Board of Advisors
To ensure relevance, accuracy and continued best practices, the Operations Council™ is guided by the talented and experienced professionals of our Board of Advisors below. The Operations Council Board of Advisors supports program and resource planning, and strives to represent our community of COOs, CAOs, Operations VPs, General Managers (GMs), and other operations professionals.
Do you have questions or suggestions for the Board? Please use the Operations Council contact form.
Billy Lawder
Advisor
Billy Lawder is an accomplished senior supply chain executive with a passion for helping customers achieve their most strategic business objectives. With more than two decades of experience in supply chain and operations, his well-earned reputation is one of delivering outstanding financial results, developing strong and engaged teams, and accomplishing bold business goals by thinking differently.
As the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Peak Technologies, Billy is bringing together teams from around the globe into #OnePeak, scaling service and operations, and revving the procurement engine to unlock hidden value. Believing that even “really good” isn’t “good enough” when it comes to customers’ mission critical solutions, Billy is transforming Peak’s service offerings to proactively identify and resolve issues keeping production lines running, shelves stocked, and packages moving.
Billy earned a Bachelor of Industrial and Systems Engineering from Ga Tech, a Master of Business Administration from Kennesaw State Coles College of Business, and holds both Six Sigma Black Belt and Project Management Professional (PMP) certifications. Prior to his time at Peak Technologies, Billy built and led teams across roles at Home Depot, Simmons Bedding, 3PD (now XPO Last Mile), Anheuser-Busch, Onsite Fuel Service, and Mansfield Oil. In his free time, Billy enjoys traveling with his wife, cheering on his four children at their activities, road cycling, and watching Ga Tech football.
Mel Heckman
Advisor
Mel Heckman is an accomplished operations and technology executive with nearly 30 years experience in technology infrastructure, supply chain and procurement, digital transformation and business intelligence across a wide range of industries. His many COO and technology roles span mid-market to Fortune 500 corporations. Mel’s long consulting career focused on C-Suite advisory and technology implementation for West Monroe Partners, Sikich, Ernst & Young, and others.
Mel earned an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and a Bachelor of Science, Operations Management and Information Systems from Northern Illinois University. He is CPIM certified with the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS), and is working toward his Certified Turnaround Associate distinction with the Turnaround Management Association (TMA).
Amy Julian
Advisor
Amy Julian is Partner, Strategy & Transformation at Armanino, a Top 20 Accounting/Consulting firm with more than 2,500 employees and offices nationwide. Prior roles included senior Procurement, Operations and Supply Chain positions at ANHEUSER-BUSCH INBEV for more than 11 years, before launching her consulting career.
Amy earned a BS – Economics from Arizona State University, and an MBA from St. Louis University. Amy resides in St. Louis, MO.
Matt Barnes
Advisor
Matt Barnes is Managing Partner at Workfast Studios, an operations consulting firm focused on helping people connect strategy with execution through individual coaching, developing culture, and applying proven continuous improvement practices. Matt’s 20 years of experience includes Vice President of Operations at Peak Technologies (a supply chain solutions provider), Director of Operations at TransMontaigne Partners (an energy supply chain services company) and in program management and project management roles across various industries. He began his career as a Commissioned Officer in the United States Navy and had the opportunity to serve and lead in overseas contingency environments and in the White House Military Office.
Matt holds a B.S. in Industrial Engineering from Georgia Tech, an MBA from the University of North Carolina Kenan-Flagler Business School, a Professional Engineer license (inactive), and Project Management Professional (PMP), Lean Six Sigma Green Belt, and Fundamentals of Sustainability Accounting (FSA) certifications.