Barbara Wilson – Editor

​I run my own editing business, providing development editing, copyediting and proofreading services to various publishers, independent authors and businesses.

I edited academic papers, conference material, business proposals, marketing material, presentations and training packs.

I joined the operations function as a Consultant when the company was still small and based mainly in the UK. As the company grew geographically (France, Germany, Benelux, Nordic and the US) I progressed through the various operational roles to Senior Project Manager. I worked on many projects across Europe in operations before transferring to the analysis function as Business Analyst and later becoming European Resourcing Manager.

I was responsible for delivering sustainable improvement projects in the automotive, chemical, FMCG, food, energy and manufacturing sectors.

Methodologies used included Supply Chain Management, Organisational Effectiveness (OE), New Product Development (NPD), Asset Management, Total Quality Management (TQM), Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Design for Manufacture (DFM), Six Sigma and Lean Manufacturing (including Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen, Kanban, Poka-Yoke, 5S, Just-in-time, Level Scheduling, 'Takt' time and SMED - single minute exchange of die).

I developed methods of eliciting and representing knowledge for the generation of expert systems. This was a collaborative research project run by Strathclyde University's Operational Research department and YARD (Yarrow Admiralty Research Department) marine engineering and naval architecture consultancy. The research also involved working with medical staff at Glasgow's Western Infirmary to build a knowledge model relating to renal failure diagnosis. This was done using cognitive mapping techniques.

I implemented Statistical Process Control methodologies to manage quality in the manufacture of seamless tubes and casing pipes for the oil and gas industry.