The PlanetTogether management team combines almost fifty years of combined experience in production scheduling, planning and optimization development and implementation services. Our focus, passion, and commitment to solving the world’s toughest manufacturing scheduling problems will be the cornerstone for your new competitive edge!
James M. Cerra, Co-Founder and President
San Diego Headquarters
James oversees integration of PlanetTogether’s software, consulting, training, support, strategic partnership, and business development activities. He has been instrumental in the design and rollout of three Advanced Planning & Scheduling applications over the past fifteen years where his role included both software design, implementation consulting, and support.
Prior to co-founding PlanetTogether, James was the APS Product Manager for Epicor Software Corporation and Senior APS Consultant at C-WAY Systems Inc.
James holds a Masters of Engineering and a B.S. degree in Operations Research and Industrial Engineering from Cornell University.
Larry Hargis, Co-Founder and Director of Development
San Diego Headquarters
Larry is the chief architect of PlanetTogether’s technology vision and optimization and constraint-management algorithms. He has extensive expertise in software architecture, simulation software, and production scheduling algorithms.
Prior to co-founding PlanetTogether, Larry headed the Advanced Planning & Scheduling (APS) development for Epicor Software Corporation and DataWorks Corporation.
Larry holds a B.S. in Mathematics and Computer Science from San Diego State University.
Peter Nelson, Direct & Channel Sales Manager
Boston Office
Peter is responsible for the combined performance of PlanetTogether's team and for ensuring that everyone within their team, including PlanetTogether's Partners, reaches their targets. He holds extensive experience in both implementing and selling advanced planning and scheduling systems, both in process and discrete industries and handles complex implementations, from start to finish.
For nearly six years, Peter was an implementation consultant for C-WAY Systems. He worked with discrete manufacturers all over North America and some in Europe. Over the next four and a half years Peter was a sales consultant for Logility, specializing in process manufacturing planning and supply optimization; demand and inventory planning; and distribution requirements planning. In 2004 Peter started working with public high schools and middle schools in northeastern Massachusetts, helping teachers integrate computer technology into their traditional classroom instruction. Along with his legacy of extensive experience, Peter has been a guest lecturer for a Cornell Graduate Manufacturing class and at the national APICS Conference.
Pete holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Cornell University.
History and Special Thanks
James, Larry, and Peter all had the honor to work with two esteemed leaders in the field of production scheduling for many years at Epicor Software and C-WAY Systems. Dr. William Maxwell (“Max”) and Dr. Richard Conway, Cornell University professors emeritus, and founders of C-WAY Systems Inc. laid the groundwork for PlanetTogether through their definitive book, Theory of Scheduling, and their APS application, The Production Reservation System (PRS), which was the leading graphical-based production scheduling tool dating back to the early 1980’s. Working closely with Maxwell and Conway for more than ten years and in hundreds of manufacturing sites provided the academic and real-world understanding of the challenges manufacturing schedulers face and an understanding of how to model and solve these problems with computers.
We are grateful for the mentorship, vision, and ethical guidance that Max and Dick shared with us as they pursued their passion for scheduling throughout our years together.
Want to learn more? Call (617) 803-7917 to speak to one of our trained specialists.
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