Mike Ledyard

Mike Ledyard has exceptional credentials in business process improvement and design, including planning, forecasting, order management, distribution, and product development. Mike also has experience in building Vested® relationships between buyers and suppliers, and in the international sourcing, manufacture and importation of product and tooling, especially from China. He is a skilled communicator, and is able to concisely explain complex supply chain concepts in understandable form to audiences ranging from boardroom executives to shop floor personnel. He is also an author and frequent speaker on process assessment, measurement and improvement, as well as relationship-based acquisition and management of services. Mike was selected as one of the Top 20 Logistics & Supply Chain Executives of 2001-02. Mike has worked with clients large and small to analyze current process, determine opportunities, and implement process improvements. These projects have included: • Analyzing worldwide demand planning, order management and production scheduling and planning implementation of “To-Be” processes to reach desired delivery excellence goals • Building mutually beneficial relationships between buyers and service providers where both parties work together to create a “we” focused partnership that drives value neither could obtain individually • Assessing planning and forecasting functions, and developing a sales and operations planning structure to improve on-time commitment and delivery • Changing assembly scheduling to a demand driven model supported by Kanban cells to improve on-time performance to 99+% while reducing WIP • Identifying significant potential for cost savings in distribution, and assisting in the implementation of a corporate centric forecasting and inventory management processes to capture the savings • Assessing off-shore procurement and import supply chain, and developing the improvements needed to reduce variability and improve service levels • Developing global end-to-end business processes with focus on opportunity management In previous lifetimes, Mike was a Principal with CSC’s Supply Chain Practice, where he spent three years working with leading companies to improve the management of their supply chains. He has held senior management positions with consumer products and paper companies. During his 25 years in industry, he established product development and quality functions, and implemented systematic production planning. He created and installed systems for scheduling new products, planning production needs and tracking product costs. Mike also established Asian sourcing offices for two different companies, and managed those activities for over ten years. Mike served as the project manager for a joint CSC/University of Tennessee team that conducted a study on supply chain measurement for the Council of Logistics Management (now CSCMP). He is a co-author of the book resulting from that study, entitled Keeping Score: Measuring the Business Value of Logistics in the Supply Chain. Mike is also a co-author of Vested Outsourcing: Five Rules That Will Transform Outsourcing. He was the program manager for the UT research project for the US Air Force on strategic sourcing and performance-based acquisition of services, and has helped to create and teach on these topics for the Air Force. He has authored several articles, and spoken frequently on implementing Vested relationships, the effects of measurement on supply chain performance and optimization, and on the design and implementation of process improvements. Mike has a Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design from the University of Cincinnati, and has done post-graduate work in Business Management. He is a member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, and served on the Deliver technical sub-committee of the Supply Chain Council.