Acknowledgments

You're never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream!

We are jointly grateful to a number of people who have shaped as well as enhanced our professional careers through education, coaching, and idea sharing. Many of these people are current and past members of Oliver Wight International, of which we have been members for 33 years (John) and 10 years (Eric). One person in particular, George Palmatier, has had more influence in our combined careers than the many others.

George Palmatier, former Oliver Wight associate, was not only a great thought leader but a great simplifier, a quality that Oliver Wight (the man) held with high esteem. George was the man who could stand up in a room full of passionate (and opinionated) Oliver Wight principals, engage in a heated debate on one topic or another, and speak simple truths and principles that would cut right to the heart of the matter. Simply put, when George stood up, we listened. He brought the same gravitas and unique perspective to his clients. We have had the pleasure in our careers, both as clients of Oliver Wight while in industry and as Oliver Wight principals, to listen to and absorb George's wisdom. We will be forever grateful for his influence, guidance, and friendship.

Additionally, we would like to thank our book reviewers, who spent many hours working their way through parts of this book (the entire book might have been too much for each reviewer in the time allotted in our master plan and schedule!). Those book reviewers are David Goddard, Oliver Wight Americas (OWA); Paul McGuire, OWA; Kris Morgan, Curation Foods, Inc.; Pam Lindsey, OWA; and Ben Sellers, OWA. The book's original reviewers should not be forgotten. Those reviewers were Darryl Landvater, OWA and the late Mike Bales, Dick Pugliese, John Sari, and Larry Wilson.

John F. Proud's Personal Acknowledgments

I continue to find myself in a place surrounded by people who care about doing things right and doing the right things. My career has covered 50-plus years from being a naval officer to a co-author of this master planning and scheduling book. Without the navy in my background, I'm not sure what type of person I might have turned out to be. Without Oliver Wight in my past and present, I again don't have any idea where I might have wound up. However, I do know one thing: this book and its preceding three editions might never have been written, or, if they were, I would not be one of the co-authors.

Besides the people already mentioned in my present and past acknowledgments, I want to highlight what a pleasure it was to work with Walt Goddard, Tom Gillen, Al Stevens, Dick Ling, Roger Brooks, Jim Correll, Jerry Clement, Marv Jensen, Bill Pendleton, Tom Allen, Eric Deutsch, and so many others. When I was in learning mode, they taught me. When I was in listening mode, they talked to me. When I was in teaching mode, they listened to me. When I was in troubled mode, they comforted me. And the story goes on!

Now in 2021, I once again find myself in a very privileged situation. Working for the past couple of years with my colleague, Eric Deutsch, we are proud to release this first and only definitive book covering the complete subject of master planning and scheduling.

Original Acknowledgments for Master Scheduling-A Practical Guide to Competitive Manufacturing, First (1994), Second (1999), and Third (2007) Editions

I am deeply grateful to a number of people who have shaped as well as enhanced my professional career through education and idea sharing. Many of these people are current and past members of the Association for Operations Management (APICS), which I have been a member of for over 25 years. However, two people have had more influence in that career than the many others.

Dick Ling, former Oliver Wight associate and former president of Arista Education and Consulting, exposed me to the real profession of master scheduling. Had I not crossed paths with Dick Ling and several other Oliver Wight associates, I would not have been able to write this book. I learned my master scheduling skills from the best in the industry-Dick Ling, Oliver Wight associates, and professional master schedulers working in Class A companies worldwide.

Dick Pugliese, while serving as general manager of a Xerox plant, gave me the opportunity to be part of a Class A Manufacturing Resource Planning system implementation. It was during this time that I learned how a manufacturing company should work if it is to be successful and achieve Class A results.

Other colleagues and associates have also taught me much about this complex subject. John Dougherty literally spent hours with me discussing and developing concepts that we hope furthered the industry's understanding of how important master scheduling is to the manufacturing environment. Walt Goddard, John Sari, and Al Stevens also developed numerous master scheduling concepts over the years and were kind enough to share them with me. Oliver Wight associates Tom Gillen, who helped me with the engineering issues, and George Palmatier, who made sure I did justice to the demand side of the business, also deserve recognition.

Several other people who I would like to thank and acknowledge are: Dick Luecke, who was instrumental in taking my thoughts and structuring them into sentences and phrases that actually make sense; Lori Stacey, who spent hours upon hours typing, correcting, retyping, and recorrecting the lengthy manuscript; the Oliver Wight Publications staff, who have been effective, cooperative, patient, and understanding throughout this book's entire process; and the John Wiley & Sons staff, who added the professional flavor.

Once the manuscript draft was available, Mike Bales, former vice-president operations, G & W Electric; Dick Pugliese, retired executive; John Sari, Oliver Wight Alliance; and Larry Wilson, Oliver Wight Americas principal worked their way through the many pages, challenging my thoughts and recommending changes as appropriate. Without their critical input, this book would be less than the book it is today. My "severest and best critic" was former Oliver Wight associate Darryl Landvater, who challenged not only content but organization. A special thank you goes to Darryl for his effort, time, and patience.

Another special thank you goes to my original editor and publisher, Jim Childs, as well as my current editor, Matt Holt, who I am sure I caused great grief when I missed several milestones along the way-What? The person who wrote the book on valid master schedules was "past due"? If you ever doubt how important it is for a manufacturing company to create valid schedules and then perform to these schedules in order to satisfy its customers, just give my publisher a call. In addition to Jim Childs, Dana Scannell was the first to give me the chance to write this book and encouraged me to keep going when my frustrations were high and my stamina was low.

My final thank you goes to my lovely (late) wife, Darlene, who gave me the time necessary and seldom complained about being left alone while I worked in the office. Darlene was truly my best friend, and without her understanding and encouragement, I would never have found myself in a position to write these acknowledgments for what I still believe was the first and only definitive book covering the subject of master scheduling.

Eric Deutsch Personal Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful for those who had faith in me and enabled me to grow and learn throughout my career. Their companionship, coaching, and inspiration was, and is, invaluable to me.

I began my career at Novagen, Inc., a growing biotech company in Madison, Wisconsin. Tom Foti hired me as a dish scrubber and lab assistant while I was working to attain my Bachelor of Science degree in Bacteriology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. When I graduated, he hired me as a laboratory production scientist, but soon I took on other supervisory and operational responsibilities outside of the lab under his guidance. Tom and I worked on many projects (scientific, operational, software implementations, etc.) and had many adventures over the ensuing years. It was then that I learned, largely through the school of hard knocks and a little scientific problem solving, how to plan and schedule for manufacturing in a growing company. I owe Tom a huge debt of gratitude.

Tim Moser seemed to appear at just the right time in my career. Tim was an intern at Novagen via the University of Madison School of Business and was hired full time after attaining his MBA in Supply Chain Management. Tim opened my eyes to the true profession of supply chain management. It was through Tim and his network of supply chain professionals that I took my "subsistence understanding" of manufacturing management to a true appreciation of the science behind operations and supply chain management. I must also thank Pete Lukszys for bringing Tim into the Novagen organization and providing his own guidance and leadership to me over the years.

Novagen was the target of several acquisitions over time, ultimately by Merck KGaA. There are many people I would like to thank: Bob Mierendorf and Lisa Johnson for showing executive leadership with heart, compassion, and integrity; Tom Van Oosbree for his leadership, scientific guidance, and being such an all-around great human being; Aditya Sobti (now an Oliver Wight principal) for his faith and guidance through lots of changes and trying times. And...