Dr. John R. Thomas is able to offer an unique combination of Business and Academic experience, having been at various times a Manager, a Problem-solver and Lecturer. (Fought it,Thought it and Taught it!).For over 43 years, he has been instrumental in introducing state-of-the-art techniques in diverse industries working for and with some of the best companies in the world.For the first 20 years of his career he gained operational management experience in both small and large companies working for and with firms such as 3M, Rexam, DS Smith, Nissan and Toyota. (One plant for which he was responsible, achieved the Toyota Supplier of the Year Award whilst another was considered a world-leader in the Medical Supplies Industry).For the past 23 years Dr. Thomas has run his own management consultancy, specialising in the development and implementation of World Class techniques to create sustainable step changes in business performance and profitability. (See website www.drjrt.com). He has helped hundreds of organisations in a wide range of industries.Dr.Thomas was for 10 years a member of the Education and Consultancy Services team at the Institute for Manufacturing at Cambridge University responsible for developing innovative services to support small and medium-sized companies.Dr. Thomas led the IfM portfolio in Wales and the West Midlands and worked with a wide range of companies to provide diagnostic and consultancy services to a range of companies in Wales.In doing this work, Dr. Thomas operated as an Industrial Fellow of the University of Cambridge.He was for 15 years a part-time Lecturer on Masters courses in Manufacturing, Quality and Project management with the Open University, (and a consultant author of New Technology Implementation, Project Management. Quality management and Manufacturing-based courses).Dr. Thomas currently lectures in Operations Management at Swansea University and teaches Organic Chemistry for the Biosciences Foundation course.He taught Project Management on the LBA programme at Cardiff Business School.In 2021 Dr. Thomas joined the SMART Digital Accelerator team at University of Wales Trinity Saint David (UWTSD).This is a team of industry expert advisers who work with manufacturers in Wales to help them identify the right digital technology to boost profitability.He also ran a course on Value-Stream Mapping for the Engineering faculty at UWTSD.Qualifications : Academic Ph.D in Synthetic Organic Chemistry.Honours degree in Chemistry.M.B.A. (Open University).Professional : F.R.S.C., C.Chem., A.I.B.A.
