Randy Garber is a partner in A.T. Kearney. He leads the aerospace and defense practice for the Americas. He has also led the firm’s operations practice in the U.S. West. Randy has 26 years of management consulting experience in conducting and directing client engagements in supply chain management, strategic sourcing, change management, and organizational effectiveness. His experience spans a broad range of industries and government agencies — with a focus on aerospace & defense companies.  

Prior to joining A.T. Kearney, he was deputy director for a U.S. Congressional Board in Washington, D.C., and vice president of a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm, specializing in supply chain management. Randy directed research on managing the China supply chain, and has published and presented on the trends and issues identified in the study. He has published numerous articles, including “Want a More Flexible Supply Chain?” in Supply Chain Management Review, and “Your Strategy Means Sink or Swim,” Chief Logistics Officer. Randy earned an M.B.A. from the Olin School, Washington University. He has a B.S. from Central Missouri State University in economics. He is a founding member of the North America Transportation Competitiveness Research Council.

Bill Peterson is a Lean best practices teacher and consultant who draws on over 30 years of hands-on experience using Lean, Six Sigma and other continuous improvement tools to enhance process efficiency, job satisfaction and organizational performance. Combining the ideas of the great process improvement thinkers with his own experiences and insights, Bill began developing his approach to Lean methodology during a 26-year career with Delta’s Technical Operations Division.

While focused primarily on operational processes, he saw firsthand that the productivity and job satisfaction of frontline workers was often constrained by the impact of processes in other areas such as HR, purchasing, engineering, and sales/marketing. This awareness put him at the forefront of one of today’s most important trends: applying Lean to business processes.

Since 2006, Bill has been dedicated to teaching professionals in diverse industries how to apply Lean best practices to improve business processes. He does this via his consulting firm, LeanBP, and as a faculty member in the University of Tennessee’s Center for Executive Education (CEE). In addition to creating and teaching Lean Applied to Business Processes, an intensive one-week course available through CEE, he is also a lecturer in CEE’s Aerospace & Defense Executive MBA program. His consulting clients have included Harrah’s Casinos, Stone Energy and Aerotron, and he has done extensive work with AFSO 21 (Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century) initiatives. In the classroom or on site, Bill emphasizes practical application over academic theory, personal engagement, and the alignment of processes with the organization’s mission and the creation of customer-defined value.

Bill holds an MBA in Lean Aerospace from the University of Tennessee, a BS in Professional Aeronautics from Embry-Riddle, Six Sigma Black Belt certification, and FAA Airframe and Power Plant Licenses.