Past Professional Development Meetings

April 2022 PDM - Mobile Digital Warehouse Transformation

The term “digital supply chain transformation" means different things to different companies. For some companies, it means replacing manual processes with digital data. For some companies it means using autonomous mobile robots in their supply chain. For some, it means applying machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) to supply chain Big Data. And for some, it means getting better digital data to support an end-to-end supply chain.

This session will focus on the execution meaning, actually moving the inventory and all the processes that go along with that.

View Video Recording. 

March 2022 PDM - The Roaring 2020s in Supply Chain Management

You are probably familiar with the curse, "May you live in interesting times."  As the world continues to fight the effects of Covid-19 and its variants, the coming decade will bring its own unique, interesting, and complex challenges.  Although I am not a futurist, I believe that three compelling trends will affect and impact supply chains in the coming decade.  How we deal with them will significantly affect the way of life and standard of living for ourselves and future generations.

These trends are:

  1. The retirement of the Baby Boom Generation
  2. The continued and rapid pace of disruptions and change
  3. The impact of climate change. 

View Video Recording.   Slides

February 2022 PDM Risk Based Thinking and Decision Making 

We live in an environment rife with volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity.  Navigating in these waters is not easy.  Supply chain professionals know the pain and chaos that can come from a serious disruption – a missed delivery or part shortage, quality problem, or even a huge, unanticipated swell in demand.  Drilling down to root cause of a disruption is essential, but reactive.  Using risk-based decision making enables companies to take a more proactive approach, considering potential risks as part of every decision, and building prevention and risk mitigation into every aspect of the business. 

    • Definition of a VUCA environment
    • Five domains of decision making
    • Four types of decision making
    • Three factors for success

.View Video Recording

October 2021 PDM - automation and the future of Supply Chain Management

Dr. Dean will present on the details of:

  • The current Age of Automation & Artificial Intelligence we live in.
  • The Future of Supply Chain Management in this new world.
  • How his top supply chain management approach can help practitioners remain sustainable and competitive through it all (28 years of research, 2,000+ projects valued at $6.6B in 9 countries, cuts costs (10-30%), minimizes time (20-50%), and increases value on projects).


Dr. Dean and his research partners are offering all US based professionals FREE procurement and project management training and one pilot project, applying the Best Value Approach (BVA) for quality based procurement and delivery.

 View Video Recording.   Slides

April 2021 PDM - Non-Traditional Value Stream Maps

In the past we have discussed that all the lean tools were just inventions to solve problems. As lean Practitioners we often look at Value Stream Maps (VSM's) as THE starting point to identify waste and visually communicate the future state vision with the wastes eliminated.

What do you do, if the traditional Value Stream Map does not fit quite right for YOUR system? That’s right, you apply the same principles, and invent a new map that clearly identifies waste and communicates a future state with the waste eliminated.

Slides    View Video Recording. 

March 2021 PDM - Demand Driven MRP

Today's supply chains are much more complex and volatile than ever.

Despite this obvious difference in circumstances, conventional MRP systems still plan precisely the same way today as they did 50 years ago!

Demand Driven MRP combines some of the still relevant aspects of Material Requirements Planning (MRP) and Distribution Requirements Planning (DRP). The method uses the pull and visibility emphases found in Lean and the Theory of Constraints and the variability reduction emphasis of Six Sigma.

View Video Recording. 

February 2021 PDM Failure Without Fear 

If you missed the February Professional Development Meeting, watch the recording of Yoshio Muki discuss how failure without fear, trust based management will help foster a culture of innovation and professional fulfillment.  Yoshio Muki is a retired Engineering Director with close to 40 years of experience in various engineering fields, from aerospace to medical devices; with a strong emphasis on engineering analysis.  Toward the end of his active career, he managed an analysis organization which spanned multiple sites across the US and in Europe.

View Video Recording.