MARVIN S. SEPPANEN is the Founder andPrincipal Consultant of Production Systems, Winona, Minnesota; a company specializing for over 20 years in design, analysis, and development of industrial strength simulation models. His process simulation has included the modeling of high volume printing, electrical and mechanical fabrication, high-speed automated packaging, jet engine overhaul, airline baggage transfer, JIT receiving, automotive assembly, underground coal mines, army personnel, and military inventories. He is a registered Professional Engineer and active in several professional organizations. Dr. Seppanen has taught engineering at the University of St. Thomas, General Motors Institute, and The University of Alabama. He received his undergraduate and master’s degrees in Industrial Engineering and his Ph.D. in Operations Research from the University of Minnesota. When not helping students and clients improve their processes, he attempts to improve the process of grape growing in southeast Minnesota with the goal of starting a small commercial winery.

SAMEER KUMAR is a Professor and Qwest Endowed Chair in Global Communications and Technology Management in the College of Business at the University of St. Thomas, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Prior to this position he was a Professor of Engineering and Technology Management at St. Thomas. Before joining St. Thomas, Dr. Kumar was a Professor of Industrial Engineering in the Department of Industrial Management, University of Wisconsin-Stout. His major research areas include optimization concepts applied to design and operational management of production and service systems. He has been actively involved in wide variety of challenging industry projects for over 23 years in US and India. He has published and presented articles in various research journals and conferences. He is a registered Professional Engineer, Certified Manufacturing Technologist, Certified Manufacturing Engineer, and Certified Plant Engineer and received Masters degrees in Mathematics (University of Delhi), Computer Science (University of Nebraska), and Industrial Engineering and Operations Research (University of Minnesota). He received his Ph.D. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Minnesota.

CHARU CHANDRA is an Associate Professor in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Prior to this, Charu was a Post Doctoral Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and at The University of Minnesota. He has worked in the industry as Information Technology Manager and Systems Analyst. He is involved in research in Supply Chain Management, and Enterprise Integration issues in large complex systems. He has consulted extensively in the areas of supply chain management and information systems design and development. He teaches courses in Information Technology, Operations Research and Supply Chain Management. His Master and Ph.D. degrees are in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research from the University of Minnesota, and Arizona State University.