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Robert Trent received his Ph.D. in purchasing/operations management from Michigan State University in 1993. Bob worked for the Chrysler Corporation for several years and now teaches and consults in the field of strategic sourcing.

His industrial experience includes assignments in production scheduling; packaging engineering with new part packaging set-up responsibility and the purchase of nonproductive materials; distribution planning, and operations management at a regional aftermarket distribution facility. He has also worked on numerous special industry projects.

He has consulted with or provided training services to over 40 government agencies and corporations and has worked extensively with companies during research visits and projects.

Bob has authored or co-authored dozens of articles appearing in business publications. He has also made presentations at numerous conferences and seminars. His coauthored study on cross-functional sourcing team effectiveness was published through the CAPS Research in 1993; a coauthored research report on purchasing/sourcing trends was published through CAPS in 1995; a third CAPS project that investigated how organizations reduce the effort and transactions required to purchase low value goods and services was published in 1999; and a coauthored CAPS Research study on global sourcing was published in 2006.

He is also the coauthor of a textbook titled Purchasing and Supply Chain Management and the author of the book Strategic Supply Management-Creating the Next Source of Competitive Advantage. His book, End-to-End Lean Management-A Guide to Complete Supply Chain Improvement was published in 2008. Another book, Managing Global Supply and Risk-Best Practices, Concepts, and Strategies, coauthored with Lew Roberts, was published in 2009. His next book, Next-Level Supply Management Excellence-Your Straight to the Bottom Line Roadmap, co-authored with Robert Rudzki, was published in 2011.