Gary Branning
191 Elderwood Trail Ph: 905-849-0514
Oakville,
Ontario L6H 5W4 garybranning@gmail.com
Business Systems, Training and
Application Support
MRP / ERP
Systems Planning & Installations,
Upgrades,
System Management,
Testing, User Training
Retail &
Manufacturing Experience, Report Writing
An experienced IT Manager with a
proven background implementing customized application solutions that maximize
productivity, streamline operations, and support business growth. Extensive experience in managing the
installations and supporting desktop, MRP, and ERP applications influencing all
functional business areas from head office locations to production environments
and shop floors. “Go to” technical and
software specialist with advanced problem solving and people skills.
Valued strategic partner providing the
reporting and technical advice that helps business leaders maximize their IT
investment and advance business operations. Compliments technical skills with strong
leadership and managerial capabilities. Expertise offered includes:
|
Systems Implementation
|
Applications Support
|
Systems Analysis
|
User Training
|
|
People Management
|
Project Management
|
ERP / MRP Systems
|
Upgrades
|
|
Business Process
Improvement
|
Database Management
|
Department Management
|
Report Writing
|
|
User Acceptance Testing
|
Shop Floor Control
|
Financial Reporting
|
Queries
|
Technical Expertise
▪ Crystal
Reports 9.0 ▪ MANMAN ▪ MRP ▪
ECOMETRY ▪ Shop Floor
Control ▪
BY-REQUEST ▪ Supertool ▪ Quiz ▪
Bar Coding ▪ MPEX ▪
Audit 3000 ▪ Html ▪ Microsoft
Office ▪ HP3000 918/978 ▪ Iso3000
·
Extensive
Business experience involving every functional department, including
Financial Systems, Inventory Control, Purchasing, Sales, Marketing, Billing, Customer
Service, Call Centers, Websites, Shop Floor Control, and Warehousing
·
Managed
four major system upgrades to the MRP system, twice requiring trips to the
Philadelphia data center to convert data and re-install the system, saving tens
of thousands of dollars in consulting fees
·
Excellent
supporter of system users, management and IT on a day-to-day basis
·
Established
leader and motivator, to ensure staff is well trained, informed and prepared
·
Experienced
tester of application software prior to enhancements and upgrades to company
software
·
Respected
liaison with third party vendors and IT Department for speedy and effective
resolutions to user issues
·
Facilitating
and coaching skills with experience in adult training and mentoring
·
Superb
communication and team player skills
·
Published
10 User Group articles in the quarterly ASKUS International Manufacturing
Publication
BUSINESS APPLICATIONS SKILLS
·
Installed,
upgraded and supported MANMAN and Ecometry software packages, which included All
Financial Systems, Sales Orders, Billing, Distribution, Purchasing, Marketing, Call
Center, Inventory Control, Manufacturing,
Shop Floor Control, Barscan and Warehousing
·
Optimized
software efficiencies in all key areas including Finance, Inventory,
Purchasing, Sales, Marketing, Billing, Distribution, Warehousing, Customer
Service, and Contact Center
·
Researched
new applications and MRP products to meet the strategic and tactical needs of
the company – evaluated individual department and production needs and
negotiated all vendor contracts
·
Provided
technical, software, and management support to all end users throughout the
company, with a reputation for speedy and effective resolutions to user issues
·
Leveraged
new bar scan technologies to better manage inventory and track production –
designed programs that slashed inventory counts from 4 days to <2 and
reduced inventory errors to 0
·
Tested,
installed and oversaw new software releases, resulting in a seamless transitions
to the new software
·
Analyzed,
designed, and wrote programs to customize about 80% of the reporting programs
to fit the company’s requirements
·
Supported
a 24/7 business environment, routinely resolving system problems remotely to
minimize revenue loss
·
Managed
an HP3000 computer system and software package (MANMAN) from Computer
Associates in a 125 person manufacturing company, with sales of about $30M
·
Installed
2 major software upgrades at The Shopping Channel, involving software that
affected over 400 users
·
Recommended and successfully executed 2
off-site weekend software upgrades, saving the company over $50,000 in potential
consulting feesINTERPERSONAL, TRAINING AND COACHING SKILLS
·
Provided
technical and software support for system users resulting in a robust company
that benefited from the increase in productivity, decrease in training costs,
better morale and knowledgeable staff
·
Trained
employees on making their office desktop tools more effective by automating
processes, and appending monthly reports to Excel spreadsheets: this resulted
in huge reductions in computer-processing times
·
Took
the initiative to train staff on how to automate standard processes,
dramatically reducing computer processing times
·
Designed,
facilitated and organized a 5-day in-house training program to educate staff on
the MRP upgrade – trained 125 staff in 5 days and saved the company over
$75,000 vs. off-site training
·
Helped
initiate the Canadian MANMAN Users’ Group, resulting in improved user community
influence and awareness of the MANMAN software product. Group was instrumental
in influencing major software changes for the Canadian market
·
Established
volunteer and leader in the community as a Baseball Coach (26 Years), Scout
Leader (20 years) and High School Alumni Committee member (10 years). Presented
with the Medal for Good Scouting and the Ontario Volunteer Award in 2003
PROBLEM SOLVING AND TROUBLESHOOTING SKILLS
·
Solved
user issues and administered support of integrated software from Ecometry in a
$220M company
·
Used
training, and software understanding to help users better cope with their daily
issues
·
Customized
production reporting, utilizing reporting tools Cognos Quiz, By-Request and Crystal
Reports
·
Fixed
data errors in databases containing tens of millions of records, using
Supertool and Query
·
Provided
documentation of updates and changes for security and Audit purposes
·
Employed
Supertool and Query to fix errors in databases containing tens of millions of
records
·
Utilized
By-Request, Quiz and Crystal Reports to customize production reporting and
develop custom programs in response to ad-hoc reporting requirements
IT Industry Contributions
·
Co-Founder
& Chairman of the Canadian MANMAN User Group with over 14 member companies
·
Wrote
and published 10 industry articles for ASKUS magazine, a quarterly
manufacturing publication with global distribution
Employment History
Computer Consultant
2007-Present
Helping
home users and small business with computer problems, issues and setups
Manager of Business Applications 2000 -2005
The
Shopping Channel
Retail,
Catalog, Web, Call Center, A division of Rogers Communications
Data Processing Manager 1978-1999
Greey Lightnin (now GRATEC)
Manufacturing
Company, Heavy Duty Mixers, Agitators, A unit of General Signal (U.S.A)
Advanced Training and Conferences
- MCSE
Networking Essentials Exam Certificate
-
MANMAN Quiz,
Manufacturing, Barscan, Order
Management, Financials, Databases
-
Ecometry
Supertool and Databases
-
HP3000
Image Databases
-
Crystal
Reporting, Version 9
-
MRP
(Manufacturing Requirements Planning)
-
ISO
3000
-
Ecometry
Software - annual 4 - day user conference – 4 years
-
Trainer
on 10 weekend Adult Cub Leader training courses for Scouts Canada