People at Munro

Sandy Munro Bio

Sandy Munro

Chief Executive Officer

Sandy Munro is a hands-on, self-made American businessman and owner of Munro & Associates, Inc. He is known as an extraordinary innovator and famous for his Lean Design® methodology, which has helped many major OEM’s catapult their products to market domination.

Following the advice of his mentor, Dr. Edward Deming, Sandy left Ford and founded Munro & Associates, Inc. in 1988. He then began traveling the globe proclaiming the fundamental importance of “design-first” thinking. In his 50+ years of experience as a blunt and honest critic of product design, he has impacted products in different industries around the world. 

His first major success came while still working with Ford Motor Company on the Ford Taurus.

Susan Okray Bio

Sue Okray

(BSME, MBA, MEMS, DEMS)

Chief Operating Officer

Susan is the Chief Operating Officer of Munro & Associates, Inc. where she oversees the day-to-day operations, business development activities, and execution of Munro’s strategic growth plan.

With more than 30 years of engineering and program management experience, having worked in all stages of product development, from advanced engineering to product launch, Susan brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to Munro & Associates’ clients.

While at Munro, Susan earned a Master’s in Manufacturing Engineering and a Doctorate degree in Engineering and Manufacturing Systems from Lawrence Technological University in Michigan.

Scott Hildreth Bio

Scott Hildreth

(BSAAE, MSME)

VP Commercial

Scott Hildreth leads Munro’s day-to-day BIC operations as Vice President. Scott Hildreth is results driven and ensures the execution of our vast array of commercial contracts to achieve customer satisfaction and on time delivery. Scott was most recently at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles where he held several positions in product design, validation, and competitive benchmarking. In Scott’s 6 years as the Manager of the North American Competitive Benchmarking Center he developed a deep appreciation for the unique ways common problems can be solved and the value of systems engineering. Scott has more than 25 years of experience in the automotive industry, with three different OEMs.

Mike Oakes Bio

Michael Oakes

(BSCS, MS)

VP Business Development

Michael rejoined Munro & Associates in March 2020 from a “sabbatical” at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) where he was most recently the program manager for the 2020 Jeep Wrangler 3.0L Diesel version of the 2019 Motor Trend SUV of the Year, and the launch manager for the 2015 Dodge Challenger / Charger / Chrysler 300 vehicles.

Prior to Michael’s work at FCA, Michael was a leader in the application of Lean Design® methods, Michael offered Munro & Associates, Inc.’s clients practical experience in re-designing products for profitability and serving as a catalyst for implementing “Lean” principles.

David Foreman Bio

David Foreman

VP Defense

Since 1995 David has been involved in all aspects of Munro’s growth. In 2020
David took on the role of Vice President of Munro Defense where he oversees
defense projects and develops strategies for the company’s growth in defense.
Since David took on the roll in 2020, he has grown its consulting portfolio to
include nuclear reactors, ground combat vehicles, ammunition, missile systems
and multiple other weapon systems.


David participated on the National Defense Industry Association (NDIA) Systems
Engineering Policy Subcommittee and the Manufacturing Readiness Level (MRL)
Working Group under the Joint Defense Technology Panel and was on the
Architectural Working Group for Engineered Resilient Systems (ERS) under the
Office of The Secretary of Defense (OSD).

Al Steier Bio

Al Steier

VP Technology and Research

Al Steier is the Vice President of Technology and research at Munro & Associates managing and overseeing all associated activities including benchmarking, reverse engineering, cost assessments and cost model development. With more than 40 years’ experience in product service, manufacturing and engineering Al brings a diverse set of skills from various industries from hearing aids to fighter jets to Munro & Associates’ clients.

Al consistently provides manufactures the means of reducing costs, weight and investment with a vast knowledge of vehicle systems and integration. 

Andrew Cardoni Bio

Andrew Cardoni

VP Design Profit Software

Andrew Cardoni brings Munro & Associates, Inc. twenty years of experience in software development for industries ranging from accounting to manufacturing. As a senior developer at a leading accounting software provider, Andrew was the primary developer for the Billing module in their award-winning practice management software. In addition, he also developed new solutions for Data Integration with other enterprise applications. As lead developer of the Design Profit development team, Andrew has been instrumental in developing key features of Design Profit such as custom fields, the versatile formula engine used throughout the application and the framework that powers the Click2Cost cost models.