Business View Magazine - October 2016 71
were overstretching themselves, trying to get more
tactical and getting into the operations space,” Ban-
ich explains. “They were kind of over-reaching and they
weren’t able to serve their clients. So, Dr. Miebach saw
that there was a gap between supply chain strategy
consulting and tactical engineering. And he saw an op-
portunity to found what he coined ‘supply chain engi-
neering’ – bringing a good, tactical, engineering ap-
proach to supply chain problems.”
“On the other side of the coin,” Banich continues, “you
had suppliers that were very much interested in selling
their equipment. There’s always a concern if you bring
suppliers in to do consulting; they may be self-inter-
ested in having their consulting solutions end up with
you buying their equipment, or software, or whatever it
might be.” Thus, Miebach Consulting was determined
to be independent and non-biased. “We do not have
a division or sister company or joint venture with any
firm that sells equipment, hardware, software, any-
thing along those lines,” Banich avers. “So, when our
firm deploys to support you on an engagement, we’re
designing it based solely upon your needs.”
From the beginning, Miebach was also an innovator
in the field, keeping in close touch with the suppliers
who were designing and developing and bringing to
market the new products and systems that the com-
pany would then incorporate into its engineered, sup-
ply chain solutions. “We wanted to be focused and
by being focused, it allowed us to also be on the cut-
ting edge of that field,” Banich says. “For example, in
1973, we worked on a project for a client in Hamburg,
Germany, which was the first introduction of barcode
technology in a distribution center environment. We
designed one of the first automated, storage and re-
trieval system warehouses in Germany, in 1975. We
had our first robotics project in 1983 in a warehouse.”
The company started expanding its operations in
AT A GLANCE
WHO:
Miebach Consulting Inc.
WHAT:
An internationally recognized leader in
the field of logistics, supply chain consulting, and
engineering services
WHERE:
U.S. Headquarters in Indianapolis,
Indiana
WEBSITE
:
