About - CFME

About Us

Dave Viale, Founder & CEO
CPA, CPIM, CSCP
Contact Information:
Email: CFME@aol.com
Phone: (408) 398-8280
LinkedIn: DaveViale@LinkedIn

Dave Viale is an educator, consultant, and writer. He is the founder and president of CFME, an International Education, Training and Consulting Company.

He brings a diverse work experience to CFME including a combined, more than 20 years, work experience at Arthur Andersen, Fairchild SemiConductor, and Hewlett Packard, as well as several leadership positions. He was a practicing CPA and also taught for several universities and colleges. Capitalizing on this varied background, Dave brings a cross-functional perspective to his consulting, classes, speeches, seminars, and key executive presentations, which he delivers across the U.S., Canada, Europe, and the Far East. During the last ten years, Dave has specialized in Supply Chain Management and Contract Manufacturing.

This global experience, when combined with his educational training, brings a unique blend of theory, practicability, and financial impact to his presentations, consulting engagements and his books. Dave is the author of the best-selling APICS books, Basics of Manufacturing, Basics of Inventory Management and Finance for All Functions.

Building on his TQC, JIT experiences, Dave has expanded CFME’s product offering with the “Lean All The Enterprise Workshop Series and Consulting Package”. Most classes, workshops and seminars on The Lean Enterprise/Six Sigma deal primarily with the manufacturing area, and to a lesser extent the customer and the supplier functions (loops). This customer customized series is different. While it can still deal with the manufacturing function it has been designed with an equal emphasis on all the other functions, and can be applied across all entities.

What Our Clients Say About Us:

I’ve known Dave since 1986. He is an excellent instructor in the areas of Materials, Manufacturing, and Operations. Dave is personable and engaging. He designs his courses to thoroughly cover the subject matter, preparing his students to pass the required tests for certification (APICS, etc.). Dave’s classes are focused on student participation, not just a lecture. I’d recommend Dave for anyone looking for a dynamic, motivated speaker who is always on the cutting edge of the subjects he teaches.

Michael RochePurchasing Manager at Institute on Aging

Dave did a remarkable job training both employees right out of college and those that have been in their role for many years. He inspires people to think about their work differently, to prepare themselves for the work environment that is coming and to push the limits of what value they can add. He creates an interactive environment that fosters learning. No one ever leaves his session thinking they had better things to do.

Michelle ZellDirector of Human Resources, Bosch North America

I have had the privilege of knowing Dave Viale for 30 plus years. He has been a great teacher of various courses and of certifying people on APICS courses. I have learned from Dave and have witnessed his great teaching skills. He is able to train large groups as well as mentor individuals. I recommend Dave as a key contributor to any one seeking additional knowledge and education.

Jeff BautistaDirector, Global Supply Chain Development at San Francisco Bay Area

My organization and I have benefited from the innovative approach and integrated curriculum composed of Lean for All Functions, Lean Finance and Accounting, and the APICS related topics as presented by Dave Viale of CFME. He has found a way to weave financial diagnostics, revenue forecasting and lean manufacturing operations together in such a way that managers and professionals at all levels and from all disciplines can understand the interconnections of what they do and the continuous improvement process. He also customized the curriculum to our organization’s environment.

His examination and practical exercises of value streams, the implications of Lean/Six Sigma analyses, income statement review, balance sheets and sales forecasting took what could have been dry theoretical topics and converted them to analytical tools for all of my team. Their implementation of the fundamentals that he presented identified potential savings of $900,000 to $1,100,000.

The organization reaped benefits far in excess of the cost of training.

George BielertSenior Business Operations Leader & General Manager

I have worked with Dave Viale for almost ten years. I got to know him when I attended his CPIM course which led to successful certification for a large number of those from our plant. Since then I have continued to work with Dave He has given me the opportunity to participate in planning for his Lean courses and I was able to attend one of his Lean Enterprise workshops. I also work with Dave on the board of the Greater San Jose APICS chapter where his ideas have helped the chapter start to grow.
The thing that impresses me most about Dave and his work is that he never stops thinking about what is needed for the next generation of business. He took the Lean concept which was mainly for manufacturing and has expanded it throughout the enterprise. He can see ideas and areas for improvement that many would not even look at and he is able to make his ideas practical to all levels of business. I consider him an idea leader in the APICS training community.

Marilyn Barclay, PMP, CPIMSenior Business Operations Leader Supply Chain Professional at San Francisco Bay Area

What impresses me most about Dave is his ability to answer complex questions using his real (practical) experience in the profession. He’s not an academic; he’s a former professional in Operations who discovered his attraction to teaching others. Students recognize the real value of hands-on, in-the-trench experience. Several years later, I attended St. Mary’s College, where they advertised that very fact – every instructor was a former professional in the field that they taught. Dave brings credibility to the front of the classroom.
Over the years, I’ve worked with Dave on several projects. It was then that I witnessed his ability to connect his technical knowledge to write material that is easily understood by students and practitioners.

Dave WilkinsOperations Executive Consultant

Dave has been teaching manufacturing concepts to people for over 20 years so that individuals can grow professionally and advance their careers. His enthusiasm is apparent, and he instills interest and a desire to learn.

I have had the pleasure of learning from, contracting with, and knowing Dave professionally for over 8 years. APICS courses brought us together which led me to hire him to teach on site classes.

Dave is a people person who enjoys teaching and working with others. He has an uncanny ability to relate business events that have happened over the years (eg: Henry Ford’s first assembly line) as well as current events (eg: company’s he is currently or has worked with ),so the people he is teaching or consulting with can understand and apply successful business concepts when learning and making critical decisions in support of helping companies grow revenue while reducing costs and inventories.

Most people think of Manufacturing when they hear Dave Viale’s name but his knowledge of Finance, Sales, Engineering, HR, etc makes his teachings diverse and well rounded. Today, he is teaching and looking at better ways for companies to remove wastes from their processes so as to allow people to be more productive, personally and professionally.

I have had the pleasure to work with Dave Viale during his most recent Lean All the Enterprise Workshop. He has been able to capture the essence of the Lean Journey experience and transfer it to the world of Sales and Operations Planning, the entire Supply Chain including Sales Marketing Purchasing Planning, R&D, Finance, Ops and HR. All of professional people should look at bringing this workshop in house. Because of his strong financial background (CPA and teaching college accounting and finance courses, he is able to show how every operational sales marketing etc has a financial impact on what people are doing.

I have been learning so much from Dave. I owe my career development, supply chain knowledge and management skills largerly to Dave’s teaching and help in the past 8 years. Today, he is teaching at my company and helping us to grow our business. I highly recommend Dave be your coach, mentor, consultant and teacher. He is simply the best.

Junli Yamada, MBA, CPIMSenior Director, S&OP and Global Supply Chain at Koch Industries