Personal
Details
Birthplace: Nagpur, India
Nationality: CH / UK
Residence: Switzerland
1st Language: English
Other languages: German, Spanish, French
Photo: Nov. 2002
Education
1960 - 1964
Leeds University, Procter Department of Food & Leather Science, England
Degree: B.Sc. Chemistry & Technology of Leather Manufacture
Goals
§ To develop Swystem Logic’s services to industry,
§ To persuade specialist niche industries to adopt proven means of modernizing:
- to cut costs, improve market position, increase profitability
- to cut waste and prevent pollution
- to persuade industry of the benefits, savings & payback of Quality Assurance
- to persuade industry of the benefits, savings and payback of modern Process Control Systems - especially to achieve Quality Consistency & to prevent waste.
§ To be retained as a Professional Consultant by industry to meet modernization goals.
§ To discover new and proven technologies, new reliable equipment sources, new business opportunities, establish new business contacts - all appropriate to the area of demand.
Work
Experience
July 1995
– present :
Swystem Logic GmbH registered in 1995 as a vehicle for Technical Consultancy, to serve:
§ industrial automation systems engineers § chemical manufacturers
§ equipment suppliers § industry’s need to upgrade for QA & Cut Costs
§ Vision Statement: “It is not enough to wish, one must act;
It is not enough to know, one must apply” – Goethe
Contracts
’95-‘03’
Current
Automotive Upholstery Group, Japan
Source process-control upgrade for tannery.
Locate SCADA Software + Industrial PLC Controllers + Systems Integrators.
Analyse manufacturing system of Client & recommend solutions.
‘98 – ’02
Wet -Blue Tannery. USA – Tannery Design, Equipment Sourcing, Project Coordination
New (green-field), medium-scale integrated cattle/beef and animal co-products (1650 cattle slaughtered per day), cattle breeding using high-tech genetic selection, veterinary care, electronic tagging for recording animal’s life-data, health, meat and co-product yield. Revolutionary process to ensure the sterile carcass exterior, animal’s hair removed by chemical treatment, immediately after stunning (brain-dead).
Voted ‘New Plant of the Year’ June 2002 by Food Engineering Magazine - Article at: http://www.foodengineeringmag.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/coverstory/BNPCoverStoryItem/0,6326,96757,00.html )
- Design a “wet-blue” tannery integrated with the slaughter-meat plant
design included: CAD floor-plans, equipment selection, material flow, chemical processes, chemical handling, weighing, measuring and preparation, and fully integrated process control and automation using latest materials handling techniques, PLC based distributed control and SCADA software integrated with Corporate MES.
- Select cost effective solutions from international equipment vendors corresponding to the corporate business goals, and the special needs of the unique process.
- Source equipment – EU/USA/Australia
- Coordinate supply of equipment with needs of the Project Plan Time-line
- Monitor installation process to ensure installation met the Design Specifications
- Monitor payments by Owner’s Agent to vendors, to ensure payments per agreed terms.
- Start-up processes (chemical processing, materials handling, electronic controls)
- Source and Hire key Technical Personnel
’01 – ‘02
Major European Chemical Supplier – Expert witness for the defense
Alleged defective quality of dyestuff lost an EU tanner business (case brought by Tanner).
Due to the technical evidence presented, the Tanner withdrew action before the hearing.
The case was dismissed, all costs paid by the Tanner.
2/’00
Current
Chemical & dyestuff manufacturer, NY USA – Process Control Consultant / Technical Audit
Technical Audit conducted, Report prepared to recommend upgrading dyestuff and chemical handling, manufacturing to make use of automated systems, water and chemical weigh stations, volume metering and networked integrated distributed PLC control with visualization with link to Corporate MES.
‘95 – ‘99
Chemical Supplier Switzerland - Leather Dyeing Research Consultant
- Marketing Consultant – South Africa, USA,
- Finishing Chemicals Project (Italy) Consultant,
- Source and Hire key Management Personnel
‘97 – ‘99
Automotive Leather Tannery, South Africa. – Process Automation Consultant
Contracted to work with Project Engineers in the amalgamation of relocated tannery with main plant on a 100% new, ‘green-field’ site.
- Designed layout of new tannery’s retan-dyeing department, using re-located equipment from the existing plants; co-ordinated design with tannery Management, and with Project Engineers.
- Specify, and source, process control and automation system requirements.
- Identified and located an EU “systems integrator".
- Co-ordinated negotiations with systems integrator.
- Co-ordinated hardware and software development, to ensure technical requirements of the Tannery and needs of Project Engineers fully congruent.
- Translated written German technical and commercial documentation into English, and acted as interpreter.
- On site co-ordination, supervision, interpretation, start-up, trouble-shooting
'99
Nature Conservancy, Kenya: - Tannery Design Consultant / Marketing Consultant
Feasibility Study for Zebra Skin Tannery. The Conservancy was considering establishing a small scale tannery for the permitted culling of zebras in the territory of the Conservancy. Creation of appropriate, locally operated industry for area in need of employment opportunities.
- Site visit & in depth study of local conditions
- Reports provided included a “How to..” video
- Manufacturing and Marketing advice (existing price level of raw & tanned zebra hides) competition suppliers.
‘95 – ‘96
Automobile Leather Tannery, Buenos Aires, Argentina – Tannery Design & Automation.
Contract to advise upon new tannery layout, production flow and automation.
- Co-ordination in Argentina and in Europe, comparative studies of automation systems (interpretation services - German/Spanish)
‘96
Upholstery & Shoe leather tannery, Japan – Production Efficiency Consultant (Technical Audit)
- Measure Efficiency of operational steps in the tannery
- Study Production flow-control via each work-station, in successive departments.
- Recommend Changes: Drying Methods & Dyeing Methods - to adopt more productive methods, while maintaining quality (softness, dye penetration).
- Suggest use of waste by-products: fleshings, chrome shavings, thin lime-splits
- Propose increasing process vessel load capacity: influence on productivity and costs
‘95 – ‘96
Automobile Leather Tannery – USA – Tannery Design & Automation Consultant
Evaluation of Beamhouse-Tanyard Project
- Co-ordinate contacts between USA staff and European vendors.
- Introduce Process Control using Leather Industry-Specific Software: Recipes TIM
- Recommend new Layout & Equipment with Project Report & Presentation
’95 – ‘96
Wet-blue Tannery – USA: Tannery Design & Automation Consultant (Feasibility Study)
- Contract to Recommend, Design and Submit Drawings for a new Tannery
10/’95
Automobile Leather Tannery - South Africa - Tannery Design & Automation Consultant (Feasibility)
Technical Audit to evaluate the potential for introducing industrial automation systems
- Studied existing installation, recommended optimal upgrades.
- Report supplied - included ‘Principal Diagrams’ and detailed suggestions
1994 – 1995
Shoe Leather Tannery, USA (capacity 3,750 hides per day)
Position: Vice-President Technical Services
Responsibilities: ▪ Installation & Start-up of a fully automated Color / Dye-house.
§ Verify chemical-savings from installing automation exceeded 10%
§ Trouble-shoot & fine-tuning new tannery auto-control system
§ Adaptation of traditional processes to the modern control-systems.
§ Introduce of calibration of Auto weighing and Water batching
§ Amend ‘ISO 9000 Quality Manual’ for automated system
§ Introduction of DataMatch [Computer Colour-Match program]
§ Goal: fast, reliable, economic shade-matching in drum-dyeing
§ Quality consistency through improved selection of compatible dyes.
§ Introduction of Technical Management QA Procedures
§ Color Matching through to Bulk-dyed Color Check & Approval
1989 - 1993
Process Controls Automation, Switzerland
Position: Director of Marketing and Leather Technology – worldwide.
Responsibilities: § Interpret the needs of the Leather Industry to the Controls Company
§ Interpret the solutions of the Controls Company to the Leather Industry
Marketing Tools: · Publication of ‘Case Studies’ of successful, automated tanneries
§ Symposia § Creation of “Demo Program” for PC,
§ Advertising § World-wide travel to clients and potential clients.
§ Agents
Personal Sales (Main Projects) : USA (4 ), Japan (2 ), Spain (1), Namibia (1) India (2)
1970 - 1988
SANDOZ AG, Basel, Switzerland
Position: Technical Service & Sales / Marketing / Product Development.
Stationed in: 3 Years: '85 - '88 Basel, Switzerland (field work in USA, Japan, Austalia, NZ, etc.)
5 Years: '80 - '85 South Africa* (also field work in Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia)
1 Years: '79 - '80 Switzerland
4 Years: '75 - '79 Venezuela* (also field work in Bolivia)
4 Years: '71 - '75 India* (also field work in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka)
*established new Technical Service Centre / Service Lab.
1967 - 1968
Tanac SA, Montenegro RS, Brazil. [Vegetable Tannin supplier to Leather Industry]
Position: Product Development & Quality Control System; Transfer of Know-how
§ Contract to improve the quality of Brazilian-made vegetable tannins
§ to meet international standards (for sale in UK, USA and Germany)
§ Introduced new Q.C. lab using Official Methods of Analysis of SLTC.
1964 - 1967
Forestal Land Timber & Railways Co., Ditton, Lancs, England [Veg. & Syntan supplier to Tanners]
Position: Technical Service Technician (Laboratory & Field work veg. & syntans)
Synthetic tannin development (raw material substitution)