Kim Burndred

Director of Machine Connectivity

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Kim Burndred has nearly 40 years' experience in the industrial sector specializing in manufacturing systems and related engineering. Currently, he is the Director of Machine Connectivity with Toward Zero. In that role, he collaborates with industrial companies to conduct machine audits, determine machine "connectability," assess machine connection states, and capture all relevant machine information throughout the plant and enterprise. Through these efforts, he helps the manufacturing enterprise establish the data backbone for MES, Smart Manufacturing, Industry 4.0, IIoT, and other manufacturing systems and technologies. Prior to Toward Zero, Kim was a Senior Business Consultant with FORCAM US, where he served as an expert in manufacturing productivity and manufacturing execution systems (MES) implementation, integration, rollout, training, and adoption. Before his time with FORCAM, Kim dedicated more than three decades of his career to systems engineering, developing performance and automation solutions for manufacturing organizations. Kim spent his early career as a Manufacturing Manager with ABB, where he was responsible for all operations activities throughout a production facility, including production, engineering, and procurement. Kim's engineering passions don't stop at the end of the workday; he and his wife are passionate about advancing high school students' knowledge and capabilities in robotics and automation. To that end, in 2017 they founded Starship Robotics, a 501(c)(3) non-profit dedicated to mentoring teens in robotics competitions.