Pleasant Mattress Names Josephine Bass as Director of Finance

October 21, 2021  by Laurie Northington in Business Strategy, Industry   

Bass’ appointment is the third key hire in the company’s move toward bringing a culture of lean manufacturing to the organization. Last year, Carter Gronbach, a well-regarded mattress industry executive, was named president. Earlier this year, Pleasant promoted Brian Rivera, a certified Six Sigma leader, from assistant plant manager to plant manager.

“There is a close relationship between finance and our operating in a lean manufacturing environment. Jo’s experience will assure finance and manufacturing are more closely aligned to help us achieve our strategic goals,” said Rion Morgenstern, chief executive officer of Pleasant Mattress.

“Lean principles have been proven to help companies improve the bottom line,” Bass said. “Using my skills in this area, I will be in a position to help the leadership team quantify the impact of the changes we are making and provide support to other departments, while also working toward transforming our administrative functions into a lean operating model.”

Last year, Pleasant Mattress began implementing several lean initiatives into its operations to add greater efficiencies to its manufacturing processes – among which are relocating its foam encasements production from four facilities to one and improving the overall flow of raw materials and finished products through the manufacturing process. These activities have enabled Pleasant to realize more operational and costs efficiencies, along with reducing delivery lead times to customers to one week.

“Jo is a great addition to our staff. She is a diversified leader with an extensive manufacturing background including lean manufacturing, which will help us build our team as we focus on driving continuous improvements from the front office to delivery,” said Carter Gronbach, president of Pleasant Mattress.

Bass comes to Pleasant Mattress from Fresh & Ready Foods, where she served as group controller of all of the company’s divisions and controller for its western division. Prior to this position, Bass served in a number of executive roles for Haskel International, a manufacturer of high-pressure pumps and valves. Along with providing in-depth analysis and progress tracking on operations, supply chain and regional goals, Bass managed the re-layout of Haskell’s Burbank plant to employ Lean Six Sigma disciplines in cell layouts. Her career also includes finance and production planning positions with Kolmar Laboratories, Harmon Industries and Amsign Corp.

Bass attended Holyoke Community College, where she studied accounting. She resides in Clovis, California.