Senior Director of Solutions Consulting

Colin is responsible for ensuring that Utopia's customer solutions maximize customer return on investment through appropriate business process re-engineering (BPR), organizational change and project management strategies.

In 1987 Colin joined SAP headquarters in Walldorf to become the very first native English speaking SAP supply chain expert in the world. He was trained in German in all areas from ABAP / BASIS programming to financial, human resources and logistics applications and project methodology. He has represented SAP as configuration trainer, consultant, project manager, sales director and quality controller. In particular Colin worked with SAP Walldorf developers on CIM, MRP 11, DRP and JIT solutions. Industries ranged from oil, chemicals and pharmaceuticals to consumer goods, hi tech, defence and construction in over 70 worldwide projects.

In one case Colin performed a two month detailed quality review for SAP AG for a large global management consulting company who partnered on an oil industry Distribution Resource Planning (DRP) project using all R3 applications modules in Southern Africa that was two years late and over budget. Colin proposed a number of improvements including halving the number of consultants, scrapping the partners' methodology, teambuilding, revising the SAP organizational data structure and applying new IS Oil applications in finance, stock management and sales. These were acted to achieve a late, but successful IT investment.

In 1994 Colin became director of SAP consulting for Price Waterhouse, San Jose, USA. His work included designing global SAP implementation strategies for multinationals, conducting management feasibility studies and leading major BPR projects. Colin personally led an intensive 3 month BPR workshop for a full time team of 25 top executives across Europe. The result was consensus on a strategic systems blueprint with vision, metrics, change issues, returns and project charter.

Colin became President of Integration and Re-engineering Experts (IREX) an SAP R3 partner in Korea before returning to Germany to become an independent SAP R3 and management consultant. In 1999 Colin was asked to develop Aspen Tech's Supply Chain Services group in central Europe supporting Process Industries with advanced planning and optimisation software such as both SAP APO and MIMI using operations research approaches ranging from linear / mixed integer programming to simulation and expert systems. Colin also led SAP integration workshops with process control software developers in Houston, Texas.

In 2000 Colin moved to British Columbia, Canada and as a former agricultural Engineer created Thetis Island Vineyards a sea kayak adventure lodge and winery in the Gulf Islands. During this period he acted as IT advisor for the BC Government and helped Honeywell Speciality Materials in Victoria BC increase customer service levels from 60 to 100% whilst simultaneously reducing stock and gained Six Sigma certification.

Colin has an Msc in IT for Manufacture from Warwick University, UK where he researched the use of digital cameras and artificial intelligence for industrial robot navigation systems.

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