Acknowledgments

I would like to acknowledge three categories of people and organizations as being indispensable contributors to this book: the colleagues with whom I’ve worked, the companies from which I’ve learned about forecasting and DSI, and others who have played a very special role in the writing of this book.

First are the colleagues with whom I’ve worked. I’ve already mentioned Tom Mentzer, and he is the first person whom I must acknowledge. Without him, none of this happens. He taught me about forecasting and he opened the doors that needed to be opened to get access to the companies. His tragic death in 2010 is still felt by all of us at the University of Tennessee. His were very big shoes, both literally and figuratively. He was one of the worst golfers I ever had the joy of playing with, and the most generous-spirited man I ever met. I miss you every day, Tom.

After Tom, there were other faculty colleagues who participated in audits, consulting projects, and executive teaching. Ted Stank, Funda Sahin, and Ken Kahn were wonderful colleagues with whom I have worked. Of particular note is my dear friend, Paul Dittmann. We’ve traveled the world together, and everything I’ve learned about inventory management, and most of what I’ve learned about supply chain management, I’ve learned from this insightful, hard-working, and dedicated professional. In addition to the faculty colleagues were the doctoral students with whom we worked. We never could have collected all that data from the companies in our audit database without their excellent participation and contribution. Those who come to mind include Carlo Smith, John Kent, Nancy Nix, Brian Fugate, Beth Davis-Sramek, Barbara Marshall, Andy Artis, Marcel Zondag, Melinda Jones, Michelle Bobbitt, Michael Garver, Cliff DeFee, and Shay Scott. All have gone on to various faculty positions around the world, and they were all fun to work with and drink some beer with at the end of those long days of interviews. Particular acknowledgement must go to “Mark’s Angels”—Donna Davis, Teresa McCarthy-Byrne, and Susan Golicic. Altogether, those three remarkable women worked with me on about 10 different audits, in various configurations. They abandoned me in Fort Worth, partied with me on South Beach, picked out lingerie in Winston-Salem, and even tried to find me (unsuccessfully) in Dublin. But that’s another story. The four of us became dear friends, and we did a lot of great work together learning about forecasting and demand/supply integration.

Also deserving of acknowledgement are the companies with which we worked. In a later chapter of this book, I name all 42 companies that have participated in the audit research, which led to so many of the insights contained in this book. In addition to these 42, dozens of companies that have been members of the Sales Forecasting Management Forum and the Supply Chain Management and Strategy Forum at the University of Tennessee have provided insight and guidance over the years. A few of these professional colleagues stand out and deserve special mention:

• John Hewson, from Eastman Chemical, was the very first forecasting champion we met. His tragic and sudden passing in the early 2000s left a gaping hole in that company.

• Ken Carlson from Deere and Company. Ken taught us about creating a culture of engagement, and about taking the forecasting process global. Ken was the wizard of forecasting.

• Dwight Thomas from Lucent Technologies. Dwight led a global team of forecasters for many years, and taught us about how to engage a worldwide sales organization in a highly complex forecasting task.

• Dave Pocklington from Amway. Dave and his team helped us to understand that forecasting can be more than a tactical function, but rather, can be a corporate function that contributes to the strategic decision-making of the firm. In 16 years, I’ve still not seen a company that does it better than Amway. Dave and his team from Amway felt so strongly about what we’ve done in forecasting that they endowed a scholarship at the University of Tennessee that is awarded each year to an undergraduate student who is interested in forecasting and demand planning.

• John Hellriegel from Honeywell. John has helped me to organize and articulate my ideas about forecasting excellence. We’ve traveled the world together teaching forecasting to hundreds of individuals at Honeywell. We’ve even eaten the hairy crab in Shanghai.

Many other professional colleagues have been a part of my learning journey, and I thank them all for their kindness and generosity.

Finally, I acknowledge the others who have contributed in special ways to the writing of this book. Chad Autry, my colleague at UT, helped make contact with my publisher. Jeanne Glasser Levine, from Financial Time Press, has been a cheerleader and timekeeper and helped immeasurably in getting this book completed. My sons, Colin and David, and my step-daughter, Lauren, have cheered me on. And most importantly, my beautiful wife, Carol, has made it possible to spend many hours in front of the computer and has given me the love and support to do something that I never thought I could do—start with a blank piece of paper, and write a book. You’re the bomb.