John
A. Saathoff
Mr. Saathoff's experience in manufacturing and operations
improvement encompasses a broad range of processes,
products and markets, from packaged consumer goods
and pharmaceuticals to communications and electronics. He
has an internal consulting background with Fortune
500 companies and is a Certified Associate of the
Avraham Y. Goldratt Institute. He is recognized
as a facilitator and consultant for the principles
and techniques of the Toyota Production System. His
manufacturing, materials management, logistics, and
project management experience is international in
scope, covering Europe and the Far East as well as
the US.
Mr. Saathoff is principal of Saathoff & Associates,
a consulting practice established to improve the bottom
line of mid- to large-sized organizations by identifying
and implementing the techniques of “lean thinking”
and the solutions of “constraints management.” These
techniques accelerate improvement in manufacturing,
supply chain, product development, and other core
logistics and project management processes.
Most recently, Mr. Saathoff worked with the Harris
Corporation as Director of Manufacturing Productivity,
where his initiatives and consulting support were
key elements in the continual reductions of manufacturing
cycle time, equipment losses, development time to
market, and assets employed.
He has been affiliated with the Revlon Health Care
Group, ITT Europe, Amoco, and Procter & Gamble. He
is expert in guiding entire project teams in implementing
key applications of the Theory of Constraints, particularly
in production, project management, organizational
development, and strategic planning. He
has led successful initiatives in lean manufacturing
and Kaizen, Just-in-Time and total productive maintenance,
production and inventory management, supply chain
and distribution management, cycle time reduction,
and process characterization and redesign.
Mr. Saathoff is a member of APICS and its Constraints
Management SIG and the Institute of Industrial Engineers. He
is active in the Association for Manufacturing Excellence,
currently serving on the program committee of the
AME annual conference in November 2000. He
is an examiner for the Shingo Prize for Excellence
in Manufacturing.
Education
Master of Business Administration (1999), Pfeiffer
University, Charlotte, North Carolina
Bachelor of Science in Biology, Western Carolina University,
Cullowhee, North Carolina
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