David Pheasey

Biography

I started my working life as a mechanical engineer working on production systems for diesel equipment at Lucas CAV. However, I became interested in the fast developing supply chain systems and retrained as a systems analyst. I implemented shop floor scheduling and material requirements planning systems in several CAV factories.
I joined Research Machines as a planning and logistics manager. I implemented a sales and operations planning process which was critical in the management of the conflict between short customer delivery expectations and long electronics lead-times. After a while, I became responsible for all supply chain and IT facilities. I travelled extensively in the Far East and the US working with suppliers. I found working with people across different cultures with different approaches fascinating. There were often difficult issues to resolve, particularly concerning delivery schedules and pricing, however, I found a straightforward and honest approach worked better than a complex strategy.
I joined Ingersoll Engineers as a supply chain consultant because of their leading work on cellular manufacturing and mini-businesses. I learned about the simplicity of communication in these new organisations and that the approaches were applicable to the supply chain. Some examples of the projects I worked on are:
• Implementation of new planning and supply processes delivering large savings together with improvements in customer service levels.
• Design of advanced but simple supply chain processes for new automotive components factory
• Sales and Operations Planning improvements bringing better management control of a FMCG business
• Teaching week-long courses in supply chain to support global oil and gas operations
• Improved response, reduced cost and risk with new supply chain processes for plant maintenance
• e-commerce system to improve customer response and reduce  supply chain overhead
I am convinced that the supply chain holds significant untapped benefits for many organisations. Suppliers are willing and able to help customers with many issues of design, process improvement and even funding. However, in many cases, old-fashioned attitudes are a barrier to achieving these improvements.

Education

HND Mechanical Engineering - Oxford Polytechnic

Areas of Research / Professional Expertise

Sales and Operations Planning
Enterprise Resource Planning
Supply Chain organisations, roles and responsibilities
Supplier agreements

Personal Interests

Gardening
Golf
Riding horses

Books