Meet Gary Aicher and Chris Buthe -

Meet Gary Aicher and Chris Buthe

We are pleased to highlight two more members of the MEP SCO deployment team.

Gary F. Aicher, Senior Advisor, GENEDGE (Virginia’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership)

Gary Aicher is a consultant with over 30 years of experience working in multiple defense and commercial businesses. He has been successful at making significant improvements to both top line growth and improved profitability by driving continuous improvement in all related business aspects.

After being honorably discharged from the U.S. Army in 1976, Gary attended Southern Technical University (a division of Georgia Institute of Technology) and graduated with a BSEET degree, having completed all course requirements for nuclear safety, information technology and electrical engineering technology. Additionally he has completed graduate level courses at Abilene Christian University and Hardin Simmons University.

Gary has held engineering and management positions with Texas Instruments, working in both defense and commercial businesses. He progressed through the ranks at ITT, from a senior engineer to the senior management and executive levels. After the successful leadership of multiple divisions, he assumed the role of Senior Vice President, responsible for supporting the integration and execution of multiple business entities in Eastern Europe for some of the most strategically significant program/project pursuits within the corporation.

Gary lead in the creation of ITT’s corporate wide Value Based Six Sigma (VBSS) program that identified, trained and deployed high potential employees to drive continuous improvement across the corporation.

There is an upcoming Supply Chain Optimization for Leaders event in the Virginia area:

10/07

Dumfries, Virginia

Chris Buthe, Supply Chain Specialist, California Manufacturing Technology Consulting (CMTC)

cbuthe@cmtc.com

Chris works with U.S. manufacturers and their customers to support and align corporate strategies that result in profitability, competitiveness and customer satisfaction. By integrating many practical methods from lean enterprise, lifecycle management, and program management, his clients develop sustainable relationships and effective collaborations in the Supply Chain. Chris is a new addition to the MEP Supply Chain Optimization (SCO) program.

Prior to joining CMTC, Chris was co-owner of Lean Enterprise Development (LED), working with small-to-medium size suppliers to develop continuous improvement plans and collaborative relationships that exceeded OEM expectations. He has worked with leaders and cross-functional teams to have measurable impact by adopting Lean and Hoshin Kanri methods that align strategies with operations. Previous to LED, Chris was with Levi Strauss & Co for over thirty years, covering all facets of Customer relations while providing supply chain services to the largest national retail groups in the U.S. He also enjoyed volunteer work for the Employer’s Support of the Guard & Reserve (ESGR).

Chris earned a B.A. from UCLA. Beginning in 2011, Chris participated in a two year joint program of MIT’s Lean Advancement Initiative, PMI and INCOSE that resulted in the “Lean Enablers for Managing Engineering Programs”. He is also a member of ASQ, NDIA, and ESGR.