I passed my CIMA exams in 1977, when I was 20.

I completed my training at Plessey Electronics, where I worked in all parts of the business – gaining experience on what were brand new products at the time, such as the fax machine, optical character reading and the answerphone.

I co-founded ATS in 1986. In essence, ATS deploys technology solutions, such as industrial or process automation, in order to improve manufacturing processes in terms of efficiency and product quality.

Outside the manufacturing industry, ATS runs pure automation projects in areas such as airport baggage handling lines and water management systems – anything that moves can be automated. We have helped Carlsberg increase sales by 1.5 per cent.

How? By enabling them to remove detailed planning and scheduling processes – because planning for changes in market demand for beer can be impossible – and react directly to changes in demand. To achieve this you need real-time information on customer orders.

This is often in place via a system such as SAP. But on the other side – the filling, kegging and bottling lines – real-time information is not available.

By installing direct sensors onto these production lines we could gather relevant data and pass the order information from SAP down to the factory floor – how much beer needs to be made, when it needs to be ready – and monitor the entire process in real time.

This means that if a Carlsberg representative is in the field and needs to react to Tesco’s question about when it can receive more beer, the salesperson can see immediately whether there is capacity to meet the request – and give an immediate answer.

This system has led to an increase in gross margins for Carlsberg of 1.2 per cent. The main benefit of my CIMA background comes through on the larger projects I work on. I know how to steer these projects through the CAPEX process, for example.

Understanding the numbers gives me a huge advantage because I can support the financial business case and present it effectively.

• Please note that in the ‘I work at…’ column in the October edition of FM, Chee Kin Tang of The World Bank was quoted as saying: “Our interventions in Argentina may not be as large, but they are no less important.” This should have read: “Our interventions in smaller countries may not be as large, but they are no less important.” The World Bank is heavily involved in Argentina.