Rick Napier Email and Phone Number

Sauer Brands, Inc. (SBI) provides food products to retail and foodservice customers. I worked for two years helping CBI Sales and Production teams use root cause analysis methods and tools I developed to resolve forecasting, safety stock and other replenishment planning problems. In December 2018, I completed a ten month engagement at CBI leading development and use of custom statistical safety stock calculation and compliance capabilities. In addition to the factors identified by Robert G. Brown, this safety stock calculation method uses an inventory item’s tracking signal – calling for more safety stock when an item’s forecasts have been biased to under-forecasting, and less when its forecasts have been biased to over-forecasting. In January 2018, I completed a seven month engagement at CBI leading development and use of a demand forecasting control system based on lag 4 weekly forecast errors, the MAD/MEAN average weekly forecast error method and tracking signal logic.In June 2017, I developed and delivered JDA Fulfillment training to the Tyson Foods IT team.In May 2017, I completed a one year engagement as the implementation lead for a JDA Inventory Optimization and JDA Fulfillment project for Bridgestone Americas (BSA). JDA Consulting was the system integrator. I led the BSA project team in design reviews and user acceptance testing, assisting JDA Consulting in resolving design and configuration issues. I was responsible for end user procedure development, user training and post production change sustainment. In March 2016, I completed a 15 month engagement for Southern Glazer’s Wine & Spirits. I led functional design, training and testing for a demand planning business process that utilizes JDA's Demand Classification product. That business process interfaces with a Steelwedge-based sales and operations planning (S&OP) capability and provides warehouse level demand forecasts to a JDA Order Optimization-based purchase order planning capability.

I worked on every link in the McDonald's supply chain for seven years. The 2017 Gartner Supply Chain Top 25 ranked McDonald's supply chain performance as number #2, behind Unilever. I know how demand planning, inventory optimization and replenishment planning should work at the retail, wholesale and manufacturing levels. My first assignment as a sub-contractor to HAVI Global Solutions was to facilitate design of the restaurant-to-distribution center (DC) Restaurant Order Proposal (ROP) business process. I designed and deployed JDA/Fulfillment tools used by DC supply planners who support ROP. A major achievement was delivery of training materials, knowledge summaries and a certification test for DC supply planners.My second assignment started in 2011 and focused on the DC-to-supplier link in the McDonald's supply chain. I helped design and implement the use of consumer demand-based forecasts to drive purchasing of high volume/high value DC items. Those forecasts are published to the suppliers of those items each week. I designed and led the implementation of a statistical safety stock process that fits the daily forecast accuracy and precise transit time characteristics of those DC items.

I worked on a multi-echelon inventory optimization (MEIO) project for Mars Chocolate as a sub-contractor to Vaco Supply Chain Solutions. That work leveraged my experiences with forecast accuracy and safety stock logic and metrics at retail, DC and supplier nodes in supply chain networks. My extensive demand planning and supply planning experiences, particularly within McDonald's supply chains, enabled me to provide inventory optimization advice that was well received by the Mars Chocolate inventory management team.

I worked on JDA-based demand planning and supply planning projects as part of DLA's Business Systems Modernization program. That work involved interfaces with SAP/Sales and Distribution and with SAP/Production Planning. That work also included design of a Supplier Collaboration capability based on JDA Collaborate.

I worked full-time and part-time on JDA-based demand planning and supply planning projects including full implementation of JDA's Demand Classification front end to its Demand Planning capability and providing training and support for JDA's Constrained Production Planning (CPP) functionality. That work involved interfaces with SAP/Sales and Distribution and with SAP/Production Planning.

I worked on ORACLE/PeopleSoft-based demand planning, production planning, manufacturing execution, inventory and purchasing projects.

Assisted in implementing JDA Demand and Fulfillment modules using Walmart point of sale forecasts and driving SAP Production Planning.

Led configuration work for inventory and procurement modules of IBS's AS400-based ASW application software package which was to have been used by Bergen Brunswig Medical Company, purchased in 2000 by Cardinal Health.

Worked on a JDA-based supply planning project that interfaced with SAP/Production Planning as part of the BMS global SAP/Manugistics implementation.

Assisted in implementing JDA Demand and Fulfillment modules for a vendor managed inventory capability and for long range supply planning.

Worked on a JDA-based demand planning and supply planning project that included design of a purchase order scheduling application that extended JDA Fulfillment capabilities. I trained buyers at O&M's DCs nationwide to use JDA and the custom purchase order scheduling applications.

Owens & Minor’s contracts and pricing applications were based on data and process models developed in facilitated sessions that I led. Developers trained by me to use computer assisted software engineering (CASE) tools built First Chicago Trust Company’s stock transfer applications. Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield’s claims input/output applications were built by developers trained by me in information engineering and CASE tools. In 1991, Prentice-Hall published Information Engineering & Application Development, a book I wrote that shows how to apply information engineering and rapid application development techniques effectively.

Recruited and trained a team of application developers to use best practice application development methods. Led the start up of a successful data stewardship program.

Led development of enterprise applications for both the Power Operations and the Commercial Operations business units. Created the data administration program. Managed the corporate data security program.

Developed and taught the Systems Analysis and System Design courses in the Information Systems curriculum.

Coordinated database design for an enterprise budget and resource management system.