J. BRIAN ATWATER

J. Brian Atwater is an Associate Professor of Operations Management at Utah State University.  He earned his Ph.D. in operations management at the University of Georgia in 1991.  He currently teaches courses in operations management, continuous improvement techniques, and systems thinking.

Dr. Atwater holds several professional certifications in the field.  He is certified in production and inventory management (CPIM) by the American Production & Inventory Control Society (APICS).  He is also a certified academic associate (JONAH) of the Goldratt Institute.  He has also received lead auditor training in ISO 9000 from The Victoria Group and has worked as an ISO auditor.  He has also worked as an examiner for the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing. 

Over the course of his career Dr. Atwater has provided professional consulting services for the manufacturing operations of several companies including Apple Computers Inc., Hewlett-Packard Company, Carrier Transicold Inc., Schuller/Manville Corporation, and 3M Corporation, as well as several smaller businesses. 

His current interests center around the teaching of systemic thinking and its integration with other problem solving approaches such as lean thinking, six sigma, and TOC.  He has published several articles in a variety of journals including the: Production & Operations Management Journal, International Journal of Production Research, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Productions Inventory Management Journal, Cost Management Journal and Industrial Management Journal.