My name is Mary Jo (MJ) Richardson, B.A. My skills and areas of expertise include Materials Management, Procurement Management, & Inventory Management. . My professional title is Director of Operations at Integra LifeSciences Corp., which specializes in surgical instruments for spinal surgery. I received my Bachelors in Business Management from Wilmington College. I am currently involved with the American Production and Inventory Control Society. My hobbies and interests include traveling, exercising, home decorating & anything to do with animals. I regularly give to the ASPCA, donate clothing to Saint Vincent DePaul, and participating in charity events in the Akron, Ohio area.

My career began directly out of High School working for Fibre Glass-Evercoat as a Receiving Clerk. Over 14 years at the same company, my career progressed to Purchasing Manager, Customer Service Manager, and Materials Manager.

I decided it was time to go back to school in 1997 and left Fiber Glass Evercoat to work for Intermec Technologies. Intermec is a manufacturer/converter/printer of bar code labeling. I worked full time at Intermec as a Scheduling Supervisor while attending night school for 7 years. I was married and was taking care of a house, 2 dogs, a husband, and daughter. In 2004, I graduated from Wilmington College with a BA in Business Management.

I decided to leave Intermec and take some time off to re-cooperate. I worked as a substitute teacher for two local school districts and spent quality time with my daughter. In 2006, I worked for Ingersoll Rand as a Production Planning Manager and later an Inventory Control Manager. Ingersoll Rand Safety and Security Division manufacture hollow metal doors and frames for Commercial Sales. I was responsible for Purchasing, Planning, Material Flows, Inventory, & ran 2 shift operation of fifteen hourly/union workers. This was especially challenging because the union workers were all male, most of them were must older than me, in their late 50's to 60's and had never worked for a female before. But in the end, we all worked well together.

I started working for Integra Life Sciences Corporation as a Senior Materials Manager in December 2007. Integra is a Medical Device Manufacturer. The Cincinnati, Ohio plant manufactures reconstructive surgical instruments/implants for the hands, feet, wrist and ankles as well as cranial stabilization units for neurosurgery. This was my first exposure to FDA regulated products and the processes associated with controlling, verifying, and validating every step of a process. I was hired as a Sr. Materials Manager responsible for the procurement & planning processes with a staff of 2 people. Within a year, the department grew by 3 people. I was appointed interim Site Manager when my manager left the company. By that time, I had acquired additional staff members over the Inventory Control/Warehouse Department. I had a staff of 12 employees within 2 years and by my 3rd year I was promoted to Director of Operations at a newly acquired company in Akron Ohio.

As a Director of Operations, I am responsible for the procurement ,planning, warehouse, distribution, kitting & inventory of all instruments and implants required to manufacture/assemble surgical kits for specialized spine reconstruction. I also oversee the management of a Quality Control Department.