Instructor Bios
Michelle Danielson, CPIM
Michelle Danielson is a Commodities Specialist for International Game Technology in Reno, working with engineers to production and thoughout the supply chain she is responsible for the commodities of wiring harnesses and cables. She has been a member of APICS for more than 6 years and received her CPIM Certification in 2004. She has completed the APICS Train the Trainer program as well as the APICS Lean Train the Trainer program.
Michelle’s has experience in Manufacturing, Retail and Distribution and brings a wide variety of knowledge to her teaching experience.
She is also past president of the local APICS chapter and has presented a wide variety of topics at the APICS District meetings.
Rick Leach, CSCP, CPIM
Richard (Rick) Leach will become the APICS Pacific Western District Director on January 1, 2010, representing the Pacific Western District on the APICS Board of Directors. He currently is the APICS Pacific Western District Manager, responsible for the 10 Western United States, with 19 Chapters. Prior to this, Rick was on the then APICS Region 10 Staff on two (2) occasions, the last one as the Region 10 Director of Education. Rick is the past president of the APICS Redwood Empire Chapter, and before taking the position of the Region 10 staff, was a member of the BOD of the APICS Northern Sierra Chapter.
Rick is an instructor with the Northern Sierra Chapter, teaching the CPIM Certification Courses, and is scheduled to teach the APICS CSCP Certification Course when offered.
Rick has over 35 years of Manufacturing and Materials Management experience in numerous industries, such as:
- Heavy Duty Trucks
- Aluminum Foundries
- Electronics
- Stainless Steel Manufacturing
- Airborne Surveillance (UAV’s)
- Laser Etching for Chip Mfgs
- Water Works
- Military Equipment
- Lighting Fixture Equipment
Rick has been the Project Manager of numerous system implementations
Jim Tarr, CPIM
Jim has spent over 35 years working in many business environments in a wide variety of line and staff positions. His experience includes managing his own consulting practice, senior management positions, consulting with a major CPA firm and industrial and manufacturing engineering. Mr. Tarr has conducted over 200 public seminars on a variety of topics. He has been a featured speaker at conferences on four continents and is a published author. He has been a speaker at the APICS International Conference 10 times. He is a certified Train the Trainer and Learning Dynamics Instructor and has taught courses in Production Management and Lean Manufacturing at California State Universities.
Tony Trexler, CPIM
Tony is currently the Operation Manager at Antioch. He has over 10 years of operations management experience in distribution and manufacturing. His responsibilities have included all aspects of inventory and supply chain management in addition to vital roles in strategic planning. He also gained a solid financial background during his five years as an accounting manager for a healthcare distributor.
Tony has a Bachelors of Business Administration from Georgia State University and is CPIM.