North American Office
David Veech, Executive Director
Mr. Veech assists our clients in defining ILS programs to meet their needs. His specialty is leading and developing people in the lean organization. Mr. Veech has been developing and teaching courses on the lean way since 1998, starting in the defense industry.
Parthi Damodaraswamy, Director, Operational Excellence
Mr. Damodaraswamy has extensive experience transforming companies in a variety of industries, most notably health care, wood products, glass products, plastics, food processing, and distribution. In each of these specialized environments, his innovative thinking has made delivering customer value the main focus while delivering exceptional financial .
Dr. Jon Yingling, Director, Lean System Design
Dr. Yingling helps organizations to design and restructure their operations as lean value streams. He has a lead role for ILS in facility assessments and transformation planning, value stream design and critical transformation events, consulting and project management, executive education, certification courses, and internal systems and curriculum development.
Mike Hoseus, Strategic Partner
Mr. Hoseus supports organizations in Lean Transformation focusing on leadership, culture and HR systems. These organizations include manufacturing, service, healthcare, nonprofit and education. Mike developed his skills at TPS by working with Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky at the General Manager level in both Production and Human Resources being mentored by his Japanese trainers. His Toyota process experience in these include, production, engineering, skilled trades maintenance, safety, personnel, HR Development, employee relations, benefits/payroll and training and development. He learned first-hand how Toyota’s success hinges on integrating their production and human systems to create the Toyota Way. He co-authored the Shingo Award winning book Toyota Culture.
Howard Artrip, Engagement Leader
Mr. Artrip serves as lean transformation project leader, bringing over 20 years of Toyota experience to the team. His strong background includes Pre-Production Model Change Planning and Production Management and he has applied lean tools and thinking everyday working within the Toyota Production System. He also brings a wealth of Continuous Improvement experience, particularly in Manufacturing and Logistics Systems. His work for ILS focuses on both domestic and international clients and specializes in developing management tools to support operations stability.
David Stewart, Engagement Leader
Mr. Stewart joins ILS bringing 18 years of manufacturing experience to our transformation mission. With a strong background in Quality and Production Management, he is skilled at helping clients focus on flow and process kaizen to create an effective lean work environment. Beyond rapid transformation, he provides key clients with the management tools required for building a culture of continuous improvement and the application of lean principles. He has personally lead transformation activities in process, manufacturing, and support operations.
Darril Wilburn, Engagement Leader
Mr. Wilburn brings more than 17 years of leadership, process improvement and organizational development experience to ILS. He was a leader in the development and implementation of some of Toyota Motor Manufacturing’s highest profile leadership development programs of the past 10 years. He led the Toyota Way (Toyota core principles) implementation at Toyota’s largest manufacturing plant in North America. For ILS, he specializes in customized training programs, particularly oriented to kanri, with which he has led many strategic workshops.
David Dressman, Engagement Leader
Mr. Dressman joins ILS bringing Lean and Six-Sigma backgrounds serving multiple transformation roles including: Lean Coordinator, Lean Six-Sigma Black Belt, Manufacturing Engineer, and Kaizen Leader. David’s educational background includes a B.S. Electrical Engineering and M.S. Manufacturing Systems Engineering from the University of Kentucky. Including manufacturing and health care, David has served within TMMK, 3M, Trane Ingersoll Rand, as well as numerous contracted facilities. David’s diverse project management work and leadership roles facilitate an effective lean work environment applying lean six-sigma principles and tools, discrete simulation modeling, and daily management for rapid transformation and sustainability.
Erica Anderson, Financial Officer
Ms. Anderson joins ILS with a Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from the University of Kentucky. She has worked as a Financial Analyst in the transportation industry for several years. She uses her experience to monitor receipts and payments and to present the financial position of the company. She also schedules meetings and courses for the leadership team.
Michael Bosc, Public Relations Manager
Mr. Bosc helps ILS and its clients publicize their lean programs. He has more than 30 years of journalism and public relations experience, including 5 years as Chicago bureau chief for U.S. News & World Report magazine. Mike has generated story placements in such publications as The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Chicago Tribune, Christian Science Monitor, and Modern Healthcare. He also taught at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL, and served as vice chancellor for university advancement at Indiana University Southeast in New Albany.
Robert “Ned” Wood, Business Development Manager
Mr. Wood has an extensive background in sales, management development, and human resources. He was a Vice President of Human Resources for two Fortune 500 firms, held the highest certification in his field (SPHR), and spent 15 years as a management consultant focused on productivity improvement, workforce development, organizational transformation, and executive coaching. He holds an MBA in Management from Florida State University and a BA in Marketing from the University of New Hampshire. He has taught management subjects as an adjunct instructor for the Darden School of the University of Virginia as well as the West Virginia College of Graduate Studies.
Australian Office
Karen Abberfield, CEO, TexSkill
Ms. Abberfield has had over 20 years experience in vocational education and training and over 4 years experience in lean. She has been the CEO for TexSkill Limited since 2007. Her key operational achievements in a managerial position includes the management of all aspects of the expansion of TexSkill Limited from a Victorian based company to a company able to service Australia and New Zealand, the creation and implementation of the TexSkill Policy and Procedure in accordance with the Australian Quality Training Framework (AQTF) and playing a key managerial role in the creation and implementation of the Vocational Graduate Certificate in Competitive Enterprise.
Among her many educational qualifications, Ms. Abberfield has gained a Masters in Business Administration (Executive), a Bachelor of Arts, and a Diploma in Education and a Vocational Graduate Certificate in Competitive Enterprise. Using her lean skills, Karen is currently involved in a strategic transformation of the company to continuously improve the operations and create further value to wide range of industry sectors.
Ray Littlefield, Director, Australia Operations
Mr. Littlefield organizes and leads lean transformation programs in businesses worldwide. He has extensive experience engaging team members in applying lean thinking to improve their processes in industries as diverse as manufacturing and health care. He has lived the ‘Toyota Way’ and shares his understanding in a unique way that resonates with people throughout an organization.
Over the years, he has had the opportunity to serve clients such as Pacific Brands, Boeing, Dana Corp., Columbia Forest Products, Ford Motor Company, Ingersoll-Rand, Rolls-Royce, SPX Corp, Toyota, Thales, Fosters and Skiers Choice. Mr. Littlefield holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, a M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering, and is currently pursuing his PhD. He resides in Melbourne, Australia where he is working in partnership with TexSkill Limited.
Daniel Anderson, Lean Training Coordinator
Mr. Anderson specialises in supporting organisations analyse, design, develop and implement lean systems. He brings his experience from Toyota where his projects included working on pilot launches, quality improvement projects, and engineering new equipment and parts. His corporate experience includes working with companies such as Rayloc, Bonds, Fosters and CRF. He helps industry to develop and engage their workforce while applying lean systems throughout the workplace. Mr. Anderson’s teaching and coaching skills assist in linking the training and improvement activities l to the organisational strategy of the company.
His educational accolades include a degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Kentucky and a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment.
Sasha Neser, Lean Training Coordinator
Mr. Sasha Neser has a broad background in the manufacturing sector. Starting as an engineering trainee with BHP steel and an indentured as a fitter and turner, he completed a degree in mechanical engineering. He worked across the Port Kembla site finishing as a project engineer in the energy services area prior to accepting a technical specialist role with a consulting firm working towards energy reduction in steam, compressed air and water systems. This role took him throughout Australia and some parts of Asia across a wide variety of heavy industry, manufacturing and business environments such as oil refining, petrochemical, paper, metal refining, hospitals and FMCG with many clients of note including the United Nations GERIAP program and Lucas Heights Nuclear Reactor facility. Later he changed his work direction commencing work with Bonds as a Production Manager and following completion of post graduate studies in lean systems and operational excellence he has worked on implementing lean transformation and continuous improvement in sites in Australia and New Zealand. He has been to Japan to study best practice organisations and has a passion for sustainable operations and is committed to the drive of Australian industry towards best practice.
Peter Lang, Lean Training Coordinator
Over the past twelve months, Mr. Lang has been involved actively with a broad range of clients embarking on the lean journey. His background has strong links to the Vocational Education sector with many years working in a range of positions at a regional Victorian TAFE institute. Primary roles included the lead in developing a commercial business development unit with annual revenues exceeding $8 million 2 years after establishment and manager of the Manufacturing and Design Department with an annual budget of $3 million and in excess of 30 full time staff.
He has actively pursued his professional development and is currently working on a minor research thesis to complete his Masters of Business. Other major qualifications held include a Graduate Diploma Business, a Vocational Graduate Certificate in Competitive Enterprise, a Diploma Project Management, a Diploma Agricultural Science and most recently his Certificate IV TAA (Training and Assessment), an upgrade to the former Certificate IV Workplace trainer and assessor.
Mr. Lang’s skills and knowledge have been put to good use in his new role and he is regularly called on to provide specialist advice on customizing training to suit specific industry applications. This also includes the development of customized training resources and materials and delivery and assessment of training in a variety of workplace settings.
His work in his current Masters program has allowed him to focus, in detail, on project management and the linkages to the implementation of large scale lean projects. This has been a valuable contributor in instigating the discipline required to be successful on the lean journey. This includes time management skills, development of planned versus actual action schedules, risk analysis and evaluations and line and labor balancing. Peter has strong links to the hands on implementation of lean practices within a range of businesses and will continue to be at the fore front of a range of exciting projects.
Rina Sinha, Lean Training Coordinator
Ms. Sinha has been part of the TexSkill/ILS team for over 4 years. With a background in Human Resource Development, she has assisted organizations in creating development plans and HR systems for their staffs. In addition, she has been heavily involved in administering lean training programs at companies such as Bonds, Australian Weaving Mills, Devon Clothing, and CRF. She has also been an active coach within organizations undertaking transformation activities to ensure the long term success and sustainment of improvements made throughout the organization.
As a Lean Training Coordinator, Ms. Sinha has had extensive experience in the National Training System, delivering traineeships from a variety of training packages such as Textiles, Clothing, and Footwear, Competitive Manufacturing, and Business Services. She has recently completed a Masters in Business Administration from the University of Texas and also holds a Bachelor of Arts in Organizational Learning from the University of Technology, Sydney. She is currently pursuing a Masters in Industrial/Organizational Psychology.
Karyn Holden, Industry Training Coordinator
Ms. Holden worked in the textile Industry for 18 years before joining the TexSkill team in 1998. Her vast experience in the textile industry and broad knowledge of weaving and related production processes makes her a specialist in textile related training. Her time spent in industry has given her an invaluable insight into what is required on the job and the knowledge and skill needed to work training and assessment activities into the busy schedules of production.
Ms. Holden maintains professional links and relationship with the Tasmanian State Government, and local industry representatives and peak body associations. She is up to date with state and commonwealth funding arrangements in which supports the greater needs of industry in state. This knowledge assists her in developing industry relevant resource development, including standard operating procedures, training manuals and assessment tools for her cliental.
Her educational accolades include the successful completion of a Certificate IV in Textile Production and a Certificate IV in Workplace Training & Assessment (TAA) She is currently studying lean systems through the Vocational Graduate Certificate of Competitive Enterprise.
Ken Janson, Industry Training Coordinator
Mr. Janson has an extensive background in leading and forming teams in the workplace. His approach to vocational training is heavily focused on “hands on” work and workplace projects which value adds to both the trainees and the employer. He has extensive experience in workplace training and assessment the in transport and distribution, textiles, leather and plastics manufacturing industries.
He has built a reputation of having a strong work ethic, focused on quality standards and of having excellent communication skills. This attributes have assisted him in building strong working relationships with all forms of industry across the country.
Mr. Janson’s educational achievements include; a Associate Diploma of Road Transport Management, a Diploma of Frontline Management, a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment and a Vocational Graduate Certificate in Competitive Enterprise.
Elyse Newcombe, Lean Program Support
Ms. Newcombe provides the day to day management support to the lean program, including maintaining student records, updating lean trainer schedules, creating course evaluation reports, and organizing and preparing the Vocational Graduate Certificate in Competitive Enterprise. She assists with the running of the office, and gives administration support to the team.
Her corporate experience includes over 2 years as an assistant manager at a family restaurant establishment and working as a printing assistant and inspection coordinator at a housing market engineering firm.
Her educational achievements include the successful completion of Microsoft short courses (Excel/Word 2007) and a Certificate IV in Frontline Management. She is currently enrolled in the Vocational Graduate Certificate in Competitive Enterprise studying lean systems.
Jocelyn Spall, Financial Controller
Ms. Jocelyn is the chief financial controller at TexSkill limited. She handles all forms of financial transactions including invoicing, accounts receivable, government tenders and staff payment. Her corporate experience includes working as a bookkeeper at EJ Stanley and managing all business affairs at Berry & Maloney.
Aside from years of practical experience in finance, Jocelyn has a Certificate of Business Accounting and a New Zealand leavers pass.
Garry Hickey, Industry Training Coordinator
Mr. Garry has had vast experience in the food industry over a fifteen year period. Garry started in the dismembering section for a large Poultry processor and after nearly 10 years he had qualified as a Leading Hand in all sections. Working his way up, Garry excelled as a Plant Training Coordinator establishing a Competency based training program for that plant, eventually rolling this program out to all sites.
Promoted to a NSW Training Co-ordinator, Garry adopted the role of OH&S/Rehabilitation Co-ordinator for the site.
Garry joined TexSkill in 2006, bringing with him a vast array of skill, experience and knowledge achieved through years of training in Transport & Distribution for companies such as Mayne Logistics, TNT and NYK. Garry presently conducts industry training in Meat Processing (Smallgoods) at Primo.
Garry holds a Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment (TAA) and has a fork lift licence. He has also successfully completed accredited courses in supervisor line manage and risk Management.
Juanita Pellizzer, Industry Training Coordinator
Ms. Juanita has spent the last past 10 years focused on the achievement of high quality outcomes in training, facilitation, delivery and assessment for industry. Her current role as an Industry Training Coordinator requires skills in maintenance of reporting systems and financials, account management, retention and acquisition of customer and coaching and mentoring. Her achievements in training and education focus on a hands on outcomes approach that is delivered through implementing integrated solutions to support key business strategic objectives.
During the last 3 years working at TexSkill, Juanita has forged strong relationships with leading Australian organisations such as RM Williams, Devon Clothing, Marino Monograms, Pope Packing, Auspoly and The Laminex Group. Possessing a passion for helping people, Juanita quickly and easily builds trust & rapport with participants by delivering effective training in a fun, energetic, respectful and passionate way; motivating them to learn, move towards and achieve outcomes
Juanita’s numerous qualifications include a Certificate IV in Human Resource Management, a Certificate IV in Frontline Management, Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment (TAA) and a Vocational Graduate Certificate in Competitive Enterprise.
Amanda Hardy, Industry Training Coordinator
Ms. Amanda has vast experience in the food, and has worked in the industry for over sixteen years. Started in the packaging section of a meat processing company AMH, she soon worked her way up to leading hand/shift supervisor and an “A” grade slicer. Over a ten year period at Amanda acted as the training manager, relief HR officer and was an active consultative committee member for OH&S for two consecutive terms.
Amanda joined TexSkill in 2005. Due to her years of experience and in in-depth knowledge of the food industry, she landed training position at one of Australia’s largest meat companies, Primo. Her current duties include the training and development of the Primo staff, resource creation, developing training strategies and writing activity reports.
Amanda’s educational achievements include; a Certificate 3 in Food Processing, a Certificate 3 in Meat Processing (Abattoirs) and Certificate IV in Workplace Training and Assessment (TAA).