:author

Edward H. Frazelle, PhD

:Preface

Mr. Jun Suzuki is the patriarch of Japanese logistics. We met during my first logistics study tour in Japan in 1988. He has been my logistics mentor ever since. Many of the pictures of Japanese and European warehousing operations come from his extensive photo gallery of warehousing operations. My wife Pat has been my writing partner from the time I wrote my master’s thesis. She is brilliantly gifted in editing for an audience, and is a God-send of a life and writing partner. My son Andrew is currently finishing his doctorate in Decision Sciences at Duke University. I think he was also born a linguist, and he implores me to choose my words carefully. Though humbling, his editing was an invaluable contribution to the book. He is a God-send of a thought, research and analytics partner. World-Class Warehousing is illustrated with more than one hundred photos taken inside some of the world’s best warehouse operations. Those long time clients and study tour partners include American Cancer Society, Avon, Bertelsmann, BIC, Boots, BP, Caterpillar, Coca-Cola, Ford, Happinet, Honda, L.L. Bean, KAO, Kirin, K-Mart, Lifeway, Marks & Spencer, Metro, Mitsubishi, Netto, Nike, NTT, NuSkin, Payless, Otto, Oxxo, Scroll, Shiseido, Sony, Suntory, Swagelok, Rio Tinto, Rittal, the United States Armed Services, and Verizon. They have been very accommodating to share their experiences in warehousing and logistics. The RightChain™ principals around the world—Dr. Matt Anderson, Angel Becerra, Henry Brunekreef, Matsukawa-san, Masaji Nakano, Ricardo Sojo, and Mary Wong—continually encourage my research, teaching, and writing. x Acknowledgements In our consulting and training, we have been blessed to work with some of the world’s best and brightest individuals and corporations. They have encouraged and supported me to no end.