About Richard Muther

Richard Muther (1913 – 2014) founded Richard Muther & Associates in 1956. He was widely respected as an industrial engineer and management consultant, and has been called “the father of systematic facilities planning.” Over the years, Mr. Muther participated in more than 1000 consulting and professional planning projects throughout the world. Mr. Muther formerly held management positions with Remington Arms, Chrysler, Peerless Machinery, and Vendo. He also served on the faculty of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and taught at the U.S. Navy’s School of Management and Industrial Engineering.

An award-winning engineer, Mr. Muther is best known for developing the following widely-used techniques: Systematic Layout Planning (SLP), Systematic Planning of Industrial Facilities, the Mag-Count measure of material and package transportability, and High Performance Planning^®.

A prolific writer, Richard Muther authored the following books: Production Line Technique, Practical Plant Layout, Systematic Layout Planning (SLP), Systematic Handling Analysis (SHA), Office Layout Planning, Systematic Planning of Industrial Facilities, Creating Personal Success, High Performance Planning, and others. He also contributed to four popular handbooks, two encyclopedias, and authored more than 100 technical papers and magazine articles. His works have been translated into several languages and are used throughout the industrial world.

Recipient of the prestigious Gilbreth Medal for outstanding contributions to industrial engineering, Richard Muther has also received Reed-Apple Award, the Materials Handling Award of the Society for the Advancement of Management, the Honor Award of the International Material Management Society, and an Engineering Citation from the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.

Mr. Muther was a founder and past President of the Association of Professional Material Handling Consultants, and a Fellow in the Society for the Advancement of Management. He was a long-time member of the Institute of Management Consultants, the Materials Handling & Management Society, and the World Futures Society. He also founded the Institute of High Performance Planners, an international association of professionals devoted to advancing the science of planning.

Richard Muther held B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He received an honorary doctorate ScD(hc) from Lund University in Sweden and was a registered Professional Engineer.