Insight_2nd Edition

Susan O. Schall, PhD Founder, Lead Consultant SOS Consulting, LLC Front Royal, VA https://youtu.be/o8CuaQa3YOQ Drawing on more than three decades of professional experience, Dr. Schall serves as founder and lead consultant of SOS Consulting, LLC. There, she is noted for working with manufacturing leaders to maximize sustained value to customers. Dr. Schall coaches leaders of small to medium-sized manufacturing companies through SOS Consulting’s Roadmap to Competitive Results program to achieve profitability with six essentials to doing the right things right. Prior to pursuing an engineering career, Dr. Schall considered becoming a patent attorney. She received a significant amount of guidance from her father, who supported women’s involvement in the sciences, and her grandfather, who worked as a carpenter and encouraged her love for problem solving. While visiting schools and researching pre- law programs, Dr. Schall quickly learned that law degrees did not typically involve the studies she enjoyed. She confided her concerns in her father, who attended a Lions Club meeting and spoke with a local lawyer who studied engineering as an undergraduate. With her father’s encouragement, Dr. Schall began researching engineering, which eventually led her to the field of industrial engineering. How have you navigated disruptions in your industry to remain a top professional? The largest disruption in U.S. manufacturing was 35-40 years ago at the beginning of my career. That disruption was the quality revolution. I rode that wave through the 1980s and 1990s. Unfortunately, many small U.S. manufacturers did not join me and many large manufacturers have lost sight of the fun- damental principles and are missing the benefits.