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Strategic Solutions Partners
capitalizes on the diverse management experience of a team of
experienced associates. These professionals all have enjoyed
long and successful careers in industry, academia and/or the
public sector. At this point in their respective careers these
talented professionals each have affiliated with Strategic
Solutions Partners to gain flexibility
and choice in the types of projects to which they will be assigned
and the workload to which they are committed. Thus our clients
win when accessing this pool of talent and our associates win
by pro-actively managing their personal lifestyle. |
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| ALAN
C. COURTNEY - PARTNER |
Alan Courtney has held
senior management positions with some of America's largest
and most well known companies. His experience includes
direct responsibility for strategic planning and marketing
in operating divisions of PepsiCo, Inc.; IU International,
Inc.; American Natural Resources, Inc.; and American President
Companies, Inc. In addition, Alan has general management
experience in international operations for Consolidated
Freightways, Inc.
Alan has an intimate
knowledge of small business as well, having founded
and operated businesses in the advertising, sales training
and consulting services industries. His
specific expertise in the areas of business planning,
brand management, market research, new product development,
sales process, customer satisfaction and eCommerce has
enabled employers and clients to substantially increase
revenues and profits.
He is a recognized
leader in bringing innovation to industry and has been
active as a member of two standing committees within
the operating unit of the National Academy of Sciences.
He has written extensively
on the subjects of sales process, supply chain management,
transportation innovation, environmental impact and
international business and has been published in respected
scientific journals. His work is referenced in Saul
Sorkin's treatise Goods
in Transit, a definitive
resource for international and domestic transportation
law.
As both consultant
and manager Alan has led, and participated in, many
cross-functional teams. His skills as a trainer and
facilitator have helped clients and employers identify,
initiate and successfully manage the introduction of
change to improve both the efficiency and effectiveness
of business processes.
He has studied strategic
marketing at the Harvard University Graduate School
of Business and holds both an M.B.A. and B.S. in Business
Management.
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Bert has direct industry experience in rail, ocean, truckload,
less-than-truckload and intermodal operations and marketing
with Southern Pacific Railroad, Sea-Land Services, and
American President Lines. Bert has specific functional
experience in tactical and strategic logistics, transportation
purchasing, pricing, operations, process management, marketing,
sales, information systems and analysis.
While at American President Lines Bert held general
management positions in both the International and Domestic
divisions, operating a fleet of vessels which contributed
$15 million per year and starting up a trucking product
that earned a $2.0 million profit after 18 months of
operation. He directed an intermodal marketing sales
force of over 200 and was responsible for truck transportation
purchasing in North America. Fully trained in "Quality"
practices and techniques, he was a team leader for many
cross-functional projects.
As a Partner at Strategic
Solutions Partners, LLC, he has contracted
with LTL trucking, railroad and ocean transportation
companies. His clients also include purchasers of transportation
who require assistance in supply chain management. He
has helped his clients reduce their purchased transportation
costs and vendors, reorganize their sales force and
streamline their pricing process.
Bert has studied at Augustana College and the University
of California, and holds a B.S. in Chemistry and an
M.B.A. with an emphasis in operations research.
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| ROBERT
L. CROSS - PARTNER |
Bob Cross is an experienced transportation/logistics
professional with over thirty years of general management
background. His major strengths are in leadership and
team building, strategic planning, marketing, sales,
quality management, change management and mergers/acquisitions.
Bob has eighteen years of proven success as a division
president with four corporations. As a founding
partner with Pacer International Inc., Bob was
instrumental
in driving 1200% growth in four years. At Pacer
his responsibilities
included president of the logistics group while
acting as executive vice president of the corporation
responsible
for acquisitions and change management.
Bob also held senior level positions in the various
domestic units of the multi-billion dollar ocean
shipping giant
American President Companies. He was brought on
board at APC to start their overland trucking subsidiary.
There he wrote the strategy, hired the people,
created
the
systems and processes, and in two years built this
strategic business unit into 600 trucks with a
cost-per-mile efficiency
that beat industry standards.
Prior to American President Companies Bob was employed
by Schneider National Inc. in various positions
including president of the western division for
eight years
and EVP of Corporate Sales and Marketing for two
years.
Bob has experience in the high-tech industry having
served as president of Meteor Communications, a
joint venture
company bringing meteor burst technology to the
communications industry.
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Alan Davis is a talented supply chain executive with
proven record of P&L responsibility including organizational
start-up, business unit restructuring new product conceptualization,
customer relationship management, and staff development.
A results oriented management generalist with over twenty
years of leadership experience he possesses excellent
people skills with demonstrated ability to lead, manage,
and motivate a team. An articulate communicator with
good judgment and critical thinking skills Alan has
demonstrated the ability to handle complex, multi-department,
multi-cultural projects, manage start-up operations,
and negotiate tough issue
Alan has held senior logistics management positions
with major high technology firms. As Director, Worldwide
Transportation & Logistics for Exodus, Alan created
a professional transportation and logistics department
focusing on the entire supply chain. He managed the
successful transfer of a centrally managed shipping
and receiving function to local management. He designed
and managed a revenue recovery strategy generating over
$3.1 million in five months by reclaiming foreign governments
Value Added Taxes (VAT), auditing freight bills, and
auditing for duplicate Vendor payments. While at Amtech,
a multi-million dollar radio frequency identification
(RFID) technology company he revitalized a moribund
rail and intermodal transportation market in Asia, Australia,
and Americas.
As a consultant Alan managed engagements including:
Hazardous Waste Operations and Emergency Response (HAZWOPER)
training, for industry, and Department of Transportation
(DOT) training for transportation companies and transportation
and logistics management for Silicon Valley high-tech
clients and San Francisco/Oakland based transportation
companies.
Alan’s strengths include process analysis with
an emphasis on cost reduction and efficiency improvement.
As a third-party outsource logistics provider, he created
and implemented strategic supply chain plans which significantly
reduced transportation costs while improving service
performance and saving the cost of new warehouse construction.
Alan holds an MBA from Golden Gate University, San Francisco
and a BA in Marketing from the University of North Texas.
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| ROGER
W. LOWTHER - PARTNER |
Roger Lowther has thirty-five years of experience in
all aspects of global logistics management including
supply chain management, eCommerce, strategic planning,
logistics operations, systems integration, business
process analysis, financial measurement, customer service
and sales & marketing.
Roger began his career with Consolidated Freightways,
where he rose to Director of Operations of their air
freight division. He has held senior management positions
with Novo Air Freight, WTC Air Freight, Document Express,
Distribution Concepts International, MSAS Cargo International,
Ernst & Young, Professional Logistics Management
and USCO Logistics. Most recently, as Vice President
and General Manager of USCO’s Transportation Services
division, Roger was a key senior executive team member
in helping USCO Logistics deliver the “Integrated
Logistics Solution” to a wide range of clients.
Roger has designed and implemented supply chain solutions
that have substantially reduced costs and improved service
for clients across a broad spectrum of industries. He
has significant Third Party logistics and transportation
outsourcing experience with the primary focus on:
• Client's requirements analysis - “The
Opportunity Assessment”
• Marketplace Request for Proposal
• Development of “Best Practice”
solutions
• Implementation planning, support and execution
• Establishment and measurement of “key
success metrics”
Roger’s experience in international transportation
management is especially deep in Europe and Asia where
he has developed global vendor consolidation programs
to optimize transportation of inbound raw materials
and products using multiple modes and carriers.
His extensive background in logistics process engineering
includes the development and installation of systems
for automated event management and Internet applications
to reduce cost and improve the quality and timeliness
of information.
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| F. WILLIAM
SCHUMAN - PARTNER |
Bill has over thirty years of experience in operations and marketing management with rail, highway and Intermodal carriers, freight consolidators, and equipment leasing companies. He has held key management positions with Itel, Gelco and Pacer Global Logistics, as well as owning and operating his own companies.
Prior to joining SSP, Bill was the owner and CEO of Carson Transport, a refrigerated LTL forwarder and a founding partner of Professional Logistics, a logistics management company. Both of these operations were highly successful and were acquired by major transportation companies.
Bill’s extensive corporate management background coupled with his entrepreneurial skills has brought significant value to his consulting clients who include a wide range of industries and both domestic and international logistics projects.
• Retailers-Load Control Center design and implementation
• Manufacturers- transportation program planning and service design
• Distributors-local and regional distribution planning
• M&A-due diligence
He has very strong strategic and tactical planning skills, combined with highly effective hands-on management experience. The solutions developed for his clients have consistently been implemented quickly and ROI accelerated.
Bill holds a B.S. in Business from the University of Denver
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| THOMAS
FITZGERALD - PARTNER |
Tom has over 30 years of
transportation and distribution experience, including owning
and operating his own businesses, acting as an outside consultant
and holding key positions at UPS and a major trucking company.
An early advocate of third party logistics, Tom co-founded both
FHS Logistics and Professional Logistics Management. PLMC managed
over $100 million annual transportation spend for a diverse
client base that included numerous major retail chains such
as The Sports Authority, Michaels Stores, Garden Ridge Stores,
The DFS Group, Cost Plus Stores, Imaginarium and Sephora. Much
of the company's success can be attributed to the development
of the Load Control Center (LCC) concept. The idea of developing
customer specific processes and staff proved to be a very effective
method for management in a complex transportation environment.
Partnering with the client to achieve the desired logistics
objective in this way resulted in greatly increased customer
satisfaction. PLM was purchased by Pacer International and now
operates as Pacer Global Logistics.
Selected Logistics & Transportation
Experience
Extensive transportation consulting and implementation of
supply chain solutions that were highly cost effective and
maintained or improved service levels. Vendor consolidation
programs for the transportation of inbound merchandise and
the use of both private and for-hire fleets to affect outbound
deliveries were used extensively to achieve positive results.
Tom played a significant role in developing and managing
the follow accounts:
Cost Plus Stores
Developed private fleet for store deliveries and restructured
inbound program for this fast growing retailer.
DFS Group
Analysis of domestic supply chain resulting in an outsourced
Load Control Center.
Central Garden & Pet
Analysis of transportation to and from ten branches. Developed
a program for both inbound and outbound which resulted in
a $3 million annual savings potential.
The Sports Authority
Analysis of vendor inbound and store delivery practices.
Recommended changes resulted in a possible $6 million annual
savings.
Michaels Stores
Analysis of inbound and outbound programs resulting in realized
savings of $6 million. Analyzed transportation impact of
DC site selection project. Project resulted in transportation
optimized selection.
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John Dahl has held front line, as well as management
and executive positions with several of the largest
and well known companies in the secured lending financial
services industry for over 25 years. John’s experience
includes sales, marketing and strategic planning, national
sales management, operational, and profit center responsibility
with lending subsidiaries of Deutsche Bank, Key Bank,
Comerica Bank as well as GE Capital.
After beginning his career with an equipment manufacturing
division of FMC Corporation, John recognized early the
value of financing and leasing as it pertains to facilitating
product sales. This spring boarded John to be one of
the front-runners at FMC Finance Corporation.
At Deutsche Credit Corporation, John designed and managed
the financing programs for numerous manufacturers which
included financing not only the manufacturer, but also
its distribution network and end user customers. John
assisted Kobelco America Inc. make a successful entry
into the US domestic construction equipment marketplace
by structuring and managing a inventory financing program
for Kobelco’s 75 US dealers, as well as a retail
financing and leasing program for their end user customers.
Again at Deutsche Credit, John provided Viking Yacht
Company with a comprehensive financing structure which
included working capital for the manufacture of Viking
product, but also an inventory financing program for
Viking’s 15 dealers in the US and Europe.
At GE Capital, John established financing arrangements
for over 40 companies in 2 years.
John studied at Augustana College and the University
of Iowa, and holds a BA degree in Business Administration. |
| RON
HEIMBURGER - PRINCIPAL |
CONSULTING EXPERIENCE
THE HEIMBURGER GROUP INC. AND A T KEARNEY,
INC.
o Successful warehouse operations audits and turnaround projects
o Interim on-site warehouse management
o Motor carrier, private fleet and 3PL trucking operations margin improvement projects.
o 3PL selection and contract implementation projects for shippers
o M&A guidance/integration work in Transportation, Warehousing and 3PL sectors
o Start-up and project management for 3PL's
o Strategic and tactical guidance for logistics enterprises
o Transportation and logistics related market research and competitive analysis
o Business development work for 3PL's, multi-modal carriers, and transportation management services
o “Pro-bono” Hurricane Disaster Relief warehouse startup and daily operation management for United Way.
BUSINESS EXPERIENCE
LYKES LINES
DIRECTOR IMTERMODAL OPERATIONS
o Manage the domestic drayage and CY operations.
o Key member of CP Ships acquisition/integration team.
NORFOLK SOUTHERN (NS)/NORTH AMERICAN VAN LINES (NAVL)
SYSTEM MANAGER LOGISTICS,
DIRECTOR CORPORATE PLANNING,
DIRECTOR OF MARKETING
o M&A due-diligence and implementation program management for domestic and off-shore motor carrier, warehousing, International freight forwarder and customs house broker acquisitions.
o Manage and improve private fleet operating performance and profitability.
o Project team member for successful 3PL start up program with NAVL
o Manage the strategic planning and tactical planning function
o Principal in the NS merger regulatory approval team and the NS/NAVL integration team
ARAMCO SERVICES COMPANY
Planning and Contracting Manager
Managed container leasing; marine terminal; inland transportation carrier; and vessel/air-charter planning and contracting department. $40M first year savings on freight spend of $120M.
TIGER INTERNATIONAL/NORTH AMERICAN CAR
Manager, New Business Development
Managed new business development activities for a major transport conglomerate. New products included unbundled rail car leasing, expanded rail car maintenance network, 1st tractor trailer finance leasing activities in Mexico and startup of a commercial RoadRailer operation.
LYKES LINES AND DELTA LINES
Sailed as a licensed Merchant Marine Deck Officer.
EDUCATION
Northwestern University - M.S. in Transportation
U.S. Merchant marine Academy - B.S in Marine Transportation
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