API is a major wholesaler and distributor of ethical, pharmaceutical and OTC products to chemists across Australia. This assignment involved the following primary objectives:

·         Month end close – processes, review and board reporting.

·         Evaluate current accounting staff and develop the appropriate future structure.

·         Identify and resolve system relates issues – Movex and Business Objects

·         Assist in the development of a strategic plan for the Pharmaceutical division

·         Develop and coordinate the FY08 budget process and presentation to API Board.

·         Year end preparation – hard close March 31st 2007

·         Develop, in conjunction with State Managers, a Business Intelligence Systems.

·         Streamline current supplier rebates and promotional systems.

·         Evaluate stock related issues – slow moving and excess. Develop a plan to minimize potential write-offs.

·         ERP System – Movex and Business Objects Planning

Church & Dwight (Australia) Pty Ltd manufactures, sells and markets a range of FMCG and healthcare brands such as Nair, Dencorub and Pearl Drops through major retailers and pharmaceutical wholesalers throughout the Asia Pacific Region.

·         Management and control of $38M in gross sales, $8M in trade spend (21% of sales) and delivery in excess of 10% ($4.2M) over planned operating profit each year.

·         Development of EIS systems such as Powerplay in the areas of Sales, Forecasting and General Ledger significantly reducing managements time to analysis information and enhance the decision making process.

·         Successful implementation of an integrated trade spend and promotional planning system leading to improved forecasting, reductions in inventory levels and promotional expenditure in excess of $500k.

·         Integration and upgrade of manual systems to current computerized systems in the area of human resources, purchasing, forecasting, stock, scan pack and EDI.

·         Decrease in working capital management through the reduction of inventory and increase in payables days. Reduction in inventory days by 25 translating to stock turns of 4.4 (80 days) through the identification and clearance of slow moving products and improvement in forecasting.

·         Increase in cash management from 5.7M to 9.5M year on year and subsequent interest income increase to $0.4m (an increase of 90%). Increase in cash with payables up from 30 to 70 days.

·         ERP System – UNIX Pronto and Cognos Powerplay

North Ryde, Sydney, NSW.

Manager International Projects – Goodman Fielder. June 2002 to Jan 2003.

Goodman Fielder manufactures, sells and markets a variety of well know consumer products such as Wonder White, Uncle Tobys, Meadow Lea, Crest chicken and White Wings throughout the Asia Pacific Region.

The position was responsible for the commercial development, feasibility and analytical review of return on capital investment of various International Projects. The project involved the development of a $80M Greenfield manufacturing process located in the Northern Province of New Caledonia with a local Joint Venture Partner.

The success of the project was very dependent on developing a strong commercial relationship with its various stakeholders. This project was complex for a variety of reasons i.e. language, complex tax incentives, remote location in the Northern Province, environmental issues, local politics, unskilled and highly unionised workforce and not the least existing competition.

·         Leadership and direction of a professional cross-cultural and functional team of accountants, engineers and operational specialists.

·         The development and evaluation of a business plans in line with GF hurdle rates.

·         The development of phased cost structure and capital budgets.

·         Review and development of all commercial aspects and project sensitivity involving project participants to mitigate risk and reduce complexity.

·         Reporting and review of project costs and capital expenditure on a monthly basis.

·         Alignment of all financial participants (JV partner and GF New Caledonia) with commercial investment objectives.

·         Development of funding strategies to maximise return. In this instance both French and New Caledonian tax investment incentives were in excess of $60M.

·         Proactive and hands on approach to drive projects forward with various stakeholders regardless of complexity.

·         Review and development of MIP (Manufacturing Improvement Programs) and CIP (Cost Improvement Programs) across various existing GFI operations located in the Pacific Region i.e.: New Caledonia, Fiji, Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.

Manager Corporate Group Services – Goodman Fielder.

Reporting to the Chief Financial Officer, July 2001 to June 2002.

This position administers and controls a diverse range of cost centres expenditure in excess of $100M with extensive liaison and reporting responsibilities across the various boards and divisions of Goodman Fielder and Government Authorities.

·         The cost of Workers’ Compensation has increased in excess of 29% under the current Government Schemes due to the poor management of claims. The introduction of Self Insurance programs to GF has significantly reduced this cost year on year by $14M.

·         Manage the Finance function for 14 diverse Corporate Cost Centre ranging from Strategic Sourcing, Occupational Health & Safety, Corporate Project Office to Manufacturing Improvement Program across all business units. Internal customers range from business unit Finance Managers, Directors to MD’s.

·         Administration and control of the Workers’ Compensation Risk Portfolio of $89M across New South Wales and Victoria and a further $23M across other States.

·         To protect these significant cost savings we developed 3rd party software to track claims and estimate risk based on sound actuarial processes.

·         Review and monitor progress of major projects to improve processes, reduce business complexity and improve profit. This process was know as “Full Potential” and involved the rationalisation of manufacturing sites and reduction in overheads over a 3-year period with a total potential EBIT prize in excess of $290M.

·         ERP System - SAP

Project Manager – Goodman Fielder Milling, September 2000 to July 2001.

The main objective was to consolidate the Australian milling and mixing operation, which involved the closure of milling and mixing sites and centralisation of mixing to a central location to achieve a more efficient and competitive business.

·         The project priority was to implement and monitor procedures to track EBIT impact of $16m and capital spend of $26m.

·         Developed financial models to assist project planning and key decisions.

·         Built effective working relationship within the team and across business units to facilitate the flow of project related information.

·         Liaised with business unit finance managers to ensure that the project is not adversely impacting core business from a financial perspective.

On 13 July 2000 Qantas Flight Catering acquired CaterAir Catering Pty Limited. The assignment priority was to maintain operational efficiency and profit objectives across all business units during the integration process. Located adjacent to Sydney International Airport CaterAir was responsible for all in-flight services and catering for all international flights for Sydney, Brisbane and Cairns.

·         Managed and coordinate the daily operation of CaterAir Australia through general managers in each business unit during the integration process.

·         Built strong relationships across diverse operations to improve areas of poor quality and delivery.

·         Applied cross industry experience and diverse interpersonal skills to implement change and improve operational efficiency.

·         Evaluated, recommended and implemented a balanced integration process across QFCL and CaterAir business units.

Lane Cove West, Sydney, NSW.

Tyco Healthcare marketed and sold medical devices and consumables with turnover of A$250m and 260 staff.

Chief Financial Officer, Asia Pacific Region. Reported to Managing Director.

·         Managed and controlled the change process involving four acquisitions, which grew the business from A$17m to A$250m in three years.

·         Effective leadership and management of 36 personnel across 6 functional areas of accounting, logistics, distribution, IT, customer service and HRM.

·         Achieved over A$5m in savings and EBIT growth of 36% by integrating administration, logistics and distribution functions across acquired companies.

·         Reduced back orders by 15% and inventory lead-time by 6 days.

·         Built strong relationships between functional areas of Sales, Marketing, Operations and Customer Service to improve forecasting, minimise OOS and maximise customer service with time critical delivery to 24 hours.

·         Implemented risk management programs that reduced working capital from A$40m to A$32m.

·         Successfully integrated all acquired company products and services under a single warehouse and distribution system.

·         Integrated all systems of acquired companies to a UNIX based platform, which created a single order and invoice process.

·         Developed and implemented computer systems to cope the increased product range of 1600 to 14,500 SKU’s.

·         ERP System – UNIX Pronto and Cognos Powerplay.