Cranfield School of Management

Alan is Visiting Professor in International Supply Chain Management at Cranfield’s Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management and is also Vice-President for Supply Chain Innovation at the International Consultancy Solving International. He is President of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport and Chairman of the European Logistics Users Providers and Enablers Group (ELUPEG).

Alan was educated at St Catherine's College, Oxford, Leicester School of Management and Cranfield School of Management. Following a number of years in production line management and management services, Alan moved into management consultancy and has spent over 30 years working on logistics and supply chain consultancy assignments with manufacturers, retailers and logistics service providers over a wide range of industries across Europe, North America and the Middle and Far East, covering strategy development through to implementation of change.

Alan was Senior Logistics Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers and retired from the partnership in January 2002, having set up and Directed the Milton Keynes Office, led the Global Logistics Consultancy Practice, established and Directed Global Manufacturing Industry Consulting over 34 Countries and having Directed Supply Chain Consulting for the EMEA Region. Alan joined Solving International in 2002.

During this period, Alan has also been active in developing new initiatives for the education and training of logistics professionals, and in addition to lecturing posts at Leicester and Warwick University Business Schools, was the Founder and first Director of the Distribution Studies Unit at Cranfield, now the Cranfield Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management, and in 1980 established and directed the world's first Masters programme in Logistics. Alan again directed the Centre for two years on a part time basis between 1997 and 1999 whilst retaining his role as a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers. In addition to his professorship he is also President of the Cranfield Logistics Alumni Network. He also teaches on Masters Programmes and Executive Programmes in Supply Chain Management at a number of European Universities, including Cranfield School of Management, Manchester Business School, and Gent/Louvain Business School. Alan also runs Board-level workshops for International Manufacturing, Retailing and Logistics businesses.

Alan is a Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute, the Institute of Management Services, the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, the Chartered Institute of Management Consultants and the Fellowship for Operational Research. He was additionally a Fellow and examiner of the Chartered Institute of Transport, and was Chairman of its Education Committee and the Faculty of Freight. He is also founder and Chairman of the Logistics Directors' Forum of the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, was Chairman of the Institute and is currently UK National President and International Vice President.

He was also for many years the Chairman and subsequently Director of the European Council on Global Supply Chain of The Conference Board in Brussels, and was also the founder and Director of the European Council on Customer Strategy.

In 2003 Alan founded the European Logistics Users, Providers and Enablers Group (ELUPEG), to bring together all European Supply Chain players to work together collaboratively to improve the performance of logistics across Europe. He is now Chairman of ELUPEG, which is a not-for-profit member of the European Logistics Association, involving over 500 individuals from a cross-section of pan-European businesses who participate in action-based projects.

In 2007 Alan was appointed to the European Leadership team of The Supply Chain Council, the International not-for-profit organisation responsible for developing and rolling out the SCOR model into Industry. He is a Freeman of the City of London and a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Carmen. Alan is a Trustee of Transaid, the Charity for 'Transport for Life' in Africa, and also serves on the Advisory Board of In-Kind Direct, the charity that diverts surplus or imperfect goods destined for landfill, to good use by other charities. In 1998 he was awarded the Sir Robert Lawrence Gold Medal for his contribution to logistics. In 2006 he was awarded an OBE for his services to Logistics. Alan speaks at many events particularly across Europe but also in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Australia, New Zealand, Africa, China, Singapore, Japan and the Middle East, and has numerous publications in supply chain, logistics and related subjects. Alan's work focuses on supply chain strategic development and implementation, and in addition to his consultancy work in all parts of the world he also facilitates Board workshops around the strategic contribution of supply chain to business growth and cost-effective performance.