Rick Rother has over 20 years experience in supply chain, manufacturing and operations
management. After receiving his MBA from Wake Forest University, Rick began his
career with IBM in the Research Triangle Park Facility and was instrumental in
developing material control systems and operating procedures while holding various
management positions in Manufacturing, Purchasing, IT and Production Control.

Rick went on to become the Materials Manager at Navistar (International Harvester)
leading an organization of 550 employees and the procurement of $1.6 billion in parts
annually. Key accomplishments included the implementation of a Kanban process for
standard hardware, a 30% reduction in inventory through the implementation of process
metrics and JIT ship methodologies and the rollout of EDI to all major suppliers. While
at Navistar, Rick also managed the product development and engineering functions,
implementing several lean production and factory automation programs in the
manufacturing process.

Rick moved to Atlanta as the Southeast Regional Supply Chain Director for AT&T
Broadband. Primary responsibilities included managing all aspects of warehousing and
distribution, purchasing, forecasting, facilities, fleet and a number of other strategic
initiatives. He led the implementation of several large facility and software programs
including 3 ERP systems (Lawson, PeopleSoft, Oracle). Inventory levels were reduced
by over 60% while significant improvements were made in effectiveness of the supply
chain to meet market demand.

In his most recent position, Rick was the Director of Operations for the American Cancer
Society where he led the implementation of a new Warehouse Management System along
with moving the existing operation into a purpose built distribution center that doubled
the size of the previous facility. Rick was instrumental in developing a Balanced
Scorecard approach to managing the business and led the organization through a WERC
benchmarking exercise that consistently yielded scores in the top quintile. Rick’s
experience in supply chain and manufacturing processes across multiple industries
provides a unique perspective in understanding client issues and developing innovative
solutions.

Email: rrother at solertis.com