Board of Directors (2010 - 2011)

President : Dennis Okocha, CPIM

Dennis served on the Cleveland chapter board of directors in 2003/04 as Director-At-Large. He is now the President Elect for the 2009/10 program year. Dennis holds APICS CPIM, ISM C.P.M and a Masters degree in Political Science (Public Administration). With over 17years experience in administration related positions and operations management, he has worked in government, higher education, banking and manufacturing. He is currently a Senior Scheduler at Henkel Corp. where he has responsibility for master scheduling the Mentor, OH plant. He is also charged with overseeing purchasing of raw materials and packaging components in support of production activities, along with distribution planning and replenishment of purchased finished goods. 

 President-Elect : Brent Alberda

Secretary : Danyl Werntz

Danyl joined the APICS Cleveland Board of Directors in 2009 as Secretary and Employment Coordinator for the chapter. She graduated from the University of Akron and has over sixteen years experience in Materials Management augmented by a background in Information Systems Management. She previously served on the Akron APICS Board of Directors for five years in various roles including publicity, membership and awards director.

Treasurer : Dan DiFilippo

Dan joined the APICS Cleveland Board in 2005 as an Assistant to the Director of Special Events and since then has held positions of President, President-Elect, and Director of Education. He has 12+ years of Operations and Supply Chain Management experience ranging from S&OP Planning and Forecasting to Negotiations and Sourcing to Operations Planning and Lean Workflow to Outbound Distribution and Logistics Operations. Dan currently works as the Global Supply Chain Process Leader for Momentive Performance Materials (formerly GE Advanced Materials) where he leads processes with teams in China, Japan, Germany, and the US. He is an alumni of The Weatherhead School of Management and Case Western Reserve’s School of Engineering.

Director of Programs : Steve Nemeth CPIM CSCP

Steve Nemeth joined the APICS Cleveland Board of Directors in 2006.  He is retired and currently an instructor in our Instructor-Led CPIM courses.  Steve is both CPIM and CSCP certified.  He has forty years work experience in materials and manufacturing management from shop floor supervisor to vice president.  You can say that Steve is a “true practitioner” in the field of Operations Management.  He was employed by TEREX Division of General Motors, North Coast Brass & Copper, Cable Vision, VICTOREEN, and The Lincoln Electric Company.  Steve is a former US ARMY officer and decorated Vietnam Veteran.

Director of Communications : Edward Merker

Ed joined APICS in 2004 and has been on the Board of Directors since 2005, serving as Director of Chapter Marketing till 2009.  Ed has changed rolls in 2009 / 20010 to become Director of Communications where he is responsible for the Cleveland Chapter Optimizer.  The Optimizer is the chapter news publication which gets distributed to the chapter membership on a monthly basis.  Ed will continue in this role for the 2010 / 20011 program year.  Ed is a supply chain professional with an MBA and is CPIM certified. He has held numerous managerial positions at local companies.  He has worked in Production Planning, Scheduling, Master Scheduling, and Resource Planning.  Ed currently works for Swagelok Company headquartered in Solon and with plants throughout the Cleveland area. 

Director of Education : Dan Yu CSCP

Dan joined the APICS Cleveland Board in 2009.  Dan has project/research experience in various supply chain fields ranging from Operations Research, Forecasting, Inventory Control, Simulation Modeling and Statistical Analysis as well as Lean and Six Sigma methodologies.  She has a Master’s Degree in Supply Chain Management from Case Western Reserve University, a Bachelor’s Degree in Logistics Management from Beijing Jiaotong University, and earned her CSCP certification in the Spring of 2009.  Dan currently works at Dealer Tire LLC.

Director of Marketing : Jacob John CSCP PMP

Jacob joined APICS Cleveland Board in 2007 as Systems and Technology Advisor and since then has been very actively involved in Board activities. Holds a Post Graduate Degree in Computer Science and is APICS CSCP and PMI PMP certified. He currently works for Avery Dennison as Sr Business Analyst and has held various management positions in Fortune 100 multi-national corporations in Asia, Europe and the US.
As Systems and Technology Advisor he lead several technology initiatives promoting efficiencies  in chapter activities including the implementation web-based Event Management System and redesign of the chapter website.
His leisure time activities are reading and watching sports but prefers playing tennis, soccer, cricket or volleyball when weather permits..

Liason to Academic Affairs : Adam Snyder

Adam Snyder joined the APICS Cleveland Board in 2010 as the Academic Affairs liason.  He is a graduate of Case Western Reserve University with an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering and a Masters in Engineering & Management.  Adam worked in Project Management, Engineering, Lean Manufacturing implementation, and Operations Management for Newell Rubbermaid and Plastipak Packaging prior to his current role with Definity Partners, a business and operational transformation firm.

Systems and Technology Advisor : Open

Employment Services Coordinator : Danyl Werntz

Danyl joined the APICS Cleveland Board of Directors in 2009 as Secretary and Employment Coordinator for the chapter. She graduated from the University of Akron and has over sixteen years experience in Materials Management augmented by a background in Information Systems Management. She previously served on the Akron APICS Board of Directors for five years in various roles including publicity, membership and awards director.

Historian : Rick Michelich

Director of Membership : Scott Holter