Industry Guru and Director of Willmott Solutions
Peter Willmott is a world-renowned authority on the application of Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) and has written and published two books on the subject. Having gained his foundational experience with Bristol Aeroplane Co, (now BAE Systems), today Peter’s impressive list of clients include BAA, BNFL, BP, Exxon ,Ford , General Motors, J&J, Linpac, Pfizer, Pirelli, Premier Foods, RHM Group , Rolls Royce, Royal Mail, Royal Mint , Shell, Sony, Westland Helicopters and Wyeth. He was nominated for the prestigious European Federation of National Maintenance Societies Salvetti Foundation Award 2008.
General Manager, Accolade Wines, Accolade Park
Richard Lloyd is the General Manager of Accolade* Park, a purpose built £100 million manufacturing, warehouse and distribution facility for Accolade Wines, UK’s largest wine company. He holds a BEng in Manufacturing Engineering from Nottingham University and recently completed an MSc in Lean Operations Management.
He has developed a passion and expertise in sustainable operational excellence and is an active industry speaker, sharing his deep expertise of translating operational theory into real life success stories within the UK industry. Richard is also the UK manufacturing representative on behalf of the European Union and Japanese governments to develop trade links and sharing of best practice techniques.
*Formerly Constellation
Honorary Fellow at Cardiff Business School and Honorary Associate Professor at Warwick Medical School
Nick is a lean expert, academic, and, Shingo Prize Examiner. He has been working with, studying, and, mentoring world class businesses for over 15 years and was a co-founder of the Lean Enterprise Research Centre and the £3.5m Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre (Cardiff Business School). Author of five books, Nick's research interests are world class systems and the application of TPM to both manufacturing and healthcare; Trained in Japan by the Toyota Motor Corporation, Nick has propagated Toyota’s pioneering lean ideology in the UK through his work with businesses such as Tesco Stores, RS Components, Unilever, Lloyds TSB, J&J, and numerous healthcare organisations. He is currently working with the 2012 Olympic Programme at The Royal Mint.
Operations Manager, Seven Seas
Marine biologist by training who after 15 years developing aquaculture around the Mediterranean started in manufacturing in the UK. Worked for Reckitt Benkiser Healthcare where he was part of the team that drove through the changes to achieve the Cranfield Factory of the year in 2007. Then joined the Merck group as the first CI manager of Seven Seas where in 2009 the site won the manufacturer of the year in the pharmaceutical category. He is currently the operations manager at Seven Seas.
Director of Operations, Idhammar Systems
Alan France is Operations Director of Idhammar Systems, a leading European supplier of manufacturing software including OEE and CMMS solutions. Alan’s background includes several years as a Engineering Systems Manager for the largest food companies in Europe, including Grand Metropolitan where he was responsible for maintenance across 33 factories. A systems specialist with extensive experience in lean manufacturing, Alan then became Managing Director of Cdata, developing the innovative OEE software solutions that now form part of the Idhammar Systems portfolio. Alan now contributes to events worldwide, speaking on the importance of underpinning lean initiatives with realistic targets and sound metrics; he is also a contributing editor to a number of major trade publications.
Group Manufacturing Manager, Yeo Valley (Farms) Production Ltd
Steve is the Yeo Valley’s Group Yogurt Manufacturing Manager for both the Blagdon and Cannington Sites. He is also the head of the Continuous Improvement programme, BETTER THAN EVER, at Yeo Valley.
Yeo Valley employs 1,400 people in 7 sites across the south west, producing over 8 million pots of both Brand and own label yogurt per week, along with organic milk, desserts and ice cream. It is the first organic company to be in the top 100 brands within the UK.
Steve has over 20 years experience in food manufacturing, including dairy and retail meat packing sectors, leading departments in Production, Technical, Project Management and Continuous Improvement. Steve is currently embarking on his final year of study at
Cardiff University, completing an MSc in Lean Operations.
Production Manager, Spirax Sarco
Ian’s career with Spirax Sarco spans 22 years, having joined the company as a craft apprentice in 1982 working in the machine shop as a CNC Machine Setter/Programmer before progressing to section leader and Production Manager. Then, in 2004 with the aim of broadening his experience, he moved into the assembly environment; initially as a Production Manager and then as a ‘personal coordinator’ to set up the Value Streams. More recently he has taken on the role of Manager for the Pressure Control and Controls Value Streams. He is currently the Production Manager for the DP, BRV, DRV & BSA lines in the Assembly hall as well as working on a Unity project to bring all Cheltenham based manufacturing to one facility.
Lean Coach, Wrigley UK
Simon Billett is currently the Lean Coach For JIPM award winners - Wrigley’s UK a division of Mars.
He has 25 years of experience within industry implementing Continuous Improvement philosophies such as Lean & Total Productive Manufacturing (TPM).
Simon began his career as a mechanical technician for JIPM & EFQM award winners Milliken Industrials where he spent 13 years of his career. During his time at Milliken he worked his way up to Continuous Improvement Manager. He then spent six years as Lean TPM consultant working for clients such as BNFL, Honda & ICI. He joined Tullis Russell Papermakers in 2003 in a dual role as Continuous Improvement Manager as well Senior Conversion Manager responsible for implementing Lean TPM Site Wide. Simon
has extensive hands on experience in developing and leading the implementation of Lean TPM strategies including extensive knowledge of Lean Maintenance, Autonomous Maintenance, Quality Maintenance and Early Equipment Management principles.
Manufacturing Engineering Manager, Chivas Brothers
Dave McVittie is the Manufacturing Engineering Manager at the Chivas Brothers Blending and Bottling plants in Dumbarton and Paisley.
Chivas Brothers is the Scotch whisky and premium gin business of Pernod Ricard, the world's co-leader in wines and spirits. It is the global leader in luxury Scotch whisky with 85% market share of Scotch whisky aged 21 years old and over.
Chivas Brothers produces, exports and markets some of the world's best known and highest quality malts, blends and premium gins including Chivas Regal, Ballantine's, Beefeater Gin, The Glenlivet and Royal Salute.
Dave has over 25 years experience in the beverage industry with Whitbread, Interbrew, Allied Domecq and Chivas Brothers in roles covering production, maintenance, continuous improvement and capital project management.
