Earl Totty, Operations Resource Management

When Earl Totty restarted his career in logistics and operations, he became a logistics manager at Bostik, a manufacturer of adhesives in Temecula, California. There was just one problem.

“I really had no experience in manufacturing,” Earl says. “I had worked in warehousing and logistics for a couple of Fortune 500 companies. I had spent some time in a forecasting and demand planning role for another company. Most of my experiences had been in the movement of products, logistics and distribution.”

He decided to go back to school to fill in the gaps, starting with CPIM (Certified in Production and Inventory Management) certification. Earl’s own market research confirmed that CPIM certification was essential to continuing in his career. To prepare for that rigorous exam, Earl signed up for CSUSM’s Operations Resource Management certificate program.

His inventive strategy worked.

“(The ORM classes) helped reinforce some of the things I knew and they built knowledge for some of the things I wasn’t sure about,” he says. “I completed my classes and passed the CPIM.”

Within a few years, Earl was promoted to plant manager at Bostik. In this position, he saw the value of deepening his involvement with APICS, the supply chain management association and education organization offering the CPIM and other certifications. A key benefit as a member was gaining an understanding of how other companies overcome their challenges, Earl says. His participation in APICS eventually grew to serving as the San Diego chapter president.

After earning an additional certification—CSCP (Certified Supply Chain Professional)—the logical next step for Earl was to give back some of the knowledge and experience from his own career, so he put his name up for consideration as an instructor through APICS, which brought him full circle to CSUSM’s campus. He became an instructor in the ORM certificate program and the CSCP certification exam prep program.

“One of the joys of teaching is seeing the lightbulb go off when students hear something and say, ‘That’s probably something I can do.’ You can see the excitement that generates within them.”

In addition to teaching, Earl continues in his position as plant manager at Bostik and he serves on the advisory board for the supply chain management program for CSUSM’s College of Business Administration. He also is an enthusiastic advocate of the effectiveness of certification training in career success.

“Having that certification gives you the knowledge you need to try new things or to put new procedures or programs in place in your position,” he says. “Also, networking with people in other companies and other industries gives you a lot of different perspectives and experiences that you can use to help solve your problems or make improvements within your operation. That’s one of the biggest benefits of the program.”