Chad Smith

Co-Founder and Partner, Demand Driven Institute

Chad Smith is Co-founder and Partner at the Demand Driven Institute, the global authority in Demand Driven education, training, certification, and compliance. Chad is the co-author of the third edition of Orlicky’s Material Requirements Planning 3/E (Ptak and Smith, McGraw-Hill, 2011), Demand Driven Performance – Using Smart Metrics (Smith and Smith, McGraw-Hill, 2013), Demand Driven Material Requirements Planning V3 (Ptak and Smith, Industrial Press, 2019), Precisely Wrong - Why Conventional Planning Fails and How to Fix It (Ptak and Smith, Industrial Press 2017) and The Demand Driven Adaptive Enterprise - Surviving and Thriving in the VUCA World (Ptak and Smith, Industrial Press, 2018). Before DDI, Chad Co-founded Constraints Management Group (CMG) in 1997, a services and technology company specializing in demand driven manufacturing, materials and project management systems for mid-range and large manufacturers. He served as Managing Partner of CMG from 1998 to 2015. Clients, past and present, include Unilever, LeTourneau Technologies, Boeing, Intel, Erickson Air-Crane, Siemens, IBM, The Charles Machine Works (Ditch Witch) and Oregon Freeze Dry. Chad is also a certified expert in all disciplines of the Theory of Constraints studying directly under the tutelage of the late Dr. Eli Goldratt. Chad makes his home in Wenatchee, WA with his wife Sarah and two daughters Sophia and Lily.