Robert Strain brings the right combination of hand-on experience to succeed as ERT’s Director of Operations.  He is a manufacturing and operations executive with extensive experience in setting up new manufacturing facilities around the world, as well as significant experience in operations, logistics and purchasing.  

From an industry perspective, Mr. Strain has spent the majority of his career in energy and technology related manufacturing environments including extensive work with solar panels, air filters, infrared wireless LANs, switching regulators, power supplies and other technology and energy related products. 

As Operations Manager at Gloria Spire Solar, Mr. Strain managed all phases of the production department including reviewing engineering designs for manufacturability, hiring, training, purchasing, regulatory compliance, and implementation of MRPII.

Previous to his tenure and Gloria Spire Solar, Mr. Strain has served as Production Manager and/or Operations Manager at several companies including Spire Corp, LLC; Spectrix Corp.; Power Trends and Micro Energy, Inc.   In these positions he has set up numerous production lines, been responsible for the implementation of PC/network-based MRPII systems, streamlined departments, implemented a variety of manufacturing best practices including JIT, MRP and more to successfully reduce inventories, rationalize parts and vendors, and reduce overall material costs.  Robert attended Michigan Technical University and has an EET Associate in Applied Sciences.

Mr. Strain resides in the western suburbs of Chicago.