Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Signed in as:
filler@godaddy.com
Customers wait longer for orders
Backorders continue to increase
OTIF performance keeps declining
Slow-moving inventory accumulates
Warehouses continue filling up
Working capital stays trapped
EBITDA comes under pressure
Borrowing needs keep increasing
Growth investments get delayed
Service, inventory, and cash are connected by the same operating decisions: what the business expects to sell, what it buys or produces, and how quickly it responds when reality changes.
When those decisions are based on different assumptions, outdated information, or disconnected processes, the business can end up with too much inventory overall and still not have what customers need.
That is when:
Service declines despite higher inventory
Cash gets trapped in the wrong products
Teams work harder without improving results
The visible symptoms appear in different parts of the business.
The underlying problem often sits between them.
The answer is rarely one bad forecast, one purchasing decision, or one functional team. It is usually found in how the business makes and connects decisions across sales, operations, supply chain, and finance.
Trapped cash freed across 20+ portfolio companies
Average engagement timeline
Average return on engagement investment
If I don't identify at least 3X the assessment investment in quantified opportunities, you get your investment back. Period. No exceptions.
I'll hand you your check back.

CASE STUDY: SUPPLEMENT MANUFACTURER, PE OWNED, $150M
Historically high fill rates were crashing and inventory was growing rapidly.
Planning couldn't communicate with sales and overforecasted the wrong mix.
$4.2M cash freed from inventory
+9 points fill rate improvement
6 months embedded with the team from assessment through execution
"Mike's hands-on approach focused on coaching our team through implementation, not just delivering slides."
- Travis D., Operating Partner, Lion Equity

Most manufacturers are sitting on 15-25% more inventory than they need.
The cash is there.
It is just buried under weak planning processes, inflated forecasts, and unnecessary buffers.
Inventory problems never travel alone.
They show up as a service problem and a cash problem at the same time.
What you see above the water line is a fill rate problem.
What is underneath is a cash problem. I fix both.
✘ Rising costs and falling profits
✘ Inventory growing faster than sales
✘ Cash frozen in inventory
✘ Calls from angry customers
✘ Not enough of the "right" product
✘ Expanding backorder list
Weak planning discipline often creates both service instability and excess inventory.
Are your inventory turns declining while carrying costs climb?
Are you carrying more than 60 days of raw material or finished goods on hand?
Is your fill rate below 95% on your top 20% of SKUs?
Are expediting costs eating into your margins because planning missed the demand signal?
Can your team explain, in one sentence, why inventory went up last quarter?
Does your S&OP process actually change purchase orders and production schedules, or is it just a meeting?
If you're a $50M to $350M manufacturer or distributor, PE-backed or privately held, and your service levels or inventory performance aren't where they need to be, I may be able to help.
You've probably hired consulting firms before. They sent their best people to win the business, then handed the work off to junior staff. You ended up managing the consultants instead of fixing the problem.
That won't happen here. From discovery call to final roadmap, you work directly with me. Twenty years of operational leadership at GE and Goodyear, followed by a decade solving the same challenges you're navigating now.
And when your problem calls for specialized expertise beyond my own, I don't hand you off. I bring in a Trusted Advisor with decades of experience in manufacturing, distribution, and supply chain. You keep one point of accountability. You also get the right expertise for the problem in front of you.
Every engagement is fixed-scope and fixed-fee. Typically 60 to 90 days. You will know the investment, the deliverables, and the timeline before we start. No hourly billing. No scope creep. No surprises.
"Mike reduced our chemical inventory 24% in six months while improving customer deliveries."
-Peter V., CEO, Riverside PortCo


Free trapped working capital in raw material and finished goods inventory.
Get the right products available at the right time for your best customers.
Install a planning discipline that connects demand, supply, and financial plans.
Turn operational gains into bottom-line results your board can see.
Proven across precision machining, aerospace, chemicals, plastics, cosmetics, and consumer products.
Inventory, fill rate, and S&OP for PE-backed manufacturers and distributors. Nothing else.
One experienced partner who has done the job, not a team of juniors learning on yours.
Fixed scope, fixed fee, 60 to 90 day sprints. No surprises.
If I don't identify at least 3X the engagement investment in quantified opportunities, you get your investment back. Period. No exceptions.
The principle behind every engagement
When your team has clear data and trusts the process, decisions get faster, inventory gets leaner, and service gets better. That is the formula behind every engagement I run.














“Practical, can-do, positive and calm approach benefited the team, especially at difficult times.
Superb at directing and working through client personnel, influencing and never causing offense, and at rolling up the sleeves and working directly alongside blue-collar folks on grimy factory floors.”
“ I would recommend Mike Ryan because of his ability to blend strategic insight with practical execution.
His candor, hands-on data-driven approach, and willingness to teach ensure that teams don’t just receive recommendations but also gain the knowledge and tools to implement them effectively.
He brings clarity to complex inventory challenges and drives real, measurable improvements. ”
“Mike quickly got up to speed, understood our opportunities, engaged stakeholders, and helped us problem solve. He wasn’t just an “idea guy”; he challenged us and brought us on track when he felt we were going in the wrong direction.
Having worked with many consultants in my career who have created heartache in the organization, Mike is 100% easy to work with and has a great demeanor. I would work with him again.”
"We knew we didn’t have the resources to reach our performance objectives and that professional guidance was needed to “bridge” from where we were to where we needed to go in process, structure, and tools.
Mike brought the knowledge and transparency we needed, challenged us, and helped close the gap to get us where we needed to be.”
A confidential conversation about your business, your challenges, and what an engagement might look like.
If there's a fit, I'll outline a scope, a timeline, and deliverables.
No obligation.
I review your data, walk your floor, and talk to your people.
You get a current-state assessment, root cause identification, and a prioritized roadmap with quantified opportunities.
Your team stays focused on running the business.
Your team executes the roadmap with a process that is definable, predictable, repeatable, and trainable.
I stay involved through the transition to make sure the changes stick.
We use cookies to understand site traffic and improve the website experience. By selecting Accept, you agree to our use of cookies.