Work Experience
a wide range of professional activities in over 35 years
IT Consultant / Improvement Management
May 2019 – Present
Tasks
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Evaluate current business and operation processes.
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Identify inefficiencies.
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Eliminate non-value adding processes with or without the help of IT systems.
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Detail Design of Custom-Made Software (Blue Print)
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Lead the implementation of Ready-Made Software (ERP & Production Planning).
Highlights
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Design and realization of a software to Manage Orders from Order receiving to shipment, including necessary dashboards for the production floor and Management. This software has replaced numerous individual and inconsistent excel spread sheets, providing much better visibility and therefore improving decision making.
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Design and realization of a visually highly attractive Digital Color Book to replace the time consuming and never up to date hardcopy version. Covering the entire process from customer request of new colors, color data tracking, color approval and chemical formula registering, this software is absolutely unique and has become a real Masterpiece.
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Design of a software to Manage the development of new products, supporting all processes and all stakeholders involved. The Blue Print, signed off by the Business Process Owners includes detailed Process Flow Charts, Screen Mock-Ups as well as requirements, parameters and descriptions for every single data field. It’s a document of over 370 pages, ready for a programmer to write the code. This software is actually the foundation to support and integrate with the above-mentioned Order Management system.
Thai Sock Co., Ltd., Samutprakarn
Freewill Solutions Co., Ltd., Bangkok
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on behalf of
Managing Consultant
December 2010 – Present
Tasks
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Business and Technology Consultant with main focus on business processes, technology and change management. (See project page for more details).
Freewill Solutions Co., Ltd., Bangkok
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Assistant Managing Director
Thai Sock Co., Ltd., Samutprakarn
April 2004 – October 2008
Tasks
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Analyze factory areas that appear to have chronic process problems
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Resolve the problems and find solutions to permanently prevent the issues to re-occur.
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Set-up and implement new procedures processes and systems at production floor level, administration level and management level.
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Improve interdepartmental communication
Highlights
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Fundamentally change the way of creating new sock prototypes resulting in much more detailed and nicer sock patterns, shorter lead time for samples, increased customer satisfaction, less correction requests, therefore less re-work and finally reduction of the number of designers needed.
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Moving the production plan for the Dye House from paper to excel (we were in the year 2004) to better track production and delivery. We initially found that four tons (!) of yarn were still on the plan and about to be produced, while they were actually already produced and received by the warehouse.
Logistics Manager
Toyo Thai International Ltd., Bangkok
March 2002 – February 2004
Tasks
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Being the communication- and coordination center between the customer-brands GAP, Banana Republic, HUE, Gold Toe and three Thailand based factories.
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Keep track of all orders in all factories at all time.
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Coordinate and consolidate packaging material needs to obtain lower prices for all factories through volume orders.
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Being the team leader when problems occurred
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Take care of IT set-up and IT problems
Highlights
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Setting-up a completely new 174 square meter office space in Silom Complex which opened in January 2004.
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Design room and furniture layout, lightning, air-conditioning outlets, as well as electricity and IT layout.
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Negotiate special requests with building administration and supervise execution of installation works.
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Supervise a junior IT freelancer in setting up the office-wide LAN and TPI/IP system including the implementation of an automatic backup system to protect/recover from loss of critical data
Local Representative
Sara Lee Hosiery Ltd.
June 2000 – February 2002
Tasks
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Follow up orders and production status in the two Thailand factories
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Provide factories with necessary information to do the job right
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Make the right decision in case of last-minute problems prior to shipment
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Develop new packaging items with printing supplier and approve them prior to production
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Daily communication with Head Office in USA and with factories
Highlight
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Based on a production sample sent to the QC department in the U.S., the QC Manager put an entire shipment on hold the day before the goods were about to leave the factory in Thailand, which of course created some excitement. The reason was a slight color shade difference of the product sample compared to the approved standard. While the decision to put the shipment on hold was undeniably correct from a QC Manager’s point of view, I told the factory to ship the goods. That in return created some excitement in the QC Manager’s office - and in my email inbox the next day. Why did I let the shipment go? Based on experience, I knew that ultimately it will be Marketing’s call to decide whether to accept or really reject the shipment. And based on that very same experience I knew that Marketing has accepted shades that were far more off the standard than the case at hand. Further more I knew that the only way to correct the problem would be to re-produce the product, and then ship that product by air. The cost for the factory would have been exorbitant and the buyer would have run the risk of having no product in the store. Looking at the whole picture and not just from one angle, allowed me to make the right decision in this case. As expected, two days later, when the product was already on the ocean, Marketing confirmed to accept the color shade variance.
Assistant Export Manager / Merchandiser
April 1997 – May 2000
Thai Sock Co., Ltd., Samutprakarn
Tasks
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Coordinate all processes starting from receiving the artwork for new prototypes and their development up to production and delivery.
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Coordination between customers, suppliers and factory internal departments to ensure orders are produced according to customer’s specification and delivered on time.
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Oversee all aspects of customer services and provide requested reports on a regular base.
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Negotiate with oversea- and local suppliers to ensure adequate raw materials are purchased at the best possible price and delivered to the production floor on time.
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Monitor production progress to identify potential issues that could affect delivery and join production meetings to solve problems.
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Generate sales and production reports on a monthly basis for upper management
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Maintain a good relationship with customers and suppliers
Highlight
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Increase business with Sara Lee from the starting point at zero to become the factory’s largest customer with a production volume share of 55%.
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Do more than just what is written in the job description. Basically, merchandiser is a desk-job and most merchandisers I’ve seen, still see, and have heard of, follow exactly that concept. They are glued to their chair. I never liked that. I used to walk through the manufacturing area at least once a day, preferably twice. I remember when once passed by one process step right after knitting. I saw the product and thought these socks look like those of my customer. Actually, I knew which style it was, but the color didn’t seem familiar at all. I asked, what color is this? The worker checked the paper work and said it was Ivory. Ah, Ivory. Well, that was a very green ivory and there is no way we will ever be able to ship this. In this case, and many others, my approach of going a little bit further than the requirement in my job description, allowed me to stop the production of this green ivory product, hence saving a lot of down-stream processing time of a product that can’t be sold, as well as taking immediate corrective action while we still had time to correct the problem.
Customer Relation Advisor
May 1992 – December 1995
Ford Motor Company (Switzerland) S.A.
Tasks
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Receive customer enquiries and/or complaints in German, French, Italian and English, one even in Spanish and answer them after thorough investigation, analysis and consideration.
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Contact dealers and related internal departments to analyze the problems brought to our attention and find solutions
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“Own the case” until the customer was satisfied
Highlight
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Be part of the local implementation of a Ford Worldwide CRM IT system
Allrounder
January 1992 – April 1992
Domaine de Fraisse, France
Tasks
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Take care of horses, feed them, take them to the meadow and back to the stable
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Clean the stables
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Take care of guests
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General works in and around the farm
Highlight
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The entire experience in itself was a highlight.
Taxi Driver
Centro Taxi, Biel-Bienne
November 1991 – December 1991
Tasks
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Drive safe, friendly by using the shortest way from A to B
Highlight
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Along my time at Hotelplan Neuchâtel (1986-1989) I used to drive taxi on week-ends to upend my apprentice-income and for fun as I did not have my own car at that time.
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When I had to bridge a time gap before leaving for France, I came back to be Taxi driver. At the time, taxi drivers got paid in percentage of the daily turnover and cheating with the numbers was a standard procedure to improve the income. Our parents allowed us to do quite anything we wanted, but there were to absolute no-goes with zero tolerance. One was lying and the other was its close friend, cheating. In this case, my inability to cheat or lie along my week-end jobs won me the trust of the taxi owner and when I now asked whether I could get paid a monthly fixed salary instead of the usual percentage of turnover, he agreed and the salary he offered was not bad at all. The only condition was, I must not tell the others!
Branch Manager
October 1990 – October 1991
Hotelplan AG, Langendorf
Tasks
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Manage all aspects of a small travel agency
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Accounting of petit-cash
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Manage the allocated monthly budgets
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Generate monthly sales reports and submit them to the head office
Highlight
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Being selected as one of a few members to consider and evaluate part of an IT system to be implemented in the branches nation wide
Travel Agent
Hotelplan S.A., Neuchâtel
October 1990 – October 1991
Tasks
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Sell Air Tickets and Tour Packages around the world.
Highlight
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Now here we are at a time when Google did not exist and Microsoft Office neither. There was a typewriter in the office and a telex machine. Unless you are of my age, you won’t even know what that is. Anyway, Hotelplan was quite advanced when it came to technology and someday each branch got a PC. I don’t remember what exactly the purpose was, but the PC definitely woke my curiosity. To the point I bought an MS-DOS command book, quite a bible, to explore what we could eventually do with this PC. My point of thought was, that we had a couple of standard letters we typed over and over again with some minor data changes each time. That is why we had a typewriter. But what if these standard texts were stored and printable from that PC? Armed with my MS DOS bible I went to work. Not sure I was even allowed to do so, I created a hidden menu item. Instead of the number of one of the menu items on the start-up screen, the user could type 007 and then the PC showed a menu of standard letters to choose from. The branch manager being happy with my 007 tool told his peers about it and finally the news made it to the head office. They took it the positive way.
Apprenticeship of Commerce
Hotelplan S.A., Neuchâtel
August 1986 – August 1989
Tasks
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Learn the job of a travel agent
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Learn the fundamentals of Business Administration in subjects such as
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Business correspondence
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National- and Business economics
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Business law
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Accounting
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Highlights
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When I decided to go down the path of Business Administration my only condition was it must be a travel agency. Therefore, I sent applications to 52 travel agencies in my hometown as well as Bern, Basel and Neuchâtel. The branch manager from Hotelplan Neuchâtel called me and said hi, I got your resume. It’s okay, you can start in August. A bit surprised I asked him whether he did not want me to come for an interview. He didn’t. So I asked him whether he would mind if I visited the office, because I actually would like to see where I’m going. He had no problem with that.
The travel agency was rather small with only 4 desks for travel agents and the Manager’s office space. That said, even a newbie like me was sitting at the front desk starting from day one with no place to hide. That was of course much more thrilling than dealing with piles of paper in a back office of a large agency.
Given that the vocational school program was all in French some subjects like business law were quite challenging. On the other hand side, I truly enjoyed the German language lessons where I didn’t have to worry about the subject but instead could let my attention being attracted, or should I say distracted, by the young and very charming teacher from Austria. She was really cute and I liked her very much.
Warehouse/Packing/Delivery staff
Beutler Fashion Group AG, Bern
September 1985 – February 1986
Tasks
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Pack garments according to customer’s purchase orders
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Load packed cartons into the company own small truck
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Drive and deliver the goods in the region
Highlight
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Invent the idea of a fixed 14-days menu plan for the canteen in response of dissatisfaction among some employees regarding often repeated menus and/or little variation.
Apprenticeship as male nurse
Krankenpflegeschule Zürich, Zurich
May 1982 – November 1984
Tasks
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Learn the job of a male nurse. Learn the fundamentals of Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology and Psychology
Highlight
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​Even though I already had spent three months as trainee in a hospital, one year at the preparatory school for hospital professions and two years of the apprenticeship with only one year left to do, I decided in November 1984 to abandon this path. One may think I let 3 ½ years go to waste when I had only one more year to go. For me the question was why should I waste one more year before starting something new anyway. Of course, this wasn’t an easy decision and I very carefully weighted all options, but finally making the decision to say let’s end it here and now was the real highlight.
Trainee
Hospital of Grenchen, Grenchen
November 1980 – February 1981
Tasks
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Get an idea of the job and tasks in a hospital
Highlight
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​I’m usually good in observing, especially processes, and how things are done. I also like to catch mistakes in movies or TV series where for example you see a person sitting in the driver’s seat of a parked car talking on his mobile phone while the head-rest is in a very high position. Then the camera switches to the other side of that person face and now the head-rest is suddenly in its lowest position even though the phone call has not yet ended. During my time as trainee in the hospital I observed how nurses assist the doctors during bandaging changes at the weekly visit. I then started little by little to assist myself which I saw raised some eye brows at the beginning because usually only qualified nurses are allowed to do that. Obviously, they were watching what that trainee is doing, but they let him do. I assume I did it right.