The degree came from Purdue. Industrial Engineering. Frameworks, optimization models, lean theory. all of it.
The education came later. On a Tuesday morning, in a warehouse that was already three hours behind by 9 AM. Two no-shows. A jammed conveyor. A client on the phone who wanted answers, not explanations. And a textbook in the car that suddenly had nothing useful to say.
That morning isn't unique. Every operator has a version of it. The detail that's worth pausing on is what happens after, when the fires are out, the orders shipped, the day ended on a win that felt more like survival. Most people go home.
The interesting work begins by asking why the day went sideways in the first place. Then asking it again the next week. And the week after that. Until the patterns start naming themselves.
"Two decades of walking warehouse floors.
Two companies built from what was found there. One book about what nobody wanted to admit."
"Two decades of walking warehouse floors.
Two companies built from what was found there. One book about what nobody wanted to admit."
The degree came from Purdue. Industrial Engineering. Frameworks, optimization models, lean theory. all of it.
The education came later. On a Tuesday morning, in a warehouse that was already three hours behind by 9 AM. Two no-shows. A jammed conveyor. A client on the phone who wanted answers, not explanations. And a textbook in the car that suddenly had nothing useful to say.
That morning isn't unique. Every operator has a version of it. The detail that's worth pausing on is what happens after, when the fires are out, the orders shipped, the day ended on a win that felt more like survival. Most people go home.
The interesting work begins by asking why the day went sideways in the first place. Then asking it again the next week. And the week after that. Until the patterns start naming themselves.
