IOM Operational Excellence Conference 2011

Speakers & topics

Confirmed speakers and topics detailed below – keep checking back for additional speaker and topic information.

Main conference stream:

Staying Lean
Professor Peter Hines, Chairman, SA Partners and Supply Chain Management Chair, Lean Enterprise Research Centre, Cardiff University 

How to create a sustainable lean business What really is lean thinking? What makes it work – or not? What are the hidden missing ingredients of many lean programmes? How do you get it right so that people are engaged and it sustains?

Based on the Shingo Prize-winning publication Staying Lean, which tells the story of how Cogent Power applied lean in a multisite, multinational environment and achieved a sustainable culture change, as well as very tangible financial benefits, Professor Hines will discuss these key questions and show how to create a sustainable lean business.


Professor Hines had a successful career in distribution and manufacturing before joining Cardiff Business School in 1992. His work on extending the boundaries of lean thinking has received international attention, and he has written over 50 books and papers, including Creating World Class Suppliers. He is an editorial adviser for five journals including the International Journal of Logistics: Research & Applications, which he started, and is a skilled lean mentor and coach, in multisite operations, strategy deployment and supply chain management. 

The need for innovation in aerospace aftermarket supply chains
Dr Ian Shellard FIOM, Global Physical Logistics Director, Rolls Royce Plc

An exciting opportunity to hear Dr Ian Shellard discuss the 'Rolls Royce' of supply chain innovation.

Ian Shellard joined Rolls-Royce in 1979 as an engineer, following post- doctoral research at The University of Nottingham, Department of Mechanical Engineering. His career progressed through project management, technology transfer, new business development, operations management, purchasing and business management, before becoming the founder-member of the Global Physical Logistics Function in 1999. Ian is a Special Professor at The University of Nottingham Business School, Faculty of Operations Management, and he is also a member of the Advisory Boards of The University of Sheffield School of Management, The University of Cardiff School of Management's Logistics and Operations Management Faculty and the Cranfield University School of Management's Supply Chain and Logistics Faculty.  He is a Fellow of The Institute of Operations Management, a Chartered Fellow of CILT, a Chartered Physicist and a Member of the Institute of Physics.

An S&OP journey
Joanna Davis, Head of Business Operations, innocent drinks

The first day of trading for innocent drinks was 24th April 1999, when it sold 24 smoothies in London. Now, across Europe, innocent sells approximately two million smoothies a week, alongside juices, children’s drinks and lunchtime veg pots. In tandem with this huge growth and increase in operational and organisational complexity, innocent transitioned from unstable immature systems, multi-forecasts and lack of process or ownership to a one-forecast business with an optimum organisational structure and a platform for a world class S&OP process. Joanna Davis will be sharing this transformation, and how a start-up entrepreneurial business has set itself up for continued success.

She is the Head of Business Operations and has been with innocent for four years. Her current role focuses on forecasting and planning, as well as collaborative decision making within the S&OP process.

How we learned to stop worrying and love the standard
Ray Patrucco, Operations Development Manager, Ordnance Survey'

Ray Patrucco will discuss how quality is placed at the heart of the operation, and how Ordnance Survey and its supply chain partners ensure that their systems, processes, people, and ultimately, their data, remain world class. He will discuss the fundamental concepts and philosophies of Ordnance Survey’s production system and how these are applied to an international supply chain. He will also present a case study that demonstrates how Ordnance Survey came to understand that after several years of certification and compliance to ISO 9000 systems, it realised that it needed a more specialist framework. As a result, Great Britain’s National Mapping Agency led a consortium of private and public organisations from around the world, in designing and developing a new International Standard, ISO 19158, which is better suited to the needs of specialised data-manufacturing operations.

Ray Patrucco’s career in quality started with responsibility for applying BS5750 – subsequently ISO 9000 – within the automotive industry. He joined Ordnance Survey, initially testing data from production processes, moving on to taking responsibility for quality across the supply chain.

In addition, he has responsibility for operational performance analysis/improvement, process engineering, supplier development and accreditation, and the management of all technical training.

Why Lean Inventory Fails
Dr Geoff Relph FIOM, Director, Inventory Matters Consulting Group 

Inventory is not a stand-alone problem. It affects many functions in an organisation, yet operations departments are often considered responsible for it. Many lean initiatives fail because the capability of the business is not balanced with the level of inventory, resulting in too much inventory being taken out too soon. This workshop will discuss how these problems can be understood and analysed and a strategy put into place to manage the inventory, covering how to address and use the best of EOQ and Pareto approaches in a practical way. Case studies of best practice will be discussed and examples worked through to ensure a deeper understanding is reached. Delegates will walk away from the workshop with a basket of tools and techniques for inventory management, addressing the weaknesses of EOQ and ABC to provide state-of-the-art methodologies.

Dr Relph is a mechanical engineer by training, but found the challenge of production control more consuming whilst at Rolls-Royce Cars in the 1970s. Since then he has worked in the field of operations management.

As part of a long career at IBM, he managed the inventory for IBM’s award-winning manufacturing plant in Havant, Hampshire, before moving on to a successful consultancy career, using his considerable experience in manufacturing and supply chain planning projects to deliver benefits to clients in a diverse range of industries. In 2002, he left IBM to set up Inventory Matters Limited, which specialises in providing practitioner-based consultancy in lean operations and inventory management. 


Workshop stream:

Improving Cash Flow
Dr Tony Wild MIOM, Dawson Berkeley & Partners Ltd

This fully interactive workshop discussing and detailing practical techniques which have been applied and tested in a variety of situations aims to show how to reduce the level of debt for companies in the short term and pave the way for long term improvements. Dr Tony Wild has extensive experience in this field, and will discuss practical ways to work on total cash flow. Areas for discussion include: supply planning, contracts and deliveries; improving cash flow and supplier relations; avoiding inventory and maintaining availability; lean supply – theory and practice; demand, delay and distribution; customers and credit. Participants are invited to contribute real situations and should expect to leave with some enhanced techniques without a mountain of extra work required to achieve the improvements.

Tony Wild is an experienced practitioner in managing cash flow for variety of companies. His practical approach to problem solving has given them fast direct benefits. He is well known as an inventory specialist and is author of Best Practice in Inventory Management and Improving Inventory Record Accuracy, as well as contributing regular topical magazine articles.

He currently runs a centre providing the IOM Certificate and Diploma courses in the North West and courses at Warwick University. In addition he provides advice to businesses on improving inventory, debt, and supply issues. His enthusiasm for solving problems should inspire participants to apply techniques and make significant changes.


Practical and productive strategy (thinking strategically in unconventional times)
Mark Eaton FIOM, Amnis Ltd

An effective strategy is at the heart of a successful and productive business. This practical and interactive session introduces participants to the concepts of Transformation Mapping that will link organisational objectives to practical improvement activities along with Stakeholder Analysis and A3 Planning that will take a specific strand of the Transformation Map all the way through into a detailed plan for implementation.

Originally trained as an engineer, Mark has been involved in leading transformational change programmes for over 15 years. Over the last 10 years Mark has worked extensively with the public sector helping design strategies and programmes for the manufacturing sector for which he was awarded the Viscount Nuffield Medal in 2004 for his contribution to UK Manufacturing. Over the last 6 years Mark has been working closely with the Armed Forces and NHS organisations, as well as manufacturers and logistics organisations, to develop strategic plans and turn these plans into tangible benefits.


Dos and Don’ts of Successful Sales and Operations Planning
D. Robin Goodfellow FIOM CFPIM

Good Sales & Operations Planning (S&OP) can make the difference between an excellent and an average company. There are companies that attempt to implement S&OP, but having run it for a while, start to throw out some questions. What benefits are we getting from S&OP? What is the point of senior management involvement? Why don’t we get 100% attendance? Why can’t we manage to agree? What is it that can lead to successful S&OP?

This workshop will explore the best practices of successful S&OP, and try to identify those things that should and should not be done. We will accumulate the dos and don’ts and distribute to the participants.

Robin Goodfellow is Managing Consultant of Manufacturing Business Excellence, MBE, which specialises in various aspects of the supply chain and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). He holds a BSc in chemistry from Bristol University, has obtained a Certificate in Production & Inventory Management, CPIM, from the American Production & Inventory Control Society (APICS) who has also awarded him Fellow status, and is also a Fellow of the Institute of Operations Management. He is a long time member of the Qualifications & Awards Committee of the IOM, and is also a member of the IOM Steering Committee.

His career started with Rolls-Royce, in Bristol, working on supply-side systems. He moved on to work for Burroughs and became heavily involved with MRP and MRPII systems. He held various management roles and for 3 years worked in the USA at Burroughs’ world headquarters. Since leaving Burroughs he has delivered many courses and provided consultancy on a wide variety of topics associated with supply chain and ERP systems. He has done this around the world, including the UK, Europe, USA, China and the Middle East. The objective is to help organisations maximise their benefits from supply chain and ERP systems.
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