Collectively, the founders and senior consultants at Global Operations Solutions have spent more than 100 years optimizing manufacturing around the world -- analyzing business to leverage key competitive abilities and, more to the point, to absolutely ensure that client companies are stepping smartly into the future and not onto a major corporate banana peel.

Bob Anastasi

Bob Anastasi is a seasoned operations and business development professional with a record of accomplishment in establishing successful strategic direction for global high technology manufacturing companies.

Over more than 25 years, as Engineering Vice President, General Manager, and acting Chief Operating Officer at leading semiconductor capital equipment companies, he has focused on developing and implementing cutting edge manufacturing principles, leveraging constantly changing global enterprise strategies to improve quality, enhancing customer relationship management, speeding and optimizing product development, and streamlining manufacturing and global supply chain management. Bob has also developed and implemented several highly successful business expansion projects in Europe, Mexico, and Asia throughout his career.

Bob was recently EVP/GM - Global Manufacturing at Brooks Automation, a wafer handling tool builder for the semiconductor capital equipment industry. There, he developed and implemented a global manufacturing strategy that enabled Brooks to lower manufacturing costs and reduce time-to-market while enhancing effective manufacturing capacity closer to Brooks' developing customer base in North America and China. In only two years, Bob led the company's successful transition to offshore production while locating, analyzing, and qualifying local supply chain partners in Mexico and China and simultaneously consolidating operations in the U.S. Result: 35% operating cost reduction; improved customer satisfaction; and improved market share for Brooks products.

At Helix Technology Corporation, Bob held overall responsibility for global operations. Under his leadership, Helix successfully deployed best practices in Lean Demand Flow operations; Total Quality Culture; creative Supply Chain Systems; and Concurrent Engineering practices that drove the company's successful performance for over 20 years. Through his leadership, Helix became a recognized pioneer in Lean Short Cycle Time semiconductor capital equipment manufacturing. Bob also led over 25 major acquisition, integration, divestiture, and consolidation/reengineering initiatives that in the aggregate drove Helix' growth from $25M to $300M in annual sales.

Bob has served on the Board of Directors for UCI (Ulvac Cryogenics) in Japan; the Production & Operations Management Society (POMS); and American Management Association (OMA). He has recently served as a director on the MIT Integrated Supply Chain Management Council 2020, geared to understanding future global supply chain trends. He also participated in an executive study mission to learn Japanese production techniques (the Toyota Production System), visiting several leading companies throughout Japan.

Bob earned his undergraduate degree in Engineering from Roger Williams University, Bristol, Rhode Island and has completed all course work toward a Master’s degree in Operations Management from the University of Rhode Island.

Mark Schennum

Mark Schennum is an experienced international executive with expertise in operational improvement, growth, efficiency, and supply chain optimization working closely with CEOs and boards of major global companies to deliver strategic and transformational change. While building strong peer-level executive relationships, he has been leading consulting projects at Fortune 500 companies and delivering major measurable benefits in growth and efficiency to clients in most major sectors.

His wide-ranging experience covers strategy, operations improvement, supply chain, new product development, post-merger integration, and transformational outsourcing. He received his MBA from London Business School. Prior to consulting, he was Managing Director of a UK Aerospace and Defense company and main board director of the parent plc. He has lived and worked in Europe and the USA, and has achieved success across multiple cultures and global operations.

From 2005 to 2007, Mark was Vice President of The Highland Group, working with that consulting company’s operations leadership team. Prior to that, from 1988 to 2005, he was
Vice President, Capgemini (and predecessor companies – Capgemini Ernst & Young, and Gemini Consulting) – a $7-billion, 60,000 employee, Consulting, Technology and Outsourcing company.

Based in Europe most of the time, Mark worked across five continents. He was a member of Capgemini’s Global leadership team for both Transformational Consulting and Operations and Supply Chain Consulting.

From 1980 to 1987, he was Director of RFD Group plc and Managing Director of GQ Defense Equipment Ltd., an Aerospace and Defense company, making weapons simulators, parachutes, and equipment. He turned around the business through new product innovation and a move into computer-based simulators to train operators of air defense missile systems, achieving rapid growth in turnover and profitability.

Among his key accomplishments:

• In Consumer Goods, for Unilever, Golden Wonder and Reckitt & Benzinger, sold and managed projects to return to growth, recapture market share, and rebuild profitability in food products, detergents, and household products through product innovation, brand management, key account management, and faster and more efficient supply chains. Built pan-European supply chains, optimized distribution networks, focused factories, and improved efficiency.

• Sold and led projects in Retail for Tesco, Somerfield, Boots, Pringle of Scotland, and Kodak, which led to growth and improved profitability through better customer insight and segmentation, improved concept-to-market time, and more efficient and effective store operations and supply chain.

• Worked with Automotive companies, Volkswagen, Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, Cosworth, Ford, T&N, to improve sales, marketing, and new product development processes, accelerating new product introduction, shifting the operating model from build-to-plan to build-to-order, compressing the build cycle time, and cutting costs.

• In Aerospace and Defense, British Aerospace and Aerospatiale, sold and managed projects aimed at reducing cost and improving on-time delivery of aircraft and missile development and construction programs, including collaborative programs with the involvement of multiple organizations as consortium members.

• Led projects with major Life Sciences, Chemicals and Oil Industry Companies, ICI, Courtaulds, Akzo Nobel, Mobil, Aker Kvaerner, and Bayer, to improve efficiency and effectiveness of operations and to build global processes and streamline supply chains. Improved manufacturing efficiency, quality, sales and operations planning, strategic sourcing, and optimized distribution networks.

• Working with Telecommunications companies like British Telecom and O2 Mobile to transform to more competitive models after privatization. Improved efficiency and effectiveness of customer service and support, and devices supply chains.

• Worked with Glacier Vandervell and Brooks Automation to refine manufacturing strategy, plan global strategic sourcing and manufacturing, optimize manufacturing footprint and focus factories, improve delivery performance while reducing cost and inventories.

Post Merger Integration Accomplishments:

• Sold and led project with Tate & Lyle to integrate Amylum after acquisition. Successful re-structuring and new alignment after this integration has allowed Tate & Lyle shares to outperform the market for the first time in many years.

• Corus. Created by the merger of British Steel and Hoogovens Steel of the Netherlands. Worked on various post merger integration projects during extremely tough market conditions in the steel industry to improve efficiencies and customer service across the new business which contributed to a return to profitability as the global market improved.

Transformational Outsourcing:

• TXU. Led delivery of major benefits through outsourcing – In July 2004 Capgemini signed a $3.6-billion outsourcing deal with electric utility TXU. Capgemini would take over TXU’s IT, HR, Accounting, Procurement, Billing and Customer Care, improve the efficiency of these functions, and deliver back to TXU improved service levels at lower cost, while building more effective capabilities to drive further benefits in TXU businesses. As the potential impact of this new business model was considered, TXU’s share price began to climb.

• Government of Scotland - Led the sale, design, and delivery to the Scottish Executive of an innovative, shared, e-procurement service for the public sector in Scotland (‘Procurement Scotland’). Hosted and operated by Capgemini, this is the most comprehensive government sourcing and procurement service worldwide. Shared use by up to 100 public sector bodies in local government, the National Health Service, and central government, it delivers $100s of millions in benefits, and is totally unique. Managing the expectations and agendas of a large and diverse stakeholder community was key to success.

• Syngenta – At the world’s largest agricultural Life Sciences company, a major business transformation program was underway to return the business to growth and profitability after both had stalled in a difficult market. Mark worked on the analysis of the potential of BPO outsourcing to help the Syngenta transformation. This led to Capgemini winning a series of BPO contracts with Syngenta, which contributed to the overall transformation of a return to growth, a return to profit, and a major improvement in share price at Syngenta.

• British Steel – Capgemini’s first $1-billion outsourcing deal was won against competition through a transformational and consulting-focused approach. Mark worked on the sale and on many aspects of the transformation delivery.

B2B exchanges:

• Mark was part of the leadership team that set up and successfully ran a new unit in Capgemini targeting B2B marketplaces. Capgemini became number 1 in B2B according to Forrester and number 1 in ‘e-business vision’ according to Gartner, surpassing all targets. It became the main consultant to a number of consortium exchanges, including Covisint, Elemica, Cordium, Converge, etc. Mark represented the Group at a number of analyst and shareholder conferences.