Dr Colin R Petts - detail of experience:

Colin was educated at University College London where he obtained a 1st Class Honours degree in Applied Physics and a PhD in Electronic Engineering. He subsequently worked in high-tech manufacturing industries for 20 years. During that time he had a variety of roles including management of R&D and product engineering, Operations management , strategic planning and control. He has board level experience in medium-sized businesses and an intuitive understanding of the problems encountered by such businesses. As a result he has gained extensive experience of business restructuring, unit integration and the associated change management. He has direct experience of the issues associated with changes in product regulations and developed product and process solutions during the early days of CE Marking in the mid nineties. Since starting the consulting business in 2001, he has applied this experience to help a wide range of businesses with everything from new product development through to process improvement.

Product Regulatory - CE Marking: He has direct experience of the issues associated with changes in product regulations and developed product and process solutions during the early days of CE Marking in the mid nineties. These approaches were initially developed as a "necessary evil" whilst running a high tech manufacuring operation with a worldwide market, and later refined as part of the consultancy business. The methods have now been used to help around 150 companies with applications varying from basic products through to factory-scale installations.

New Product Introduction and Product Improvement: Has over 30 years involvement in the development, design, engineering and management of high-technology products and techniques. This involvement has carried on whilst having other major operational roles within the organizations. Experience includes the following;

Technical auditing and review: Review of existing concepts, designs and product development approaches. Instigation of improved product development processes.
Managing the function: Specific technical auditing methods, project management, risk assessment. Improving product introduction cycles. Cross-disciplinary team control. Reporting R&D as a business function.
Production engineering: Design and Engineering of products for manufacture. Concurrent engineering approaches. Development of and management of novel control methodologies in engineering and manufacturing.
Special projects: Costing and control of special and custom-designed projects for customers. Risk assessment

Management of Manufacturing units: Has board-level experience of running complex manufacturing operations covering a wide range of responsibilities, including, production engineering, procurement, manufacturing/production, test and installation. He has practical experience of restructuring and modernization, specific areas include;

Manufacturing unit development: Has experience of the development of manufacturing processes for new products. Includes detailed specification of equipment, site and personnel requirements. Has experience of business unit integration and relocation.
Manufacturing Costing approaches: Has developed activity-based product costing and pricing approaches allowing easy identification of targets for cost reduction/elimination.
Supplier development: Supplier development/partnering programmes. Assessment of suppliers.
Process improvement, control and modernization: Instigated a major change processes based on business excellence and lean methods. Quality improvement programmes. Application of new technology to process improvement.
ISO9001 Quality System: Development of systems for manufacturing and service companies

Business Process Improvement: Has practical experience of driving major change processes throughout an entire manufacturing organization, including product development, manufacturing, sales and service functions. Able to use a variety of tools for the development of strategic plans, taking into account all aspects of the business. Able to formulate realistic action plans and help with their implementation. Experience includes;

Business diagnostics and review: I nitial reviews/discussions with all functions to identify underlying causes of problems and issues.
Managing the change: Can provide practical help with the implementation process and assist with the measurement of progress. Has extensive practical experience of the problems encountered when restructuring/downsizing and expanding business units
Manufacturing process improvement: Process mapping, performance metrics, pilot schemes, cellular approaches, JIT and MRP combinations.
Training and implementation: Can provide lectures and workshops for the entire work force and aid the implementation teams.
Sales and Operations Planning: Formulation and introduction of user-friendly SOP business modelling approach.
ERP/MRP II Implementation: Experience of implementing complete MRP II systems with integrated financial package and reporting.
Special approaches: Has developed modified/focussed approaches to cope with the disruptions caused by high levels of new product introductions.

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