Our Work

River Rock Advisors, LLC is a leading value chain management firm that partners with manufacturing and distribution organizations worldwide to develop and implement solutions specifically focusing on cross-functional whitespace challenges, thus our 3D modeling. Our analytical approach considers industry- and process-specific metrics to help client leadership teams make data-driven decisions and navigate change effectively.

Our project-based services include situational investigations, program value management, prescriptive recommendations, business segmentation and solution differentiation, in the SIOP value chain, along with end-to-end integrated planning (demand, inventory supply, procurement), inventory strategies and planning, supply chain strategy, and distribution network strategy analysis.

Proven Supply Chain Improvement Solutions

Recent disruptions in the supply chain have reminded us of one simple truth — those companies in the heart of supply chains are the bedrock of our economy, and their performance is critical to our day-to-day lives. Given the uncertain and disruptive nature of our business climate, supply chain improvement is a critical and persistent challenge.

River Rock Advisors is proud to have served more than 100 companies through more than 500 engagements — each of them different in their own way but common in their importance to our economy and lives. Learn more about the companies we serve, what our clients have to say about us, and the solutions we’ve developed below.

Who We Work With

Learn More About Our 3D-Ops Model℠

With our 3D-Ops Model℠ framework, River Rock Advisors can assist you in identifying your most pressing operational and supply chain challenges.

Learn More

What Our Clients Are Saying

Jim Williams, Retired

Back in the 1990s, I worked directly with one of the now RRA partners on an operations improvement and system selection project. Our time working closely together changed the trajectory of my career, from a mid-level customer service manager to a corporate and industry process improvement and functional expert and up the ranks within the firm. That Partner worked with me in a way that stressed our contribution, not his.

Calvin Quan CEO, Envysion

RRA has always done right by me. I’ve now used them at three different companies to cover a number of operational issues, working closely with my team and giving me straight, honest feedback.

Mark Sementilli, EVP Strategic Sourcing, Retired

I never saw the need or value of using outside advisors. Working with RRA changed my opinion to ‘there are some outsiders that do get it and are focused on our results, not their own’.

Tim Figge, CEO & President, Hussman

Through their data driven, consensus building approach, RRA moved Hussmann to gain cross functional alignment and affect change in ways that other consulting firms have not been successful.

Richard Geiger, Founder & CEO, Defunkify

RRA’s willingness to start on a dime and market-price their services while helping us to reduce complexity, in addition to the stated planning and execution capability of their contract, has meant that I can focus on growing the business without worrying about the supply chain.

Kendra Sakoian, VP SCM

You have by far built the best consulting firm that I have ever had the pleasure of working with in my career.

Case Studies

Coatings and Adhesives Manufacturer

Increasing agility and resilience in times of dramatic change (supply chain physical disruption and new market service channels) by leveraging SIOP and supply planning to improve OTIF by 20%.

RRA worked with this manufacturer to open up and expand their D2C and Amazon channels by planning replenishments for multiple brands to keep the rapid growth in stock. Additionally, RRA assisted in guiding the firm through the 2021/2022 supply chain disruptions by instituting both SIOP and customer/product-focused supply plans while laying the groundwork for sustainable improvements with people, process, and technology aligned initiatives.

Housing Materials Manufacturer and Distributor

Expanding SIOP adoption and technology effectiveness and assisting SIOP capability to move up a maturity stage.

Leveraging RRA’s SIOP and data interrelationships expertise, this housing materials manufacturer and distributor’s supply chain leadership was able to rapidly expand their SIOP capabilities into additional product lines, revamp the process and technology to a new organizational design, and drive greater SIOP usage and capability. In addition, technology improvements enabled a 10% reduction in planner time in preparing data for analysis, enabling greater time focus on analysis than manipulation.

National Distributor with Large, Dispersed Distribution Footprint

Establishing end-to-end planning, organization and technology for key products, vendors, and customers to meet changing market conditions

RRA was engaged to help a decentralized distribution company that had significant vendor and customer M&A consolidation to better position response to national programs and leverage buying power. RRA worked to establish the organization, process, and technology to enable end-to-end integrated planning capability, thus improving response to supply chain disruptions (such as COVID), providing higher service levels with less inventory, and improving procurement volume opportunities.

Retail Refrigeration Engineering Company

Leveraging Cost to Serve dynamics across full Request for Quote To Cash Receipt process to optimize business performance

Working with the company’s executive leadership, River Rock Advisors was engaged to address SG&A costs and customer service in the client’s equipment Quote to Cash environment, which provided the driving force for an enterprise wide change program of process improvement, systems changes, cost to serve enhancement and improved cross functional alignment between sales, sales support services, engineering and manufacturing.

Pet Supplies Company

Balancing service level agreements (SLAs), dedicated inventory investment, and the total cost to serve for a specific customer segment or channel

Leveraging RRA’s methodology and tools, this pet products company was able to improve their value chain. The overarching project approach was to: segment their customer base, determine appropriate SLA’s, and balance cost and inventory to meet those needs.

Flooring Manufacturer

Establishing new distribution strategies to improve customer service and profitability

River Rock Advisors was engaged to help reduce inventory investment and overall logistics costs, while sustaining or improving customer service. Custom-developed analytical tools were used to evaluate new distribution and inventory strategies, with regards to their impact on customer service.

Industrial Products Manufacturer

Efficiently balancing performance across multiple manufacturing entities within a vertically integrated company

Utilizing RRA’s custom modeling capabilities, we analyzed the client’s total supply chain to provide the client with fact based insights on which production stage to best hold inventory to minimize overall costs and inventories, while holding or improving customer service levels.

Floral Goods Manufacturer and Distributor

Reconfiguring distribution network design to meet new market channels and improve customer service while minimizing costs and working capital (inventory) investment.

RRA’s Midwest-located client wanted to expand to better serve customers on the West Coast and prepare for expansion into e-commerce. RRA performed a Distribution Network Analysis (DNA) to evaluate around 800 network designs ranging from two to five distribution centers (DCs) while also evaluating different stocking strategies to integrate the resulting impacts. The business case included DC sizing and estimated inventory and operating costs.

Consumer Packaged Goods Manufacturer

Aligning corporate resources to meet dramatic demand improvements in highly promoted product lines

Utilizing RRA’s custom modeling capabilities, RRA worked with this client to tier their retail customer base and stratify services and service levels in support of that tiering. This aligned the client’s resources with how customers wished to engage with the manufacturer and proactively assign appropriate resources (people, working capital, technology) to needed areas.