Supply
Chain
Planning

Cameos

   • Hugh Williams
   • Alain Vix
   • Carol Thomas

Hugh Williams

   Background
Hugh's career in consultancy started when he joined the company founded by Dr Eli Goldratt, author of The Goal. Before that, he had been selling capital equipment for the textile industry and then MRP systems. He subsequently went on to become the Managing Director of a consultancy in finite capacity scheduling, and a partner in a supply chain planning consultancy. He founded Hughenden in 2001.

Areas of Expertise
• Supply Chain Planning
• Theory of Constraints
• Vision Development
• Culture Change
• Education

18 years of experience in designing and delivering Supply Chain Planning training courses, seminars and workshops.

Sample Customers
• Cable & Wireless
• Compaq Computers
• Chivas & Glenlivet
• Frontline Foods


I have been working with companies for nearly 20 years, presenting them with new ideas on how they can work more effectively. My own experience tells me that the hardest part is NOT getting people to understand the ideas; it is getting them to START putting the ideas into place. One step will lead to another, but the first step is the most difficult.

When I first started out as a consultant, the phrase Supply Chain Planning had not been invented, and planning and scheduling meant the same thing. Production Planners used to live in a Portacabin just outside the main factory area, and being a Planner was a job you ended up in, rather than chose as a career path. I would like to think I have contributed something over the years to raise the profile of Planning & Scheduling by beating the drum about how influential this job is to the financial success of a company. In my view, if you want someone to learn how a company operates, give them a spell in Planning.

Much of my knowledge in Supply Chain Planning has come from experience: if you haven't done it, you won't really understand it. I see my task as passing over the benefit of this experience to our clients. Some of this is easy, and some is very difficult. Do you remember how difficult it was learning to drive and how long it took before you became competent? Change can be frightening, hence the resistance. I think our job is helping clients to overcome the fear and so make change.