John R Haycock

Director
International Clothing Training & Consultancy Ltd and Glenmount Training Services Ltd

John Haycock gained his degree qualification through the achievement of Associateship of the Clothing & Footwear Institute and also holds qualifications in Management and marketing.

He is a member of the Textile Institute, U.K. and currently holds the position of Chairman of the Northern Ireland Branch of the organization. He is also a member of the Institute of Management and Leadership. Furthermore, he is an Advisor to the Irish Clothing and Textile Employers Association.

Originally trained as an Industrial Engineer, he has more than 20 years experience in the garment manufacturing and textile industries. He has held Senior Management and Executive positions with a number of international companies. He has experience in the production of a wide range of clothing products.

Since 1993 John has been involved in training and consultancy work, mainly in the clothing and textile industrial sectors and at present successfully runs his own company – International Clothing Training & Consultancy Ltd. This is a group of companies delivering training and consultancy services both internationally and in the U.K.

He has developed and delivered a range of training programmes for managers, supervisors and trainers, as well as specialized courses for Industrial Engineers and Sewing Machine Operator Instructors.

John specializes in productivity and quality improvement and during the past 10 years has worked in more than 8 countries assisting with improving the performance of their SMEs. Recent projects include the implementation of productivity improvement programmes for SMEs in Bulgaria and a productivity and quality audit for companies in Viet Nam.

John has had reports published on the Productivity and Training Need for the Garment Manufacturing Sub-Sectors in Lesotho and Botswana.

Gihan Talgodapitiya

Corporate Trainer and Productivity Development Consultant

Gihan Talgodapitiya is a renowned consultant, having over 20 years of experience as a productivity development consultant in Sri Lanka and overseas.

Mr Talgodapitiya gained a MBA from the National University of Singapore. He is a Fellow Member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) U.K. , and an Accredited Administrator of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Apollo Psychometric Tools. Gihan is currently reading for a Doctorate in Business Administration from the Maastricht School of Management (MSM) in the Netherlands . Gihan is internationally recognized having been the recipient of the 1994 Commonwealth Fellowship for International Understanding awarded by the Commonwealth Foundation of the U.K.

Professionally, Gihan is an ILO (International Labour Organization) Expert for the Apparel Factory Improvement Programme (FIP2 and FIP3) in Sri Lanka and the Documentation Development for ILO Global Factories Improvement Programme. He is a specialist consultant for the apparel manufacturing sector and the tea & rubber plantation sector. Additionally, Gihan provides consultancy services on Strategic Planning, Performance Management, Balanced Scorecard and Total Quality Management. Since 1985, Gihan has served over 300 leading Private Sector Organizations, Multi-nationals, Government Agencies and Community Based Organisations in the Asian region in the capacity of a Trainer/ Consultant and/ or Productivity Development Specialist. The clients include Sri Lanka ’s top 100 listed companies, MNCs, Banks, Insurance, Apparel and Plantation companies.

In addition, Gihan is a lecturer for students preparing for examinations of CIMA (Chartered Institute of Management Accountants) U.K. In the last 8 years, Gihan has coached over 2000 students and produced 6 world prize winners.

Keerthi Abeywickrama

Industrial Engineer and Apparel Manufacturing Expert
Chief Technology Officer- Sew Easy (Pvt) Ltd

Keerthi Abeywickrama is the Chief Technology Officer of Sew Easy Pvt Ltd. He is a Management and Technical Consultant carrying out productivity improvement projects in the sewing rooms of the apparel industry, mainly using the computer software for work content measurement.

He studied at Royal Collage, Colombo. Holding a Natural Sciences degree from the University of Colombo, Keerthi Abeywickrama was awarded the gold medal in Management Theory and Practice, for his paper on "Performance Appraisal System." He studied MTM-2 and Management Services at Asia Pacific Research Centre of Singapore and the Institute of Management Services (UK), Sri Lanka Branch respectively.

Keerthi is a Founder Member of the Ergonomics Association and a Member of the Sri Lanka Apparel Institute. He has been a Resource Person at a number of institutes including the Brandix College of Clothing Technology, and Institute of Computer Technology of University of Colombo.

He authored number of articles: How to find time to practice professional industrial engineering, published in August 2005 issue of StitchWorld, India; How to turn an Ordinary Sri Lankan Garment Factory in to World Class Manufacturing Concern - A simple 7 step process, and Seven Myths found in some of the Garment Factories, published in the Garment Times 2003 and 2002, Sri Lanka; Manpower Myopia is the biggest challenge faced by the garment industry, published in the Ceylon Daily News in 2001.

Keerthi has presented number of papers at garment industry seminars. These include “Line Balancing Tips & Tricks for the Garment Industry”, and “Productivity related Computer Applications.”

Amal Fernando

Deputy Chairman – Marketing & Merchandising – Tristar Apparel Exports Pvt Ltd

Amal Fernando is the Deputy Chairman Marketing & Merchandising at the Tristar Apparel Exports Pvt Ltd. He is responsible for the total marketing function of the organization, which includes the selection of buyers, developing Critical Paths for each order and reviewing and monitoring productivity planning, performance, human resource strategy, finance and shipping aspects.

A product of St Joseph ’s College, Amal is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA – UK ). His other professional qualifications include, a Diploma in Accounting & Finance from the College of Business Studies – Bangalore , which is affiliated to the University of Michigan , and a Certificate of Production Planning & Control from the Clothing Industry Training Institute (CITI) in Sri Lanka .

Having commenced his career as a Management Trainee with Insurance & Management Consultants, Amal has worked with the Government Surveyor’s Association as Accounts Assistant; with Flectrosonics as Project Executive; with Noorani Estates Ltd as Accountant; with the Ceylon Fishery Harbours Corporation as Chief Accountant; with Cadillac Garments Ltd and Regency as General Manager; with Regency Garments Pvt Ltd and Rajarata Garments Pvt Ltd as General Manager; with Global Fashions Pvt Ltd as Joint Managing Director, before holding his current position with Tristar Apparel Exports Pvt Ltd.

Amal is also an active Member of Jaycees, having founded the Mutwal/Mattakkuliya Jaycees. He has held the position of Activity Director of the National Board of the Sri Lanka Jaycees. He was presented with the Presidential Award of Excellence for Chapter Management. Amal is proficient in piano and guitar music.