What Other’s Say…

Recent consulting client:

"I worked at HP with Kevin for a number of years where we were colleagues. I did not work directly with Kevin but as Finance Manager over Manufacturing and Supply Chain for DeskJet printers I was able to see the contributions that Kevin was making and the savings that were flowing to the bottom line.

When I joined ACCO Brands, I was able to bring in Kevin as a consultant to look at packaging. The brief work that he did resulted in a very well written and impactful report that ended up being circulated amongst the Supply Chain leadership. There were a number of very specific areas that were listed as opportunities and in tandem some very specific recommendations for improvement. It was felt that the modest investment to hire Kevin yielded great returns and there are still plenty of opportunities for Kevin to contribute. I would very highly recommend Kevin to anyone looking for a packaging and distribution expert with a broad experience base across a number of companies."

                                            December 12, 2008
                                            Bruce Starcher
                                            Global Business Model Strategist
                                            ACCO Brands

********************************************************************************************************************************

From 2003 through 2005, Kevin Howard was one of only two packaging engineers at Hewlett-Packard Co. to be declared a Master Engineer.  A very small percentage of the 150,000 employees at HP are elevated to this level, recognized as the top rung of the technical ladder for engineers. Kevin’s innovative thinking influenced this Fortune 50 company to modify how it went about designing products and packages, how to test these items, how to handle these items in distribution, how to specify packaging materials, and how to achieve the lowest possible landed costs for new products.  Follwoing are recommendations from HP Managers...
                                            
**************************************************************************************************************************************
"Kevin and I worked together closely at HP for over 15 years in a variety of roles. Kevin was clearly the thought leader and the resident expert for packaging and distribution systems for HP's consumer products during that time. He has a combination of solid theoretical understanding, pragmatic approach, and dogged determination to see his efforts succeed that allow him to implement excellent solutions where others cannot. Kevin is one of the best at going from theory to innovation to solid implementation that I have ever worked with. His efforts resulted in many millions of dollars in cost savings for HP and significantly improved product quality. And Kevin is a great guy to work with." 

                                                                           Mark Mahan, past Hewlett-Packard manager of Packaging
                                                                           7 January 2007

•   Kevin is considered the foremost HP expert in the areas of packaging design and testing
   
• Solid team player
   
• ...the packaging industry routinely seek out his input and guidance when faced with a complex packaging problem
   
• Kevin demonstrates an exceptional commitment to quality and excellence
  
• Kevin is one of the few people at HP who is considered an expert in packaging. He is an asset to the company and proven himself time and time again what value a packaging engineer can be to a company
  
• a technical authority on packaging design, product fragility and the distribution environment
  
• ‘Kevin is the guru of packaging.’
  
  
  Following are some articles found on-line about some of Kevin’s ideas and successes.
  
  Co-authored books/publications:
  
  *  April 2005, Product Protection Test Book, published by the Institute of Packaging Professionals
   < http://www.iopp.org/store/category.cfm?category_id=4 >
  
  *  August 1999, Measurement and Analysis of the Distribution Environment (a.k.a. The MADE Study)
  < http://packaging.hp.com/made/FinalReport/index.htm >
  
  
  Articles:
  
  *  June 1, 2006, MultiChannel Merchant, "Match Game: The Packaging Version," by Bennett Voyles
  < http://multichannelmerchant.com/opsandfulfillment/pack/match_game_packaging_07012006/ >
  
  *  Winter 2005 newsletter from International Safe Transit Association 
  < www.ista.org/Membership/PST2005Issue4.pdf >
  
  *  April 1, 2005, MultiChannel Merchant,  "Care Package," by Bennett Voyles
  < http://multichannelmerchant.com/opsandfulfillment/orders/fulfillment_care_package/ >
  
  *  March 2004, WaterShed Media, "Paper or Plastic: Searching for solutions to an overpackaged world," by Daniel Imhoff
  < http://www.ucpress.edu/books/sc/pages/SC51177/samplepages.pdf >
  
  * February 2003, PackWorld.com, "HP's Printer Clamshell is Market-able," by Rick Lingle
  < http://www.packworld.com/articles/Features/15696.html?ppr_key=02.2003&sky_key=02.2003&term=02.2003 >
  
  
  Articles about Kevin's initiative of packaging postponement for HP:
  
  *  July 2003, HP webcast, "Beyond Packaging Postponement: cutting costs while driving sales"
  < http://webcast.on24.com/clients/hp/52/lobby.html >
  
  *  Winter 2002, Whole Earth magazine, "Thinking Outside the Box: A systems view of packaging," by Daniel Imhoff
  < http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0GER/is_2002_Winter/ai_97116312/pg_13 >
  
  *  March 2001, HP Webcast, "Beyond Postponement: regional logistics effectiveness"
  < http://webcast.on24.com/clients/hp/43/lobby.html >
  
  *  June 2001, Material Handling Management, "Don't Be Put Off by Postponement," by Clyde E. Witt
  < http://www.mhmonline.com/nID/2444/iID/5166/MHM/viewStory.asp >
  
  *  August 21, 2000, Packaging Science and Technology, "Packaging postponement: a global packaging strategy," by Diana Twede, Robert H. Clarke and Jill A. Tait
  < http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/72516430/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0 > 
  
  *  1994, Vol 4, No. 2, Journal of Electronics Manufacturing, "Postponement of packaging and product differentiation for lower logistics costs"
  < http://www.worldscinetarchives.com/cgi-bin/wsnetarchives/article.cgi?jn=jem&vol=04&yr=1994&issue=0402&art=S0960313194000080.html >
  
  *  Lansmont Newletter, "HP saves $3 million per month on bulk shippers for DeskJets," by Jack Dority
  < http://www.lansmont.com/NewsLetters/HTML%5C94-10-p1.HTM >
  
  
  
  Articles about HP projects Kevin was responsible for:
  
  This article shows Kevin's award winning thermoform design for a printer package, along with several examples of various products leveraging his initiatives in packaging postponement:
  < http://packaging.hp.com/enviro/2003%20Pkg%20Whitepaper.pdf >