Oliver Wight Appoint New Consultant from Caterpillar

Business improvement specialists, Oliver Wight EAME have appointed a new consultant for their European operation. Dawn Dent who joins from Caterpillar, is the second new consultant to join the firm in the last month.

Oliver Wight EAME CEO, Les Brookes says, “Dawn has huge global experience on both the demand and supply side of one of the world’s best known manufacturing brands. Her skills are a very valuable asset to our team.”

Dent has spent more than 30 years in industry and says one of the most common characteristics of organisations is their focus on product and people management. “Process management tends to be neglected. To an extent that’s because today’s senior executives have risen up through functionally-structured organisations where you do well if you are a good leader of people or manager of product. But in my experience, those companies that give equal focus to process have a much healthier business as a result; particularly from a structural cost perspective.

During her time at Caterpillar, Dent was responsible for an Oliver Wight Class A programme for Planning and Control and the evolution of the organisation’s global S&OP process into Integrated Business Planning. As global process manager, she took a lead role in the worldwide implementation of the company’s new SAP ERP system. She is also an experienced practitioner of the Oliver Wight Proven Path to business excellence: “Once I’d learned the methodology, I just couldn’t help but use it every day. When you know something works you just naturally apply it,” she says.

Dent has a BA in Modern Languages from Bradford University, and has lived and worked in France and Germany. She speaks French, German and Italian.

Notes to editors

About Oliver Wight

Oliver Wight has a 40 year track record of delivering business improvement to some of the world’s best-known organisations. With a team of professionals offering a wealth of experience, Oliver Wight is the largest consultancy of its type, with offices throughout Europe, North and South America, and the Asia Pacific region. We believe that sustainable business improvement can’t be delivered by external consultants but only by our clients’ own people, so unlike other consultancy firms, we transfer our knowledge to them, helping deliver performance levels and financial results that last.

Oliver Wight are the originators of MRP II and sales and operations planning (S&OP). They also provide:

1. Integrated Business Planning (IBP) – Advanced S&OP

2. Supply Chain Design and Optimization

3. Performance Benchmarking for supply chain