About The Authors
About
Scott Walton
Scott Walton is a manufacturing consultant and industry expert. With more than thirty years of experience in strategic planning, operations management, lean manufacturing, and supply chain management, he has assisted multi-national companies, government entities, and business professionals worldwide. Walton’s expertise lies in automotive, plastics, defense, and distribution. He works closely companies to assess their business needs on a strategic, financial, and operational level.
Walton is also an expert at restructuring manufacturing companies with a focus on quickly diagnosing key issues and developing plans to restructure finance, sales, and particularly the operations of the company. Scott oversees a team of senior consultants that assists clients in implementing operational and strategic changes, driving throughput, and improving profitability.
Walton has experience as chief operating officer at Harbour Results Inc (HRI), was once president of the automotive market segment for Nypro Inc., a global leader in custom plastic injection molding where he was responsible for the development and deployment of auto strategy on a worldwide scale. In addition, he held operational responsibility within four automotive-focus factories (two in the United States and two in Mexico) and a sales/engineering office in Detroit. In addition to his work at Nypro, Walton held various leadership and operational roles both domestically and internationally.
About
Laurie Harbour
Laurie Harbour leads a team of analysts and manufacturing consultants to help small-to medium-sized manufacturers develop short- and long-term strategies, improve their operations, reduce risks, and optimize business.
Driven by her passion for manufacturing which developed at a young age when her father took her weekly to the Chrysler plant in Hamtramck, MI, she has pushed for more woman and diversity in manufacturing. Laurie told her father at twelve that she wanted to be in manufacturing, and he told her no, that wasn’t possible—it was too hard and she was a girl. That fueled a fire inside of her to make an impact in manufacturing for the rest of her career. Spending most of her life around the manufacturing industry and later being mentored by her father Jim Harbour, she utilized her experience and knowledge to establish HRI in 2005. Since that time, she partnered with Scott Walton in 2009 and further grew in her manufacturing capability.
In 2018, Laurie was named Crain’s “Notable Women in Manufacturing” and Plastics News “Woemn Breaking the Mold.” Additionally, she was named the Plastics News “Automotive Newsmaker of the Year” for 2018 and to the Women in Manufacturing Hall of Fame in 2020.