ABSTRACT
Peter Orville was an MBA for Executives student who was currently between roles. Previously, he had been an operations and logistics manager for a Dallas-based hardwood lumber, millwork, and flooring supplier. In this role, he had negotiated the procurement of a variety of resources. He enjoyed the process of establishing optimal reorder quantities as well as those aspects of his job that allowed him to establish and improve upon processes. His motto while on the job was always that of a gemba walk1 proponent: “Go and see,” he’d say. He believed that it was only by personally observing and dissecting each aspect of a critical
business process that he could truly eliminate wasteful or duplicative activities and optimize any given process in the service of a particular business goal.
