Successful Operations Planning Focus of Aug. 7 Workshop

Few companies today implement a defined, long-term operations plan for success, despite the advantages of understanding the direction the company will take and what is needed to get there, said John Pennington, a consultant with 30 years of experience in operations planning.

Pennington will bring his expertise to the next installment of the Main Street Institute workshops designed to provide ongoing education for small businesses. Pennington’s presentation “Executive Sales and Operations Planning: An Essential Set of Management Tools,” is set for 8 a.m. on Aug. 7, 2009, in the auditorium of the IUPUI University Library.

“One of the first things I hope to accomplish is to get executives and managers to understand there truly is a formal process they can go through to better manage the expected sales or services they have to offer,” said Pennington, also an adjunct faculty member at the Kelley School of Business Indianapolis.

“A lot of times we (businesses) just kind of go with the flow, but the last few years have been kind of tough,” he added. “If you don’t have a good forecasting and planning mechanism in place you really do flounder.”

Sales and operations planning can produce both hard benefits (higher customer service, lower inventories, increased production efficiencies) and soft benefits (more effective decision-making, enhanced teamwork, better control of your business), Pennington said.

Pennington has taught operations management at Kelley Indianapolis, located on the IUPUI campus, for the past 7 years. He also is founder and president of PCI Associates and provides consulting and planning operations to businesses across the country.

The Main Street Institute workshops are a partnership between Kelley Indianapolis and the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce.

Registration for the Aug. 7 presentation is $30 for Chamber members and $40 for non-members. To register, visit www.indychamber.com or call 317-464-2200. Kelley students, faculty and staff can attend for free by contacting Dave Hosick with Kelley Indianapolis at 317-274-6856.

For additional information, go to: http://kelley.iupui.edu/ea/newsRoom/news.cfm?storyID=413.