Business Improvement Specialists
Who we are
The Oliver Wight team is comprised of leading business improvement specialists who educate, coach and mentor industry management and professionals to lead and sustain change and to achieve and maintain outstanding business performance. Our principals are seasoned professionals from their industry selected for their experience and success in deploying the innovative Oliver Wight methodology.
While referred to as consultants, our approach is different in that we provide knowledge transfer, facilitation, coaching, mentoring and motivational support.
Specific expertise includes: strategy, ERP, S&OP, demand and supply, EDI, cycle time reduction, financial interface, DRP and warehousing promotion planning. We have experience in industries such as process electronics, consumer goods, textile, automotive and aerospace as well as large retail chains.
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Dennis Groves Chairman of the Board, Oliver Wight Americas President, Oliver Wight International Dennis Groves, a principal since 2000, is Chairman of Oliver Wight Americas as well as President of Oliver Wight International, the governing board for all world-wide divisions of Oliver Wight. He has more than 35 years of experience as a consultant and a practitioner and has worked with process and discrete manufacturers in consumer goods, foods, pharmaceuticals, and many other industries. Among his client companies are Solutia, Schick & Wilkinson Sword, Watson Pharmaceutical and Schering-Plough. He has taught numerous classes in Sales & Operations Planning, supplier planning and control, integrated planning and scheduling, data structures and bills of material, and inventory record accuracy. Prior to joining Oliver Wight, Dennis played key roles in several successful Class A MRP II implementations. Over the years, his supply chain management (SCM) experience has ranged from strategic, high-level issues to practical, yet critical areas such as supplier scheduling.
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Colleen "Coco" Crum Managing Principal Colleen “Coco” Crum, a managing principal and board member with Oliver Wight Americas, is considered a thought leader and innovator in demand management and sales and operations planning. She has helped develop methodologies enabling companies to successfully implement S&OP and demand management and achieve quick time to financial benefit. She has assisted companies across the manufacturing spectrum, including chemicals, consumer goods, electronics, biotechnology, and aerospace and defense. Coco has co-authored three books: Enterprise Sales and Operations Planning, Demand Management Best Practices, and Supply Chain Collaboration, and participated in the development of a best practice model for grocery supply chain replenishment resulting in the publication of a book on ECR by Canadian food industry trade groups.
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William G. Mackie Bill Mackie joined Oliver Wight Americas in 1978. He is a past president and currently a managing principal and board member of Oliver Wight Americas, and is a past president and current member of the board of Oliver Wight International, the governing board for all world-wide divisions of Oliver Wight. Bill has worked with high-level executives in companies such as Ivax Pharmaceuticals, Research in Motion, Corning Cable Systems, Gen-Probe, and Barber Foods over his 28-year career with Oliver Wight. His manufacturing industry experience includes process companies, electronics manufacturers, and consumer goods. Bill has experience instructing private courses on topics such as Sales & Operations Planning, Inventory Accuracy and Bills of Material, Executive Management, and Enterprise Resource Planning.
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Steven A. Souza Managing Principal Steven A. Souza is a managing principal with Oliver Wight. He has been a consultant and educator providing manufacturing and distribution companies with guidance on design and implementation of integrated supply chain processes since 1985. Steve brings to his consulting engagements years of experience in general management, manufacturing, materials and logistics management positions with Oliver Wight, Instron Corporation, Bose Corporation, and the Foxboro Company. Both as a practitioner and a consultant, Steve has guided many business improvement initiatives to Class A level performance.
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Mary Adamy Mary Adamy, an Oliver Wight principal, is a consultant and educator providing companies with guidance in Demand Management and Integrated Business Management practices. Mary has a concentration of experience with CPG companies, having spent 10 years at Kraft Foods and Nabisco. While she specializes in Demand Management principles, Mary has held numerous positions across all supply chain disciplines including transportation, distribution, demand management, and supply management. Mary played a leading role in Kraft’s global S&OP implementation as well as heading up Forecasting Best Practices for Kraft North America. Mary also has experience in diverse industries. She is currently providing guidance to Dupont in their Demand Management practices, has held positions with a process chemical company prior to Kraft, and was an active participant in an industry S&OP Benchmarking Group with companies including Hershey, Kimberly-Clark, Campbell’s, Exxon, Con-Agra, Wyeth Pharmaceutical, and Brown-Forman.
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Daniel D. Araujo Daniel D. Araujo, a principal with Oliver Wight, has been with the company since 1995. He supports companies in Brazil, Latin America, and Europe in the assessment, implementation, and continuous improvement of their management and planning processes. In his more than 20 years of working in the areas of manufacturing planning, information systems, and marketing, he has been responsible for the development and implementation of systems and processes, product launches, and culture change projects. Daniel has contributed to or led several Class A efforts in various Kodak divisions.
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Patrick J. Bettini Principal As an Oliver Wight principal and consultant, Pat Bettini specializes in consulting, education, and support for ERP, S&OP, and SCM business system implementations including repetitive, process, chemical, pharmaceuticals, consumer food, garment manufacturing, make-to-stock, make-to-order, and aerospace and defense contract manufacturing. Additionally, he serves as an ERP software selection and audit expert for the Oliver Wight Americas group.
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Roger Brooks Principal Roger B. Brooks, principal, joined Oliver Wight in 1979 and has held multiple key positions within the company including executive vice-president of Oliver Wight International and president of Oliver Wight North America. He has also played an important role in the international expansion of the company. As a consultant, he has assisted many companies in improving their operations through strategic planning, planning and control, and continuous improvement. Formerly with Hyster Company in Portland, Oregon, Roger was responsible for leading the successful implementation and operation of Hyster’s Class A MRP system.
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Rick C. Burris Principal Rick C. Burris, a principal with Oliver Wight Americas, is a proven senior executive in turning around distressed businesses through the real-world use of world class best practices. He has over 30 years of executive, management, and process experience in diverse industries and has a functional background in finance, operations, supply chain management, and senior general management. He began his career at Martin Marietta Astronautics Group where they achieved six “Class A” implementations. Rick served a turn-around role as COO for Beauty Group International and, at Weir Floway, he installed Integrated Business Management processes where the company went from serious losses to better-than-industry profit levels. With Oliver Wight, Rick has helped several companies achieve “Class A” performance with fast, lasting, financial, and operational improvements resulting in a permanently-changed company culture. His client list includes companies such as Boeing, Motor Coach, Motorola, Yarway Valves, and Yerger Brothers Furniture.
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Jose M. Calderon Principal Jose M. Calderon, a principal and board member with Oliver Wight, assists companies, that have large Spanish-speaking populations, with their MRP II, ERP, SCM, Distribution Resource Planning (DRP), and Lean and Agile manufacturing implementations. Jose translated the Top Management Course and the ERP – Achieving Class A Supply Chain Performance Course into Spanish, edited the Spanish video library, and is an instructor and/or facilitator in all Latin American courses. He gained much of his manufacturing background at Hyster Company in Portland, Oregon, playing a key role in the successful implementation and operation of their Class A MRP system.
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James G. Correll Principal Jim Correll, a principal of Oliver Wight since 1984, served eight years as chairman of Oliver Wight Americas and co-chairman of Oliver Wight International. As a consultant, he has assisted more than 20 companies attain Class A performance. These companies include numerous Caterpillar Divisions, Imperial Tobacco, General Dynamics Land Systems, Martin Marietta Astronautics, Boeing Portland, and Tektronix, Inc. At Tektronix he served as the Class A implementation manager. In that capacity, he developed a new organizational structure, implemented new software, and designed and delivered an effective educational training program for both the new software and the behavior changes required to obtain bottom-line results. He is co-author of Gaining Control: Managing Capacity and Priorities, Third Edition.
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Larry Curry Principal Larry Curry, principal, joined Oliver Wight in 1984 and served on the board for six years. In addition to teaching the Oliver Wight middle management courses and a variety of specialty courses, Larry consults with a wide range of clients including companies in the aerospace and defense industries. With 19 years of experience in manufacturing, Larry was actively involved in the implementation of MRP II at Intel Corporation as well as the Class A MRP II implementation at Hyster Company. During his last six years there, he held management positions in capacity planning and several areas of material planning. He was also responsible for engineering change control and new product introduction.
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| Jim Denney Principal Jim Denney is a principal of Oliver Wight Americas, a global consulting and education firm. Jim’s specialty is providing consulting and education support to Oliver Wight clients to achieve Class A operational and business excellence by bringing specific expertise in the areas of business model requirements analysis, process redesign, and implementation. He provides techno-functional consulting, education, and hands-on support as needed by the client to architect and integrate the systems and tools as part of the Proven Path methodology. Jim has 25 years of experience with the Oliver Wight Proven Path methodologies and the ABCD Checklist to achieve operational excellence.
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Michael Effron Principal Michael Effron, an Oliver Wight principal, is a consultant and educator providing companies with guidance on the design and implementation of integrated business processes. During his twenty years in industry, Michael implemented Sales and Operations Planning and Demand Management processes around the world for multiple Fortune 500 companies, in roles which included Global Demand Manager, Supply Chain Manager, and Global Sales and Operations Director. Michael uses a hands-on approach, coaching individuals and guiding companies to Class A performance in all areas of supply chain planning and execution. Companies that Michael has worked for and with include BASF, American Standard, and DuPont.
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Alberto Fonseca Alberto Fonseca Diaz, principal, assists companies with large Spanish-speaking populations with their implementation of process improvement initiatives leading to Class A performance. He has significant experience in world-wide companies in the petrochemical, metal mechanic, chemical, pharmaceutical, and food processing industries as well as consumer goods. Prior to joining Oliver Wight, Alberto worked directly with the management team and executives of Yanbal Colombia to achieve Class A MRP II certification. During his 10 years with Yanbal, his responsibilities included strategic planning, supplier relationships, Sales & Operations Planning, new product development, and education in planning and control, S&OP, and continuous improvement.
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David A. Goddard Principal David A. Goddard, a principal with Oliver Wight, has operational experience spanning high-volume, low-mix electronics to low-volume, high-mix machining environments and includes industries such as oil and gas, pharmaceuticals, electronics, heavy machinery and consumer products. David has held positions within capacity planning, master scheduling, and engineering change departments. His achievements earned him a position as a member of a start-up team for a new electronics manufacturing facility, responsible for the implementation of MRP, shop floor control, and inventory management systems and processes. David was a senior software consultant/client manager for AMX International where he implemented enterprise planning software at a variety of companies.
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Joni Harvey Principal Joni Harvey, an Oliver Wight principal, has experience in leading Class A MRP II implementation efforts as well as functional reorganization to optimize integration and performance. She has spent the majority of her 25-year career working in operations management for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. At Amylin Pharmaceuticals Inc., she served as Vice President of Technical Operations. Joni also served as Vice President of Operations for Alliance Pharmaceutical Corporation and Molecular Biosystems, Inc. Prior to that, she held manufacturing and quality management positions at Baxter Hyland Division. Joni was exposed to Oliver Wight and its business process improvement methodology while at Molecular Biosystems, Inc. where she implemented Class A business processes based on the standards of the Oliver Wight ABCD Checklist.
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Robert A. Hirneisen Principal Bob Hirneisen, a principal with Oliver Wight Americas, is an expert in operational excellence, lean manufacturing, and supply chain management with over 17 years of extensive manufacturing, training, management consulting, and project management experience. Bob has held a number of engineering and management positions leading these companies to significant improvements in operations, productivity, efficiency, and cost savings. Bob has experience in a variety of industries including electronics, construction equipment, electrical power generation, and pharmaceuticals. He has completed Best in Practice training at General Electric, Lean Manufacturing Instructor Certification from the Oliver Wight Companies, and Six Sigma Training at Motorola University.
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Robert E. Howard Principal Robert Howard, a principal of Oliver Wight Americas, has extensive experience in manufacturing, supply chain, and SAP project leadership with demonstrated ability to drive business improvement and achieve results. Bob has a concentration of experience as an implementer and educator in the chemical and process industry. In his most recent position, he initiated and implemented numerous supply chain best practices. Previously, Bob led a team to implement Class A MRP II globally, resulting in significant cost reductions over the initiative. He achieved certification as an MRP II instructor and checklist assessor.
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Ronald K. Ireland Ronald K. Ireland, principal and board member with Oliver Wight Americas, is a globally-recognized visionary to many of today’s value chain best practices organizations. He has over 25 years of business process and technology experience with leading companies with a primary focus in Demand and Supply Chain processes for retail, manufacturing, high technology, and aerospace. He has experience specific to the area of strategic consulting at the executive level. Ron’s business experience includes manufacturing, retail planning and distribution, marketing, and consulting. His manufacturing experience at Martin Marietta included achieving six Class A implementations. He then led a 45-person I/S staff on software development projects for store and warehouse replenishment, forecasting, procurement, micro merchandising, labor scheduling, and data mining for Wal-Mart.
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Terry L. Johnson Terry L. Johnson is a principal with Oliver Wight Americas. He is also the President and CEO of Integrated Technologies International providing consulting and education services to manufacturing and distribution companies. Terry spent 13 years with Hewlett Packard where he led the team that implemented one of America's first real JIT successes. As well, Terry was Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer for a $120 million defense contractor. Terry has worked with many companies assisting them in making significant business improvements; several of his past client companies have achieved Oliver Wight Class A Certification. Among his clients are Rolls Royce Motor Cars, ICI Paints, ICI Colors, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Ampex, Apple Computer, Lockheed Martin, Grumman Olson and Astra Zeneca Pharmaceuticals.
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Jose Luis Jorquiera Principal Jose Luis Jorquiera, a principal with Oliver Wight, is a consultant and educator in the areas of ERP/MRP II, Distribution Resource Planning (DRP), and Continuous Improvement in Peru and other Spanish-speaking countries throughout Latin America. His client companies have included Grupo San Fernando, Ebel International, Grupo Yobel, Nabisco, Transandina de Alimentos, Quimica Suiza, and Warner Lambert. Jose Luis worked for Antigua Drogueria Francesa in production planning and purchasing, was the operations manager at ARDAL and general manager at Yanbal in Mexico. In Peru at Unica del Peru, he was a leader in MRP II and ERP where he supported the management team and the executive committee in their efforts to be certified as a Class A MRP II company.
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Allan R. Kauth Allan R. Kauth is a principal with Oliver Wight Americas. During the past 25 years, Al has coached management teams worldwide in the development and execution of continuous improvement strategies to help them achieve Class A business excellence. Since 1986, he has been an educator/consultant working with companies spanning microwave electronics (Microdyne), fabrication and repair (Cummins Diesel, Flowserve), pharmaceuticals (Pharmacia, Aventis), food (Nestle, Uni-Lever), medical device manufacturing (Abbott, Gen-Probe) and U.S. Air Force logistics. He spent three years in Australia working with manufacturing organizations there and in the ASEAN region.
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Donald McNaughton Donald McNaughton is a principal with Oliver Wight. He consults with companies to help them take advantage of the Oliver Wight Sales & Operations Planning template, a high-level process for managing and integrating all of a company’s resources and has a particular strength in engaging people from all levels of the organization. He has consulted with a number of multi-national companies including Flowserve, Caterpillar, CTS, Motorola, Nestle, GlaxoSmithKline, Lilly, Schering-Plough, and Artesyn Technologies. His experience spans multiple industries including foods, pharmaceuticals, consumer electronics, and heavy equipment engineering. Donald has worked in Africa, Europe, and the Americas giving him the ability to effectively communicate with a wide range of audiences.
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Jon Minerich Principal Jon Minerich, a principal with Oliver Wight, has over 18 years of “hands-on” experience in manufacturing in several different industries. He has held key positions within manufacturing that range from plant manager, vice-president of operations, chief operating officer to president. As an experienced practitioner, he has led the improvement efforts of several businesses by increasing their operational effectiveness. Two of these companies were certified as Class “A” due to his efforts. Some of his client companies include Bird Technologies Group, Zenith Goldline Pharmaceuticals, ASTEC Industries, and Flowserve Corporation.
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Francisco Ortiz-Monasterio Francisco Ortiz-Monasterio assists companies with Spanish-speaking personnel in Mexico and other Latin American countries in the evaluation, implementation, and operation of MRP II, Distribution Resource Planning (DRP), and Lean Manufacturing. He also supports these companies to continuously improve their management and planning processes and has experience in systems integration and Total Quality Control. He worked in the production control area of the car and truck assembly plant at the Ford Motor Company in Mexico City. He spent 20 years at the Eastman Kodak Company in their film manufacturing facility located in Guadalajara, Mexico. He held positions in distribution and traffic, information systems, and was project manager for the MRP II system implementation where three MRP II projects achieved Class A certification.
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George Palmatier Principal George Palmatier, principal, has assisted many companies in implementing integrated management processes and is recognized as an expert on Sales & Operations Planning and demand management as well as ERP, MRP II, Integrated Supply Chain Management, and Integrated Product Development (IPD). With twenty years of experience in sales, marketing, strategic planning, and general management, George has a thorough knowledge of how to achieve sustained results improving business performance. During his 11 years at Bently Nevada Corporation (now part of General Electric), George was responsible for bringing the sales and marketing departments into an integrated business management process. Bently Nevada was one of the pioneers in developing and implementing MRP II and Sales & Operations Planning using them in a truly integrated management process.
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John F. Proud Principal John Proud, a principal with Oliver Wight, spent several years working in the manufacturing industry at Xerox, Century Data Systems, and Burroughs Corporation. His assignments included manager of Just-In-Time manufacturing; national customer education manager; Western region manufacturing consultant; manager of information systems; production control specialist, and material control analyst. An internationally-known speaker, John has been involved in a variety of master scheduling, material and capacity management, production activity, and Just-in-Time (JIT) manufacturing seminars. He wrote Master Scheduling: A Practical Guide to Competitive Manufacturing and had numerous articles published by APICS, Auerbach, and other publishing houses.
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William Savage Principal Bill Savage, a principal with Oliver Wight, has complemented the company’s traditional planning and systems integration consulting adding education and consulting skills in project management and business process design. Bill has more than 30 years of experience as an educator and consultant to companies implementing integrated systems like MRP II and ERP. During his career, he has guided over 60 companies along the Proven Path with over 30 of them achieving Class A equivalent status. These companies have ranged in size from $20 million to over $2 billion in sales.
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John E. Schorr Principal John Schorr, a principal with Oliver Wight, has been with the company since 1979. As a consultant and educator in the areas of ERP, MRP II, integrated supply chain management, Sales & Operations Planning, and demand management, John has assisted many companies in attaining Class A Performance. He is recognized as one of the leading experts in the areas of Sales & Operations Planning and the interface of purchasing with ERP. Prior to joining Oliver Wight, John worked for two Class A companies and was involved in the implementation of MRP II at both: Haworth, where he was vice president of manufacturing, and Steelcase, one of the leading Class A users of MRP II, where he was director of purchasing.
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Ben Sellers Principal Ben Sellers, an Oliver Wight principal, is a consultant and educator providing companies with guidance on the design and implementation of effective business processes. He is a certified Six Sigma Black Belt and lean practitioner. Ben has “hands on” manufacturing experience helping companies achieve significant results in the areas of Sales and Operations Planning, Master Scheduling and Lean Manufacturing. Ben is currently working with clients to implement Sales and Operations Planning and the Oliver Wight Enterprise Sales and Operations Planning Tool. Prior to joining Oliver Wight, Ben spent over 10 years with Fortune 100 companies holding positions such as Supply Chain Manager, Continuous Improvement Manager, Master Scheduling Manager and Industrial Engineer, among others. At Caterpillar, he was instrumental in their Class A efforts and certification.
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Peter J. Skurla Principal Pete Skurla, a principal with Oliver Wight, provides management consulting for client companies in a variety of industries, guiding them through the organization and implementation of supply chain management processes. Client companies have included high-volume consumer products, pharmaceuticals, chemical processing, discrete job shop, office products, and engineer-to-order products. Among his clients are DuPont, Caterpillar, Procter & Gamble, Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, and Unilever. Pete specializes in the areas of Sales & Operations Planning and demand management. He spent over 10 years in industry holding positions in marketing management, materials management, and manufacturing engineering. Pete actively participated in the implementation of the Class A MRP II system at the Ohaus Scale Corporation.
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Wilson Stefano Principal Wilson Stefano Jr. (STEFANO), a principal with Oliver Wight, has over 25 years of "hands-on" experience in manufacturing. He has coached management teams to achieve "Class A Business Excellence". Stefano specializes in Integrated Bu siness Management and Integrated Supply Chain Management - "Best Practices". He supports organizations in Brazil and Latin America in the self-assessment, implementation, and continuous improvement of their integrated business management processes that includes strategic planning, S&OP, master planning, lean manufacturing, demand management, shop floor control, and supplier relationship management.
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Susan L. Storch Principal Susan Storch, a principal with Oliver Wight, brings 20 years of experience as a manager/executive in Fortune 500 companies including both service and manufacturing industry sectors. She has worked with small to large companies in a variety of industries helping them achieve operational excellence in strategy and business planning, operations scheduling and control, total quality and waste elimination, use of people and teams, and optimization of value of support organizations. She combines her practical experience with leading-edge thought as part of the faculty of The College of New Jersey where she teaches Strategic Management. Susan held senior management positions at several companies including EDS, Mars Inc., and Xerox.
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Edna Talavera Edna Talavera has 12 years of experience in strategic planning, project management, quality and purchasing. She has held executive-level positions in consulting and the electric industry. Edna was corporate executive/planning manager for Organizacion Diego Cisneros, one of the largest holding companies in Venezuela. She was responsible for implementing a TQM program in two of the largest companies in the holding - Maxi’s (previously Sears of Venezuela) and CADA, the largest supermarket chain in the country. She also was a district project manager for the largest, privately-owned electric company in Venezuela. Her client companies include Johnson & Johnson, C.A. Cigarrera Bigott (British American Tobacco), S.C Johnson & Son, and Schick Latin America.
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Robert Tearnan Principal Robert Tearnan, an Oliver Wight principal, has extensive experience in business systems to increase effectiveness, reduce costs, and streamline processes. Since joining Oliver Wight, he has participated in over 60 FastTrack Sales & Operations Planning implementations serving as coach, mentor, and trainer. Industries include construction, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, industrial, and consumer products; among them, Weyerhaeuser, Motorola, and Honeywell. Before joining Oliver Wight, Robert was with Molecular Biosystems of San Diego, California, and was the business resource planning manager when the firm achieved Class A results with its MRP II system. In addition, he led their Continuous Improvement Team where results in annual cost and productivity savings were over $1 million.
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Luis C. Torres Luis Torres has more than 22 years of experience in sales, marketing, information systems and management consulting. His client companies include Johnson & Johnson, C.A. Cigarrera Bigott (British American Tobacco), S.C. Johnson & Son, Schick Latin America, among others. Luis was with Nabisco International in Peru where he was responsible for managing the company’s supply chain function. He was also responsible for implementing MRP II and Sales & Operations Planning. Luis was vice president of the Latin America division of Management Systems International. He spent 19 years with Florida Power and Light Company and worked directly with the Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) in developing and implementing FPL’s Total Quality Management Program earning the company the Deming Award in 1989.
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Larry W. Wilson Principal Larry Wilson, a principal with Oliver Wight, is a nationally recognized authority on inventory management and scheduling systems. He provides guidance to companies to improve customer service, reduce inventories, and increase profit through effective inventory management systems. Larry focuses his activities primarily in the U.S. but has also worked with companies in Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, and Europe. Larry’s business experience in manufacturing spans over 20 years including management positions in shop scheduling, material planning, and master production scheduling. He was also a member of the project team responsible for the implementation of a Class A MRP system at the Portland, Oregon, facility of Hyster Company.
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