teams, ASO, PAC coordinators, Technical Specialists, Suppliers, functional chiefs and hardware owners in problem solving investigations
  • Coached and mentored forward model FMA disciplines on a variety of Forward Model programs (Underbody, Electrical, Interior, components and Subsystems)
  • Program FMA Leadership: Successfully led and completed GPDS FMA forward model program targets for complex (level 3 & 4) components, modules, subsystems and late program adds, including:
    • V713 AV panel exciter
    • P702 BEV Front Hatch Control Module
    • S650 and P708 Remote Cluster Box (RCB)
  • Recognition: Two-time recipient of the Ford Recognition Award (2020) for excellence in FMA delivery and coaching of the above listed items
  • Team Development: Volunteered to be added to the "FMA Experts" list, mentoring junior engineers and teams on robust design practices.
  • Six Sigma Black Belt Certification - in progress. I write prompts in LLM and use AI tools streamlining workflows

2019 - 2023

Global Failure Mode Avoidance (FMA) Coach & Design Assurance

Global Failure Mode Avoidance (FMA) Coach & Design Assurance (2019 - 2023) Coached vehicle program teams, core engineering, and Tier-1 suppliers to execute critical FMA deliverables prior to major production milestones.

Leadership Style:

Mentor-focused and strategic. I lead by empowering others, providing the exact tools and frameworks they need to succeed, and taking the initiative to create roadmaps when standard procedures don't fit or direction is unclear.

Leadership Examples:

Leading in the "Gray Area": Stepped into an ambiguous launch environment with a new international audio hardware supplier that lacked any foundational FMA processes. With no clear direction from management, I developed and pitched a highly compressed 45-day turnaround plan. To execute it, I brought physical training materials to their facility, walked their global team step-by-step through OEM expectations for DFMEAs and Control Plans, and successfully brought their design robustness up to standard.

Proactive Test Improvement: Independently reviewed supplier test specifications for a critical fluid module and identified missing environmental noise factors (such as extreme voltage and temperature variations). I drove the engineering teams to characterize the components dimensionally and create "Best of Best" (BOB) and "Worst of Worst" (WOW) physical combinations prior to validation testing, significantly improving the robustness of the test plan.

1999 - 2006, 2014 - 2019

Function Owner & Product Development Engineer

Function Owner & Product Development Engineer (1999 - 2006, 2014 - 2019) Managed full-lifecycle design, development, and quality delivery for driver instrumentation and steering column control modules. Led cross-functional teams to meet strict program quality metrics.

Leadership Style:

Proactive and collaborative, focusing heavily on upfront planning to prevent downstream warranty issues.

Leadership Example:

Owned the core DFMEAs for multiple interior modules, ensuring that all cross-functional inputs from studio design, ergonomics, and hardware engineering were translated into robust, measurable validation tests. Additionally, I co-created a strategic core DFMEA addressing systemic battery drain issues and cascaded this standard across the top 10 module owners.

2007 - 2011

AM General · Reliability Engineer

Directed electrical system issue resolution and reliability modeling (DFMEA, RAM-D analysis) for complex military and commercial vehicle platforms.

Leadership Style:

Process-oriented and accountable. I believe in systemic fixes over band-aids and building supplier relationships based on verified capabilities rather than promises.

Leadership Example:

Rebuilt our supplier quality pipeline by developing a comprehensive reliability demonstration program from the ground up. I directed the Corrective Action Review Board (CARB), conducted on-site supplier audits, and trained design-responsible partners in robustness tools to ensure their hardware could survive extreme environmental noise factors.

2006 - 2007, 2011 - 2014

WABCO & ZF Sachs · Test & Development Engineer

Built a strong foundation in hands-on physical testing, data acquisition, and performance evaluation.

Procured test bench hardware, ran Minitab data analysis, and diagnosed physical failure modes for commercial air disc brakes and automotive shock absorbers, which directly informed later career in systemic failure mode avoidance.

Education

Academic Foundation

Master's Degree

Master of Science in Product Development (System Engineering Focus)

University of Detroit Mercy (In collaboration with an MIT Program)

Bachelor's Degree

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering

The University of Toledo

Core Methodologies & Technical Skills

Professional Toolkit

Problem Solving & Quality

Global FMA process, 14D / 8D, DMAIC, Six Sigma, 3L5W root cause analysis, Change Point Analysis (CPA).

Robustness Tools

DFMEA, P-Diagram, Boundary Diagram, Interface Analysis (IA), Robustness Check List (RCL), SCCAF.

Software & Analytics

Minitab, Weibull Data Analysis, JIRA, FEDE, AI Notebooks / GenAI tools for data consolidation, SysML Magic Draw.

Languages

German Russian

Contact

Let's Start The Conversation

Daniil Rapoport

West Bloomfield, MI | 248-207-3338 | drapopor@ford.com | daniilrapoport@gmail.com

daniilrapoport@gmail.com
248-207-3338
West Bloomfield, MI

Direct Email

Response: Usually within 24 hours.

Message sent successfully. Thank you, I will get back to you soon.