Supply Chain Now Radio, Episode 58
“Continuous Improvement & Digital Innovation in Manufacturing”
Larry E. Fast serves as Director for the Southeast Region of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence. He is also owner of the consulting firm Pathways to Manufacturing Excellence, LLC. Larry is a 35-year veteran of the wire & cable industry, with 25 of those years at Belden and 10 at General Cable. As Belden’s Vice President of Manufacturing, he led a transformation of plants in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In 1997, Larry joined General Cable Corporation (GCC), one of the world’s largest wire and cable companies.
As Senior Vice President of Operations, he launched a manufacturing excellence strategy in 1999 that became an enterprise-wide priority in 2001. Since the launch of this initiative at GCC, there have been 34 Industry Week “Best Plants Finalists” including 12 “Best Plants in North America” winners since 2001. Larry retired in 2007, where he’s been consulting with companies ever since. His book, The 12 Principles of Manufacturing Excellence – A Lean Leader’s Guide to Achieving and Sustaining Excellence, 2nd Edition was released in September 2015 by CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group. The original book, a bestseller, was published in October 2011.
Larry is a long-time member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) and has served on university advisory boards including IUPUI-Richmond; the School of Applied Sciences, Miami University; and the Industry Advisory Board of the Tauber Manufacturing Institute, University of Michigan. He became a judge for Industry Week (IW) magazine’s “Best Plants in North America” competition in 2009. Since 2013, Larry writes a monthly column for the IW online magazine under the byline of “Ask the Expert: Lean Leadership & Continuous Improvement”.
Born in Winchester, IN, Larry served as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Air Force for three years of active duty and three years in the reserves. He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Management and Administration from Indiana University and is a graduate of Earlham College’s Institute for Executive Growth. Larry also successfully completed the thirteen week “Program for Management Development” at the Harvard University School of Business. Connect with Larry E. Fast on LinkedIn and learn more about the Association for Manufacturing excellence here: https://www.ame.org/
Blaine Mellor has spent most of the last 30 years working in Supply Chain with the last 25 working in CPG. He currently leads Clorox’s Digital Supply Chain transformation effort as their Director of Digital Supply Network. Past assignments with Clorox have includes positions in Engineering, Manufacturing, Logistics, Supply Planning and Business Unit Leadership. Blaine led the expansion of Clorox’s manufacturing footprint in the Atlanta area with the creation of a Laundry and Homecare products Hub. He has also been involved in other large scale product innovations on the Glad® and Brita® businesses.
Originally from the West Coast Blaine now resides with his family in the Metro Atlanta area and enjoys all things outdoors. Connect with Blaine Mellor on LinkedIn and learn more about The Clorox Company here: https://www.thecloroxcompany.com/
Will Haraway is Founder & Lead Evangelist at Backbeat Marketing. Will has 20 years of executive experience in B2B Technology Marketing. Will is a certified analyst relations practitioner by the Knowledge Capital Group and has helped companies including Manhattan Associates, Aptos, Atlantix Global Systems, American Software and Rubicon Global improve their brand reputations with marketing results that help increase sales.
Will also serves as a member of the APICS Atlanta Executive Advisory Board and serves as co-host of the popular #SupplyChainCity series on Supply Chain Now Radio. The Backbeat team includes lead generation, digital marketing, media relations and content marketing specialists with a combined 50 years of experience in their chosen disciplines. Connect with Will on LinkedIn and learn more about Backbeat Marketing here: www.backbeatmarketing.com
Ben Harris is Director of Supply Chain Ecosystem Expansion for the Metro Atlanta Chamber. Ben comes to the Metro Atlanta Chamber after serving as Senior Manager, Market Development for Manhattan Associates. There, Ben was responsible for developing Manhattan’s sales pipeline and overall Americas supply chain marketing strategy. Ben oversaw market positioning, messaging and campaign execution to build awareness and drive new pipeline growth.
Prior to joining Manhattan, Ben spent four years with the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s Center of Innovation for Logistics where he played a key role in establishing the Center as a go-to industry resource for information, support, partnership building, and investment development. Additionally, he became a key SME for all logistics and supply chain-focused projects.
Ben began his career at Page International, Inc. where he drove continuous improvement in complex global supply chain operations for a wide variety of businesses and Fortune 500 companies. An APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP), Ben holds an Executive Master’s degree in Business Administration (EMBA) and bachelor’s degree in International Business (BBA) from the Terry College at the University of Georgia. Connect with Ben on LinkedIn and learn more about the Metro Atlanta Chamber here: www.metroatlantachamber.com
Scott W. Luton is the founder of Supply Chain Now Radio and also serves as Managing Partner for TalentStream. He has worked extensively in the end-to-end Supply Chain industry for more than 15 years, appearing in publications such as The Wall Street Journal, Dice and Quality Progress Magazine.
Scott currently serves as Executive Vice President of APICS Atlanta, and was recently named a 2019 Pro to Know in Supply Chain by Supply & Demand Executive. He served on the 2018 Georgia Logistics Summit Executive Committee and currently serves as Chair of the 2019 Atlanta Supply Chain Awards Planning Committee. He is a certified Lean Six Sigma Green Belt and holds the APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) credential.
As a Veteran of the United States Air Force, Scott also volunteers on the Business Pillar for VETLANTA, and maintains active membership in the Georgia Manufacturing Alliance & CSCMP Atlanta Roundtable. Connect with Scott Luton on LinkedIn and follow him on Twitter at @ScottWLuton. He can also be reached by email. Learn more about TalentStream, a leading recruiting & staffing firm that helps companies find top talent in the Engineering, Manufacturing and Supply Chain space, by visiting their website here: www.talentstreamstaffing.com
Upcoming Events & Resources Mentioned in this Episode
2019 Atlanta Supply Chain Awards: www.AtlantaSupplyChainAwards.com
eCommerce Operations Summit: https://www.operationssummit.com/
MRO Americas: https://mroamericas.aviationweek.com/en/home.html
Velocity 2019 Conference: https://velocity-conference.com/
AME Atlanta 2019 Lean Summit: https://www.ame.org/ame-atlanta-2019-lean-summit
EFT 3PL & Supply Chain Summit: click here
Lynette Mathew’s webinar on Job Search & Resume Best Practices: click here
