The Performance Operations consortium includes partners and associates in the following areas of expertise:

Business Consulting

The business consulting group includes business consultants providing strategic planning and tactical expertise, focusing primarily on manufacturing and distribution operations.

Technology

The technology group includes Information Technology and Process Automation consultants, developers and systems integrators.

Engineers

The engineering group includes process, industrial and manufacturing engineers and technologists.

Professional Development/Teambuilding

The professional development group includes consultants and specialists in professional growth, mentoring and practical teambuilding.

Business Professionals

The business professionals group includes executives, financial professionals, office automation and accounting professionals.

Partner firms are those which have a substantial track record of lasting results which they have achieved in a manner consistent with the Performance Operations' philosophy.

Associates are companies which the partners have worked with and found to be effective, but which typically work outside the Performance Operations focus area.

All partners and associates are proven, ethical companies with considerable experience and skills meeting strenuous standards.

Please see also our Partners page for more on each of the above groups.

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Features of Performance Operations Solutions

Performance Operations teams provide application solutions which:

• Are Flexible and Expandable
• May be owned by the End User
• Correctly model real world plant floor operations
• Integrate data from any source (PLCs, instrumentation, HMIs, hand held data collection equipment, PCs, etc.
• Are based on industry standard hardware and software components

Performance Operations teams provides systems which:

• Are effective (address the "right problem")
• Are efficient
• Have easy to use, consistent user interfaces
• Are fully documented
• Provide real-time access to plant/shop/warehouse floor information
• Are part of or closely integrated into enterprise systems

Performance Operations teams provide projects which:

• Leave the client team aligned and able to maintain and continually evolve the system
• Are implemented quickly
• May be implemented in phases as time and finances permit
• Are controlled via advanced implementation methodologies
• Utilize ultra-modern project management tools and techniques which are visible via the Internet

Please see also our Expertise, Client List and Principles pages.

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Gene Kaplan

Gene Kaplan has been working with manufacturers in the field of plant operations since 1980.  His experience includes:

• Operations and Management Consulting
• Automation and Information Systems Strategic Planning and Systems Integration
• SCADA, Process Control and Data Acquisition Systems
• Data Collection/Automatic Identification and Warehouse Management Systems (WMS)
• Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES)
• Business and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Systems
• Quality Assurance and Statistical Process Control (SPC) Systems

Gene has more than 200 successful projects and consulting engagements, including discrete, continuous and batch processes.  Gene has extensive experience in the integration of process control, data acquisition and inventory control with shop floor information systems and business systems, especially where lot and/or serial number traceability is a requirement.

With a BSME from Cal Poly, Pomona, and over 20 years of project experience, Gene has applied his mechanical skills and practical way of solving problems to numerous types of manufacturing and operations scenarios.  Additionally, after founding and serving in executive capacities for two corporations for 18 years, and working with well over 100 clients and high technology suppliers, Gene has developed extensive skills in teambuilding and human communications areas, particularly with respect to technology,  manufacturing and distribution operations teams.

Gene has experience leading projects up to $50 million, in large corporate/multi-plant environments, as well as numerous smaller projects for mid sized companies.  Gene's experience includes managing projects with up to 50 different suppliers (OEMs and technology service providers).  Additionally Gene is published in various technical textbooks and periodicals and is frequently often called upon as a speaker for automation, data collection and information technology seminars and tradeshows.

What makes Gene unique is his ability to blend together the technical, project methodology and human aspects when applying technology to solve a particular need.  His approach is always to first seek out the root cause of the symptoms which have been noted so that the resources are expended in the most important area.  Many times attempts to apply technology are less effective because the original business goal becomes lost.  Projects led by Gene always begin with an understanding of the business needs, as well as the individual goals and capacities of the individuals involved.  Then when it comes time for project implementation, Gene derives multiple solutions, always including the maximum amount of resources available from the client team, and implements in phases so as to achieve results right away.  Teambuilding and improvement in human communications both inside and outside the implementation team is one of the keys to Gene's success.

Graphic storyboarding techniques pioneered by Gene in the late 1980s have been used on dozens of projects to help client teams understand how technology will interact with operations before systems are implemented.  Please see our page on Methods for more on these and other unique techniques.

Gene's role typically includes:

	Strategic and Tactical Planning
	Facilitation of Management Change Projects
	Management and Technology Teambuilding
	Feasibility studies
	Optimization of Operations and Operations Management
	Conceptual Design, User Design, Project Management
	Senior Project Management

With a very extensive install base, Gene Kaplan has led projects resulting in numerous mission critical systems which have been in continuous operation for more than 15 years, without retrofit. Gene has led projects which yielded many systems which have been completely taken over by users, expanded or replaced as necessary, with little or even no further involvement from Gene. We have client teams which have become so trained that they implement new solutions using our tools and methods without our ever becoming involved. We consider these types of results as the ultimate customer satisfaction because the client has become self sufficient, which is the best possible outcome. We commonly receive completely unsolicited customer feedback which tells us that they "wish they had solution providers like us in other functional areas" and which thanks us for our documentation and training long after the completion of the project. We have had customers call with a maintenance issue and then apologize for bothering us because they knew they had the means, training and materials to resolve the problem themselves.  These and many more testimonials are the key to longevity in the manufacturing business.

See the resumes of Gene Kaplan and other Performance Operations Partners on the Resumes page.

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Industry Focus

Performance Operations consortium members have focused their skills, technology and products on industries requiring lot traceability, including:

• Food and Beverage
• Agriculture
• Pharmaceutical
• Biotechnology
• Specialty Chemicals
• Electronics and High Technology Manufacturing

Please see also our Expertise, Client List and Principles pages.

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Functional Experience

Performance Operations members have very significant experience in the following functional areas:

          Process

• Bulk Material Handling (Loading/Unloading, Material Transport, Scaling, Blending, Compounding, Loss/Gain in Weight, Drying, Pelletizing, Forming, Extruding)
• Bulk Liquids Handling (Receiving, Tank Farms, Routing, Metering, Scaling, Loading, Drum Filling)
• Processing (Pasteurizing, Aseptic Processing, Homogenizing, Standardization, In-Line Blending, Batching, Blending, Cooking)
• Packaging (High Speed Bottling, Flexible Packaging)

        Discrete Manufacturing

• High Speed Material Handling
• Sortation
• Assembly
• Inspection and Test
• Packaging
• Robotics/Special Machine Control

        Warehousing

• Receiving
• Inventory/Locator Systems
• KanBan
• Automated Pick Operation
• Sortation and Pick/Pack Operation
• Shipping and Loadout

Please see also our Expertise, Client List and Principles pages.

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Contact Performance Operations

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