Keith Launchbury, B. Tech., CFPIM, CIRM, CSCP, CDDP, CDDL
Keith is the President of Keith Launchbury & Associates, a company committed to providing practical and innovative ideas for the improvement of business and supply chain operations.
After graduating with a degree in Applied Physics he initially worked as a graduate trainee for Pirelli General in Southampton, England, specializing in method study and industrial engineering projects. In 1977 he joined Northern Telecom's Cable Division in Lachine, Quebec as the Manufacturing Systems Coordinator. In 1979 he joined AES Data Inc. initially to implement a Manufacturing System in the Terminals division in Mississauga, Ontario, and then in 1981, he became Manufacturing Systems Manager for the whole company, responsible for the implementation of MRP in each manufacturing division in North America and Europe.
In 1983 he started his own group of business educators, and since that time his company has provided education, consulting and training services to over 150 companies in Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas. He has worked in every major field of manufacturing and distribution industry and for all sizes of business from small privately held companies to major multi-national corporations.
A Certified Practitioner in Production and Inventory Management at the Fellow level (CFPIM) He is also Certified in Integrated Resource Management (CIRM) and as a Supply chain Professional (CSCP) by APICS, the Association for Supply Chain Management. An active professional in APICS he served in various executive positions before becoming the International President of the 72,000 member society in 1991. He was also a significant contributor to the APICS Certified in Integrated Resource Management Program. He also served APICS for three consecutive terms as the Chairperson of the Curricula and Certification Council, the group that develops and administers the curricula for each of the APICS Certification programs. Recently he became Certified and qualified as an Instructor for the Demand Driven Planner and Demand Driven Leader programs developed by the Demand Driven Institute.
A much requested speaker at global Conference and Seminars, he is an entertaining and passionate speaker, blending humor and wry observations of the need for applied common sense in business. He was the winner of the prestigious Toyota award for the best presentation at the SAPICS conference in South Africa in the year 2000.
He is also the author of two APICS courses, the “Fundamentals of Planning” and the “Master Planning of Resources”. He is also the author of several books, one a futuristic novel entitled “All Systems Down”, one a book about healthcare, and three books on business, the first is called “Business Intelligence, lessons learned from the oxymorons at work”, the second is called “Intelligent Business, lessons learned from the experts at work.” The third is a business novel entitled “The Journey, Unleashing the power of Business Integration.”