Logistics and Reverse Logistics Expert Witnesses: 5

Jo-Anne Daniels has been a International Trade and Transportation Industry consultant for over 25 years. She is the principal and founder of Trade Resources & Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in cross-border transactions, trade compliance, and transportation management.

Ms. Daniels has been a Licensed Customs Broker since 1987 and has experience leading global trade compliance and transportation for multinational corporations, such as, Micron Technology, Aviza, Inc., Flextronics (formerly Solectron), and Applied Materials. She is a frequent invited speaker for trade associations and logistics organizations. Ms. Daniels authored several industry publications and is the past President of the Professional Association of Exporters and Importers.

Litigation Support - Ms. Daniels is an experienced expert witness and has provided expert witness litigation services to both corporations and individuals. She is qualified to provide independent expert opinions, expert reports and declarations, and expert witness testimony at deposition in the matters of International Trade, U.S. Customs laws, U.S. Export Administration, and International Traffic in Arms Regulation and practice.

Areas of Expertise:

View Trade Resources & Associates' Consulting Profile.

Jon Washington is the Founder of The Innovation Garage, a consultancy established in August 2012, specializing in change management for strategy, innovation, and supply chain. The firm aids organizational leaders in designing strategies and implementing solutions, serving clients from startups to Fortune 500 companies.

Mr. Washington's experience includes training over 2,000 leaders and working with 100+ global organizations. His consulting expertise spans various sectors such as medical, automotive, aerospace, and consumer goods. With a mechanical engineering degree and an MBA, he focuses on operational efficiency and improvement.

Previously, he was Senior Director of Product Sourcing at Diebold, managing strategic sourcing and a $5 million budget across 1,000 suppliers. He also directed various product design and development projects for high-tech systems.

Litigation Support: As a named inventor on over 100+ global patents, Mr. Washington has been retained by clients for expert patent consultation and testifying expert roles. He provides patent analysis, claim chart development, and expert/rebuttal reports. He is retained for his expertise in patent-related business process matters involving patent infringement / non-infringement analysis and re-examination and for his knowledge and experience with USPTO and global patent business process support. Mr. Washington's expert witness support includes product failure analysis, project and program management methodologies, and commercial contract analysis. 

Areas of Expertise: 

Floyd McConnell, PE, is a business leader and expert witness with Manufacturing Experience in the Aerospace and Defense Industry. With more than 40 years in the US and international aerospace manufacturing industry, Mr. McConnell leads a network of consultants that provide security, strategy, marketing, proposal, expert witness, and management services.

Mr. McConnell successfully managed the responsibility for overall financial performance and operations including the customer relationship and supply chain of diverse businesses within the Aerospace and Defense industry. His portfolio included commercial and military customers in Asia, Europe, the Mid-East, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South America and the United States. He has set up supply chains and managed manufacturing and production lines for businesses in Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and multiple locations within the United States.  

Litigation Support: Mr. McConnell reviews cases involving technical or managerial decisions in the aerospace industry and their impact including engineering, management, quality, and program performance, schedules, and corporate decisions. He's been retained on 11 cases; 40% with AmLaw 100 and 20% with AmLaw 200 firms. Cases involve the largest firms in the industry.

Areas of Expertise:

Summary

Stephen (Steve) T. Hopper, P.E., is Founder and Principal of Inviscid Consulting. Over four decades serving the supply chain industry, Steve has helped his clients plan and streamline their warehousing, fulfillment, distribution, and logistics operations by driving down costs, boosting capacity, improving service levels, mitigating risk, implementing effective supply chain solutions, emphasizing safety, and enhancing the performance of their supply chain resources: people, processes, inventory, facilities, equipment, material handling and storage systems, automation, transportation assets, and supply chain information technology (IT). Steve has advised 200+ clients ranging from small businesses to Fortune 100 corporations. He has also served as an expert witness on dozens of cases involving supply chain operations in the US, Canada, and Australia and has advised private equity and venture capital investors.

Industry Experience

• 3PL / Outsourced warehousing, fulfillment, distribution, and logistics
• Apparel / Footwear
• Building materials
• Consumer goods
• Direct-to-consumer / Ecommerce / Catalog
• Food / Beverage / Grocery
• Furniture
• High-tech / Electronics
• Industrial / Automotive / Aerospace
• Mining / Drilling
• Pharmaceutical / Health and life sciences
• Rentals
• Retail
• Reverse logistics / Returns
• Wholesale / General distribution

Supply Chain Solutions Expertise

• Warehouse management systems (WMS)
• Warehouse control systems (WCS)
• Warehouse execution systems (WES)
• Slotting and order picking systems
• Transportation management systems (TMS)
• Labor management systems (LMS)
• Order management systems (OMS)
• Voice and automatic identification systems
• Equipment, automation, robotics, and software used for handling, packaging, storing, and transporting materials
• Logistics network design tools
• Other supply chain solutions, automation, equipment, and related tools

Education and Certifications

• Bachelor of Industrial Engineering (BIE), The Georgia Institute of Technology (Georgia Tech)
• Licensed, registered Professional Engineer (P.E.)

Rosemary Coates, President of Blue Silk Consulting, is a seasoned executive with an MBA and 35+ years of experience in Chinese Sourcing and Manufacturing, Global Supply Chain Management, Procurement, Manufacturing, Importing/Exporting, and ERP Systems Consulting.

Prior to BSC, Ms. Coates was a Senior Director at SAP, the Supply Chain Practice Leader at KPMG Peat Marwick and at Answerthink, and a Regional Manager at Hewlett-Packard. Ms. Coates has consulted with global and domestic clients, VCs, and PE firms on operations systems and processes. She has considerable international experience and has worked for extended periods in Asia and Europe.

Ms. Coates' experience spans a broad range of industries including High Technology, Software, Chemicals, Health Care, Consumer Products, Industrial Products, Food Distribution, Transportation, Publishing, Retail, and Oil and Gas. She has extensive knowledge and experience in manufacturing and outsourcing in Asia, Europe, and the US. She has written five Amazon.com books including Best Seller, 42 Rules for Sourcing and Manufacturing in China, and Legal Blacksmith: How to Avoid and Defend Supply Chain Disputes, and  42 Rules for Superior Field Service, and Negotiation Blueprint for Buyers, and The Reshoring Guidebook 

Ms. Coates is also the Executive Director of the Reshoring Institute and a member of the Board of Directors at the University of San Diego Supply Chain Management Institute. She teaches Global Supply Chain Strategy at UC Berkeley. She is a Licensed U.S. Customs Broker. She earned a BS in Business at Arizona State University and an MBA at the University of San Diego. She resides in Silicon Valley. 

Rosemary Coates: Supply Chain Management Overview

Litigation Support - As an Expert Witness, Ms. Coates has assisted attorneys in their understanding of relevant Supply Chain Operations and Practices in sourcing, logistics, distribution, manufacturing, inventory, and Chinese Imports. She has worked on legal cases for the past 10 years, writing reports, giving depositions, and testifying at trial.

Case Opinions:

• Chinese Products
• Import / Export Management
• Counterfeit Imports
• Project Management for Enterprise Software
• ERP Software Consulting Implementation Failures and Runaway Projects
• China Sourcing and Manufacturing
• Securities
• Sales Channel Distribution and Compensation
• Supply Contracts
• Inventory Tax
• Global Manufacturing Operations, Contract Manufacturing, CMS, EMS
• Transportation and logistics, 3PLs and Freight Forwarders, Freight Shipping

Areas of Expertise:

View Rosemary Coates' Consulting Profile.