Sugar Industry Operations Consultant

A "hands on" role to assist Management to achieve their sugar industry business goals.

Invited by SOFRECO, Paris (through personal recommendation) to take up the position of Team Leader Addis Ababa to provide Project Management Assistance (Consultancy - Technical and Commercial) to Ethiopian Government in their on-going US$3.5Bn investment in the design, procurement, construction, commissioning and operation of 7 new cane sugar factories with sugar refining, ethanol production and power export capabilities to add 108,000 tcd cane crushing capacity to the existing national sugar… Show more Invited by SOFRECO, Paris (through personal recommendation) to take up the position of Team Leader Addis Ababa to provide Project Management Assistance (Consultancy - Technical and Commercial) to Ethiopian Government in their on-going US$3.5Bn investment in the design, procurement, construction, commissioning and operation of 7 new cane sugar factories with sugar refining, ethanol production and power export capabilities to add 108,000 tcd cane crushing capacity to the existing national sugar industry capability. Leading a multi-national expert team to administer and add value to the EPC Contracts with 3 Chinese contractors, a number of local Consultants and service providers, and maintain excellent understanding and relationships between diverse cultural business entities. Striving to deliver optimum "sugar in the bag" in the shortest project duration. Regularly providing advice and "on the ground" expertise at existing ESC factories falling outside the current Contractual scope. Show less

Appointed to replace the incumbent Factory Manager, to raise all standards of management, leadership, empowerment and factory technical performance, prior to the receipt of substantial investment to restore the factory to its former capability, and then double its annual sugar output by the year 2022, in step with phased agricultural expansion and a new irrigation system. Initial factory technical results were outstanding, whilst the feedback on leadership style and team involvement and… Show more Appointed to replace the incumbent Factory Manager, to raise all standards of management, leadership, empowerment and factory technical performance, prior to the receipt of substantial investment to restore the factory to its former capability, and then double its annual sugar output by the year 2022, in step with phased agricultural expansion and a new irrigation system. Initial factory technical results were outstanding, whilst the feedback on leadership style and team involvement and empowerment was hugely rewarding. The role included the initial Project Management of the 5-year expansion plan. My involvement ceased when the business owners failed to reach ongoing business commitments with large finance/lending institutions to maintain business plan momentum, and commitment to staff salaries. Show less

Recruited to the newly created position of COO, to assume overall operating responsibility for, and daily management of, a recently constructed and commissioned 1 800 tpd raw sugar refinery to supply high quality refined sugar to discerning multinational food and beverage producers in GCC and beyond. The brief was to transform and then unify the different nationalistic cultures within the Refinery and Logistics operations, and to lead, develop and empower the current workforce (14 different… Show more Recruited to the newly created position of COO, to assume overall operating responsibility for, and daily management of, a recently constructed and commissioned 1 800 tpd raw sugar refinery to supply high quality refined sugar to discerning multinational food and beverage producers in GCC and beyond. The brief was to transform and then unify the different nationalistic cultures within the Refinery and Logistics operations, and to lead, develop and empower the current workforce (14 different nationalities) to achieve their full potential in this US$300M annual turnover business. In spite of numerous challenges, I lead my team to complete all outstanding project works, exceed nominal design capacity, and deliver exceptional product quality. Additionally, I made special visits to new customers, and brought home substantial sugar sales volumes, especially in Saudi, Qatar, and Bahrain. This exciting role ceased at short notice when the owners/investors/banks failed to resolve under-capitalisation issues. Show less

Recruited to the position of Factory Manager to complete the construction, bring into service, and rapidly achieve the design output for a EUR450M project with bespoke plant to produce 300,000 litres per day fuel grade ethanol for sale in Europe and 32 MW electricity for project operations and export into the Sierra Leonean national grid from sugar cane grown on 10,000 hectare centre pivot irrigated estate. The challenges were magnified by the outbreak of Ebola which drove away the majority of… Show more Recruited to the position of Factory Manager to complete the construction, bring into service, and rapidly achieve the design output for a EUR450M project with bespoke plant to produce 300,000 litres per day fuel grade ethanol for sale in Europe and 32 MW electricity for project operations and export into the Sierra Leonean national grid from sugar cane grown on 10,000 hectare centre pivot irrigated estate. The challenges were magnified by the outbreak of Ebola which drove away the majority of the project contractors/suppliers prior to completion, as well as placing many restrictions upon normal manufacturing and site activities. I guided and led the factory team to achieve all factory technical targets by May 2015, and accreditation to Round Table of Sustainability, before the Factory was mothballed due to adverse sugar cane yields and delayed agricultural development. Show less

Independently working with select equipment suppliers and project managers to specify and deliver energy efficiencies, technological improvements, production expansions and new factory projects in the worldwide sugar industry.

Recruited to the position of Factory Manager by Nile Sugar in August 2009, to drive all erection contractors and accelerate construction activities to reach critical March 2010 commissioning deadline in a EGP1.4Bn (US$255M) green-field project, to take responsibility for total site commissioning activities, to put in place the manufacturing operations, manpower structure and management systems to benchmark factory performance with European beet sugar standards, and to mentor and lead the… Show more Recruited to the position of Factory Manager by Nile Sugar in August 2009, to drive all erection contractors and accelerate construction activities to reach critical March 2010 commissioning deadline in a EGP1.4Bn (US$255M) green-field project, to take responsibility for total site commissioning activities, to put in place the manufacturing operations, manpower structure and management systems to benchmark factory performance with European beet sugar standards, and to mentor and lead the manufacturing team to exceed Egyptian sugar industry performance norms. In the first Campaign, the factory team were driven to achieve status as top performing factory (sugar % beet) in Egypt, followed by a successful completion of a first short Refining season with 75 000 tonnes of Brazilian VHP at a season daily average of 1 050 tonnes per day. The second beet campaign has exceeded the contractual performance in all areas whereby the factory throughput (nominally 7 000 tonnes beet per day) has been pushed to 8 500 tonnes, and daily sugar output has reached 1 300 tonnes. I led the company to achieve accreditation to ISO 9001 in April 2011 (for Sugar, Molasses and Animal Feed) and accreditation to FSSC 22000:2010, whereby Nile Sugar is now considered the supplier of choice to industrial customers in Egypt and is a preferred supplier to PepsiCo and Coca Cola brands. In 2012 calendar year, the Factory team broke all previous production and efficiency records and produced 320,000 tonnes of high quality granulated white sugar. An expansion programme to 10 500 tonnes daily beet capacity, designed by me, is underway. Show less

Employed by SiVEST SA (PTY) Ltd., Project Management Division in the role of Project Manager – Factory, to lead cane sugar factory construction and commissioning activities as part of an overall SiVEST Project Management Team of 20 local and expatriate site based staff in ZAR1.69B (US$180M) expansion of Illovo Sugar’s Nakambala plant from 320 to 640 TCH incorporating new 160 t/hr bagasse fired boiler, 30MW T/A, DeSmet 320 TCH diffuser, CVPs, Kestner evaporators and other cane sugar production… Show more Employed by SiVEST SA (PTY) Ltd., Project Management Division in the role of Project Manager – Factory, to lead cane sugar factory construction and commissioning activities as part of an overall SiVEST Project Management Team of 20 local and expatriate site based staff in ZAR1.69B (US$180M) expansion of Illovo Sugar’s Nakambala plant from 320 to 640 TCH incorporating new 160 t/hr bagasse fired boiler, 30MW T/A, DeSmet 320 TCH diffuser, CVPs, Kestner evaporators and other cane sugar production, storage, and despatch infrastructure and capacity improvements. My role was to oversee foreign and local project equipment and sundries procurement, supply chain logistics, contracts administration, supplier payments, site construction, erection and plant commissioning activities (through 4 construction managers), and the direction of international contracting and consulting companies employing 1 500 local and 350 expatriate project staff (figures include Agriculture) to meet the Client’s requirements. Delivered the project on time, and met all Client’s production requirements. Show less

Employed by Booker Tate in the role of Factory Manager – assumed responsibility for all production and engineering activities and estate civil construction works and maintenance at a rehabilitated (1994), Government owned, US$ 60 M pa turnover, profitable, cane sugar factory producing 56 000 tonnes mill white sugar per annum for predominantly in-country consumption. Led the engineering team that commissioned the de-bottlenecking project which raised production to 65 000 tonnes in financial year… Show more Employed by Booker Tate in the role of Factory Manager – assumed responsibility for all production and engineering activities and estate civil construction works and maintenance at a rehabilitated (1994), Government owned, US$ 60 M pa turnover, profitable, cane sugar factory producing 56 000 tonnes mill white sugar per annum for predominantly in-country consumption. Led the engineering team that commissioned the de-bottlenecking project which raised production to 65 000 tonnes in financial year ending June 2005. After Privatisation of the company, I was employed by new corporate managers, SMC Ltd. Mauritius, in the role of Factory Manager, as well as leading the new (private) Owner’s technical team for the US$ 45 M expansion plan implementation to 150 000 tpa. Additonally, I acted as the General Manager in his absence. Consistently delivered all my production, financial and management targets. Show less