"After documenting inventory reductions
and thru-put improvement through our
black belt lead lean manufacturing project,
we were able to obtain a four-fold incremental
improvement in inventory reduction and customer
service level improvement through implementing
GAINS.”
ITT Bell & Gossett (Discrete Manufacturer)
________________________________
“Gulfstream is known as the industry leader in customer service and repair.
A key component in maintaining that reputation is the spare parts planning and equipment overhaul optimization provided by GAINS."
Gulfstream Aerospace (Aerospace MRO/Service Parts Distribution)
________________________________
“We hit $62 million (in monthly sales).
We have never even come close to hitting $60 million in any month previously. Those
sales were due to having the right inventory at the right time. Our inventory levels began dropping right after we implemented
the new software (GAINS) and they have leveled off at about $5.5 million below their previous levels, so with more revenue
and lower costs our increase in profit contribution is spectacular."
Mr. William C. (Bill) Benton Founder and Chief Executive Officer GAINSystems, Inc.
Mr. Benton is founder and CEO of GAINSystems Inc., and has more than 25 years of business and consulting experience. In the area of Supply Chain Management, Mr. Benton has executive experience in Inventory
Control, Procurement and Distribution Systems Development, and Order Processing Systems. During the past
20 years, he has pioneered the development of automated optimization procedures for multi-level inventory management and has developed the computerized GAINS™ approach for profit-optimizing inventories.
GAINS embodies concepts that employ automated procedures and standard management policies for
controlling inventories.
Prior to his current position, Mr. Benton was managing principal and directed the Management Information Services Division of a major international management consulting firm. Previous experience includes directing the Systems Development and Operations Research Departments for a major engine manufacturer. Earlier, he was a business consultant and served as Assistant Professor of Industrial Engineering Technology at Purdue University after spending six years as an Industrial Engineer with steel manufacturing and distribution companies.
Mr. Benton also has extensive experience in developing and managing improvement programs in several major functional areas including planning, organization, business systems development, data processing, inventory management, administrative services, telecommunications, budgeting, and business controls.
Mr. Benton holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University, a Master of Science Degree in Business Operations Research from Illinois Institute of Technology, and is a Registered Professional Engineer. He is a member of several professional societies including the American Management Association, the Institute of Management Sciences, and has served as an officer of the Institute of Industrial Engineers. He is a frequent speaker before business groups and professional associations. Widely
recognized for developing “Inventory Chain Optimization,” an advanced methodology for profit maximization
for manufacturing and distribution, Mr. Benton also recently received the national “Ordo Honoris” Award from
Kappa Delta Rho in recognition of his many contributions to business and community affairs.
Mr. William H. (Will) Benton President and Chief Operating Officer
As Chief Operating Officer, Mr. Benton also leads teams responsible for the design, development, and delivery of the GAINS® Supply Chain Optimization solution. Mr. Benton is a recognized authority on Demand Planning, Inventory Optimization, Distribution & Network Optimization, Collaborative Planning, and General Operations Planning with more than 14 years in the field. His engagements have included work with a variety of Distributors, Service Parts Distribution and Maintenance/Repair (MRO) organizations, as well as Manufacturers.
In the Distribution and Manufacturing areas, Mr. Benton has designed and implemented optimization solutions for inventory, distribution, sourcing, and ‘rough-cut’ scheduling optimization. Organizations have included product and service part distribution/service-center-oriented companies (AM Castle Metals, Hagemeyer, Red Man), discrete manufacturing (e.g., Motorola, Abbott Laboratories, Cintas, ITT), process manufacturing (Chaparral, PPG), and retail (AutoNation, Jewel Foods/Albertson’s).
In the MRO area, Mr. Benton has built optimization expertise through solving mission critical problems for military organizations as well as private sector Aerospace and Defense companies. These projects revolved around issues such as optimizing the stocking and staging of parts, optimally distributing parts throughout a network, managing in times of elevated/decreased effort, cost-effectively improving the availability of rotable parts in light of performance-based logistics (PBL) commitments, and optimizing mixed-demand environments (where parts are shared between manufacturing and after-market). Organizations have included the Australian Defense Forces, Raytheon Aircraft, AAR, Gulfstream Aerospace, Textron Systems (including Bell Helicopter), Kaman Aerospace, and other similar companies and organizations.
Mr. Benton received an MBA (magna cum laude) from the University of Chicago, dual BS/BA degrees
(cum laude) from Southern Methodist University, and was the 1999 recipient of the University of Chicago’s
Bain Award for Strategy.
Mr. William E. Stillman Vice Chairman, Executive Vice President
Mr. Stillman is the co-owner and Executive Vice President of GAINSystems. Prior to joining GAINSystems, for 15 years he was working with the founders of leading edge technology firms assisting them in building effective business organizations around their technical discoveries. His efforts have included the commercialization of Supercritical Water Oxidation for processing toxic waste, bringing to market a multi-lingual, multi-platform translation software for data collection and communications, and the organizational development and market expansion of an AI based Finite Capacity Planning software company.
After his military service, Mr. Stillman began his commercial career with Emerson Electric. He then joined GTE, first serving as management’s union liaison on the shop floor and later as the Director of GTE Transmission Systems’ repair and remanufacture operations. Prior to founding Knowlex, a management consulting and organizational development firm, Mr. Stillman was the Director of International Business Development for
Apollo Computer in Geneva, Switzerland.
Mr. Stillman has been a featured speaker for such organizations as International Labor Relations Council, APICS, ASQC, and the American Management Association. He has spoken on such topics as the creative thought process and how to reduce costs by reducing conflict. He is the author of Off the Business Path: Search for the Creative Process, and has been published in several business and industry magazines.
He holds an MBA from Washington University, an MA from Gordon University, and a BA from Principia College where he was a Phi Alpha Eta scholar.
