Our Approach                                       

We are passionate about coaching and developing our clients' people and processes. 

Our team share several critical but rare attributes:

• Proven bottom line improvement results

• Management and Continuous Improvement experience in some of the world's best organizations

• Experienced change managers and motivators

• Integrity and a high commitment to success

• An ability to transfer knowledge and empower people for results

We aim to be Australasia's leading provider of competitive manufacturing and productivity improvement programs.

Our programs in New Zealand are delivered in association with ITO's and industry partners. We can also access additional resources for larger projects from our branch network throughout Australia and New Zealand.

Our Values:

Leadership

We will be the industry leader in our chosen fields, and personal leaders in everything that we do

 Continuous Challenge!

As a leader in the field of continuous improvement, we must demonstrate this ourselves – we must continually challenge each other to be the best in everything we do

 Passion

We are passionate about achieving results for our people, business, collaborative partners, clients and community

 Personal Growth

We strive to learn and utilise personal growth opportunities

 Integrity

We will act in an honest and professional manner at all times – we will protect company and client confidentiality and intellectual property at all times

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Our NZ Team                                               

Auckland

Gary Pollard - Manufacturing Excellence Coach is responsible for our program delivery in New Zealand. Gary has an extensive background in manufacturing and High performance workplace initiatives in the US, UK and Africa. Gary is based in Auckland, New Zealand.

Nilesh Pandit - Manufacturing Excellence Coach Nilesh is a Mechanical Engineer (BE) with a master’s degree in business management including executive work experience with specialization in manufacturing. He has previous experience with kaizen, JIT, inventory management, six sigma and lean. 

Christchurch

Chris Benn - Manufacturing Excellence Coach Chris has a Diploma in Dairy Technology, and is a qualified competitive manufacturing trainer and assessor. He has extensive experience with the TRACC world class manufacturing system used by the worlds leading dairy exporter, Fonterra.

Stuart Clook - Manufacturing Excellence Coach Stuart has recently been responsible for the role out of a lean program at Dynamic Controls where his role as Value Stream Leader was key to major change implementations. He has extensive experience in deploying Lean methodology and continuous improvement programs in New Zealand and China. Stuart has a Bachelor of Science degree and has studied for a Masters of Science (Manufacturing Systems Engineering).

Brisbane - Australia

Bob Carter – Managing Director an MBA graduate he is considered to be one of the leading "Lean" practitioners in Australasia.

Soren Pedersen- General Manager Originally from Denmark, Soren has extensive expertise in lean and strategy. He has also had lean experience with companies within food processing, iron & metal, electronics, automotive, plastics, wood/furniture/doors & windows and pharmaceutical.

Peter Ellis - Business Development Manager Peter is responsible for sales and marketing of our programs.

Paul Avery - Business Advisor, Brisbane region Originally from South Africa, Paul has extensive experience in general management in the manufacturing and service sectors. He has an MBA and Diploma in IT and provides free business advisory services under the Australian Industry Productivity Centre initiative in the Brisbane region.

Patricia Paolini – Corporate Communications & Marketing Manager Patricia’s extensive media, RTO, Public Relations and Client Liaison experience is the perfect combination for the newly created role of Communications and Marketing Manager for the Improve Group. Patricia is a qualified trainer and has twenty years media experience including working as a Network Publicist, Unit Manager and Segment Producer for national television programs and documentaries.

Jo Shires - Program Coordinator Jo brings a wealth of project and program management experience to the team. Jo has a background in program and database administration in engineering and training applications.

Lewis Peacock - Organisational Development Coordinator Lewis is responsible for the development of our people, processes and products. He has a background in manufacturing and training, has a Bachelor of Behavioural Science degree and is currently completing a Masters in HR Management.

Peter McGregor – Manufacturing Excellence Coach Armed with a Bachelor of Education, Peter specialises in leadership and high performance teamwork programs. Pete is regularly sought after as an industry guest speaker.

Mike Littler – Manufacturing Excellence Coach Trained by the Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) Michael is a qualified TPM trainer and coach with international experience (UK, USA) in TPM and process improvement facilitation.  Michael has experience in Engineering, Textiles, Boatbuilding and Metals industries and has a Masters degree in Manufacturing Management.

Ed Hartjes – Manufacturing Excellence Coach. A qualified trainer Ed has also been involved in High Performance Manufacturing Consortiums. His industry experience includes production management roles in the automotive, electrical and windows and doors manufacturing industries, where he has successfully implemented Just in Time (JIT), Kanban, 5S and Workflow improvement programs

Kevin Condon – Manufacturing Excellence Coach is an experienced practitioner in Lean and TPM methodologies. His previous roles include quality, maintenance improvement and Training Manager roles in the metals and aviation sectors.

Saruvaeswaren Gunasekharan (Saru) – Manufacturing Excellence Coach Saru is a Lean Six Sigma black belt and has extensive experience in quality control, lean and six sigma program management and implementation in the aviation and electronics industries.

Steve Jarron - Results Facilitator specialises in Customer Service Excellence programs. Steve has a Bachelor of Business qualification and has consulted to government and private businesses in Australia and overseas. His strong customer service focus has led to many outstanding operational improvements particularly within the local government industry.

Sam Becktel – Manufacturing Excellence Coach is a highly experienced Six Sigma Black Belt and Competitive Manufacturing coach. Originally from California-USA, Sam has previously worked with many of the world's leading semiconductor companies before migrating to Australia. Sam is responsible for our Lean Materials Handling projects and related consulting engagements.

Regional Queensland - Australia

Cathy Morato - Business Advisor, Townsville A Chartered Accountant Cathy has extensive experience in small business advisory services and the education sector. She provides free business advisory services under the Australian Industry Productivity Centre initiative in the Townsville region.

Leslie Ring - Business Advisor, Cairns Armed with an MBA and a chartered Accountant Leslie has extensive experience both locally and internationally in business consulting for the manufacturing and service sectors. She provide free business advisory services under the Australian Industry Productivity Centre initiative in the Cairns region.

Joe Crowley – Manufacturing Excellence Coach, Wide Bay region. He has  extensive experience with the TRACC world class manufacturing system used by the worlds leading dairy exporter, Fonterra. Joe's client base includes timber processors, metal fabricators, aircraft manufacturers, and many more.

Anne-Marie Chapman- Manufacturing Excellence Coach, Central Queensland A qualified trainer, Anne has extensive experience with the implementation and training of lean and six sigma in the minerals processing and sugar industries. Anne's client based includes engineering and fabrication workshops, beverage and rail companies.

To join our New Zealand team click here and forward your CV

Improvement Tools.com Resource Centre

Maureen Carter - Resource Coordinator manages customer orders and supplier relationships for delivery of training resources, DVD's and other technical resource available from our resource centre. Maureen and Roseanna Tago manage all our office administration.

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Our Partners                                                    

Improve (NZ) Ltd partners with a number of organizations focused on operational excellence programs and resource development. These include:     New Zealand University of Waikato (Centre for Corporate and Executive Education) Yeats Manufacturing Consulting (Independent Contractor)   Australia Ai Group (Australian Industry Group – industry trends and action plans) Association for Manufacturing Excellence (manufacturing excellence programs) Skills Tech Australia (Registered Training Organisation) 3pi (Supply chain improvement strategies)   UK Constructing Excellence  (best practice construction industry methodologies) Manufacturing Advisory Services (best practice manufacturing techniques)   USA Gemba Research   (Lean Manufacturing) Elsevier  (operations management, healthcare and engineering) Enna   (Lean Manufacturing) Society of Manufacturing Engineers  (Manufacturing Processes and Supply Chain) Association for Manufacturing Excellence  (manufacturing excellence programs) GoalQPC (Quality improvement and high performance teamwork) Massachusetts Institute of Technology         (Lean Manufacturing and Lean Aerospace Initiative) The Lean Store                                               (Lean Manufacturing, Lean Office and Lean Healthcare) Productivity Press (Lean Manufacturing Books)

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