Jim Matthews Email & Phone Number

Canada And Usa

As an executive advisor, educator and coach for the past 11 years, I have had the opportunity to offer guidance and consulting support in Integrated Business Planning (Advanced S&OP), Demand Management, CPFR® (Collaborative Planning, Forecasting and Replenishment) and the extended supply chain. Using the “Proven Path” methodology, my teams and I have helped numerous clients achieve their objectives and ensure their gains are sustained. With the foundation of IBP, my core focus for current and prospective clients consists of strategy execution, operational alignment and targeted business improvement. For the executive team this means less time managing lower level operational issues and instead focusing on the bigger, forward looking elements that will enable the company to more fully differentiate and win.

Waterloo, Ontario

Before becoming a Business Advisor at Oliver Wight, many of the core principles I practice today were applied in helping Blackberry become more efficient and operationally in control. By driving the demand process to the Oliver Wight Class A model (best practice IBP), we were able to: - Achieve over $240M in downstream channel inventory reductions- Forecast accuracy improvement of 83% - Preserved cash ($100M's) - during the downturn

Waterloo, Ontario

Responsible for leading a comprehensive revamp of the front end IT and business process solution. My primary objectives were to streamline the implementation of key technological solutions, improve the structure and productivity of the customer experience and improve the front end of the supply chain. Some of the initial technological changes involved: the selection, design and implementation of a new demand management system (DP from APO/SAP suite), order management (E2Open), customer portal (E2Open) and B2B/EDI capability. Additionally, through partnership with the Supply Chain organization, my team and I helped create a revolutionized end-to-end value chain solution, known as Value Chain Express. Overall, these initiatives were instrumental in realizing the business improvements listed above, most notably a major improvement in cash position as our market turned very volatile.

At Storeimage, I was able to focus on margin expansion and simplifying the overall operational process (customer facing teams, operations, 2 factories and 4 warehouses). From the alignment of objectives between the customer facing account owners and operational leaders, we were able to streamline the communication and service delivery of products and services, leading to a 37% reduction of on-site installment costs. Spearheaded a broad continuous improvement program that targeted zero based budgeting and established clear accountability throughout the teams. This people and process focused agenda resulted in a 25% increase in capacity on a fixed cost base that was 15% lower than the previous model. Additionally, numerous inefficiencies were identified in the warehouses, which led to the consolidation of 4 locations into 2, reducing overall warehousing costs by 28%.

After the dotcom crash of 2001, the EMS industry was severely shaken and forced to find new ways to compete. As the GM of the Americas Business Office, I was able to focus on the strategy aspect of the business to help the company succeed in this now highly competitive field. One of my primary initiatives was leading the site general managers and customer leaders to create a customer P&L process. This resulted in targeting services, along with supply and operational action plans. From these efforts, we realized a profit improvement of $12M, while increasing customer satisfaction by 8% on strategic accounts. I also took a lead role in architecting the revision of our America`s business strategy. This involved the assessment of current and emerging markets, determining value proposition strength, testing the customer base, and the creation of strategic transition plans. Suitable accounts were transferred to low cost geographies, while the manufacturing footprint and supply chain were fully rationalized.

Shortly after Celestica’s IPO in 1998, I was very excited to be part of one of the fastest growing EMS companies in the industry. At this time, I was the division lead responsible for the P&L, supply chain planning, purchasing, manufacturing, process engineering and test engineering. Given the rapid expansion, one of the most critical aspects for me was to maintain the importance of building and improving customer relationships. Over four years, my team and I were able to turn around the division, while serving growing customer lines of business globally. The most significant impact of these changes included:- Revenue quadrupling to $400M, with the turn-around of an initial operating loss into double digit EBITDA profit- Customer satisfaction increasing from 31% to 97%In order to accomplish this, we started with rebuilding the management team and embracing a customer focused culture and service model. This involved the restoration of seriously damaged customer relationships through: fact based dialogue, six sigma (DMAIC) problem solving methodology and by investing in customer facing staff and business processes. In doing this, we were able to fix the commitment process to the point where on-time delivery went from 73% to 99.3%.

Department manager responsible for pricing and costing strategy and service delivery

Part of team of 4 responsible for Celestic M&A. Specialty in integration

Mba, Business Development, Operations

Honours Commerce

Engineeering Diploma, Energy Systems Engineering