"The strength to stand when it matters."
Iron Bridge Manufacturing Advisors gives growing manufacturers the operational leadership of a 30-year industry veteran — without the overhead of a full-time executive hire.
Mike Holman is a plant manager and manufacturing operations executive with more than 30 years in the electrical motor manufacturing industry — including more than a decade leading a $175M-a-year ABB facility in Gainesville, Georgia, where he oversees HR, safety, engineering, quality, and operations for a plant of 340 people.
He started on the shop floor and worked his way up through nearly every function of the business — manufacturing coordinator, lean engineer, Navy/Nuclear manufacturing engineer, focus factory manager, and eventually plant manager. Along the way he cut motor throughput time from twenty days to seven, grew a single focus factory from $45M to $70M in annual production, and led his facility to its highest production year ever in 2023. His plant has also won the Georgia Award for Safety for 15 consecutive years, at one point running more than two years without an OSHA-recordable incident.
Much of that career has run through the Navy and nuclear power supply chain — as a Navy/Nuclear manufacturing engineer early on, and today ensuring compliance with U.S. Navy (Mil-1760) and nuclear industry standards (NUPIC, NIAC, 10CFR21) while doubling the facility's Navy business over the last two years. He's a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and a Georgia Tech graduate.
Mike founded Iron Bridge Manufacturing Advisors to bring that same level of hands-on, experienced leadership to manufacturers who need a seasoned operations executive — but aren't ready for, or don't need, a full-time hire. He's also passionate about developing the next generation of engineers and manufacturing professionals, serving as an advisor to Flowery Branch High School's engineering program and chairing the Hall County Work-Based Learning Committee.
Iron Bridge steps into your operation as an embedded leader — bringing structure, discipline, and 30+ years of shop-floor experience to the challenges slowing your growth.
Executive-level oversight of engineering, quality, HR, and operations — the same scope Mike runs today for a $175M manufacturing facility, on the schedule your business actually needs.
Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma methods that have cut real production throughput time from 20 days to 7 — applied to the bottlenecks quietly capping your output.
Process, staffing, and systems design that grew one focus factory from $45M to $70M in annual production — without growing chaos.
A safety culture built from experience — 15 consecutive years earning Georgia's top plant safety award, including stretches of 2+ years without an OSHA-recordable incident.
Hands-on engineering and quality systems management — including compliance to U.S. Navy (Mil-1760) and nuclear industry (NUPIC, 10CFR21) standards.
Training pipelines and work-based learning partnerships — modeled on the programs Mike chairs for Hall County Schools.
Every recommendation is grounded in 30+ years of actually running manufacturing operations — not theory.
Facility revenue led as Plant Manager, with 2023 as the highest-production year in the company's history.
Cut motor throughput time by nearly two-thirds through Lean production redesign.
Running with zero lost-time accidents and back-to-back Georgia Safety Awards.
Doubled U.S. Navy business in two years while holding Mil-1760, NUPIC, and 10CFR21 compliance.
Whether you need a fractional leader for the next 90 days or a second opinion on your production bottlenecks, Iron Bridge is ready to help. Based in the Atlanta Metro Area, working with manufacturers nationwide.