Senior Lead Consultant,
Bio Data: Patrick D'HELFT

Patrick D’HELFT, M.L., M.B.A., FCIArb., AIEMA, born in Belgium in 1954, is a senior manufacturing & sales consultant in the aluminium industry. He is a highly experienced International Company Director and Managing Director. He is the founder and Managing Director of  AluTube, the leading solution provider for extruded and drawn aluminium tube products. He has spent nearly 20 years in the industry as Managing Director of aluminium extrusion plants (tube & profile), and thereafter as Consultant. His work encompasses the full range of competencies, both technical and managerial, particularly in relation to: -Plant management -Sales and Marketing (business to business) -Process design and optimisation -Change Management (company re-organisation, acquisitions,  and closures) -Developing and Implementing corporate programs (including budgets and objectives) -Environmental Management (consulting and remediation) -People Management (including industrial relations) -Research and Development

Education & Skills Summary

As a native Flemish speaker, he is also fluent in French, English and German. Patrick strongly believes that to achieve success, measurable business objectives are essential. He is a graduate of the Crosby “Quality College”, (was “measurement” step sponsor for Reynolds Europe) and implemented TQM into the production process at Wexal International Ltd. and in Reynolds Thermal Components.  He is an Associate Environmental Auditor having successfully completed the examinations set by the Institute of Environmental Management & Assessment. He has also completed courses in Strategic Management, Production Management, People Management, HR, Health & Safety, Theory of Constraints, SPC, Valeo VPS, 5S, AutoQuality, Kanban, 3D statistics, JIT and successfully implemented many of these systems in production. Patrick also has exceptional IT skills, both managerial and technical. He is highly proficient in the full range of Office modules - MS Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Project, etc.  He was trained in 1976 as a Fortran 4plus system analyst. He is a regular participant in different management courses including change management, strategic management, production management, HR, Quality Systems, Modern Costing Systems.

Other Achievements

Patrick was accepted as a Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 2004 and subsequently completed The Chartered Institute of Arbitrators – Irish Branch, Mediation Course in November 2004.

 He was, for the period 1997-1998 one of the six members (also the youngest member) of the Reynolds Metals Europe “Change Management Team”.

He was the motivator and very personally involved in:         Preparing for and obtaining for Wexal International Limited

•  ISO 9000 (believed to be the first aluminium extruder to obtain)
•  QS 9000 in 1998
• ISO 14000 in 2000
• Top quality rating by some major automotive companies
• Integrated Pollution Control licence
• Marketing and sales to the automotive industry, including frequent trips to most continents.
• Product development, stand alone and jointly with automotive customers
• Health & Safety improvements (incl. Leading by example).
• He was the main co-ordinator of the “Environmental Remediation Plan” and the “Residual Management Plan” between Wexal International Limited, the local authorities, concerned parties and the Alcoa environmental team.

Patrick is holder of a certificate for international haulage.

He is a regular guest speaker for different organisations onchange management, management techniques, industry and the environment, international trade.

Career Retrospective

Patrick D’Helft’s career comprises of the following:

1977-1979: Practiced as a Solicitor in Belgium

1978-1980: Manager of Consumerism & Legal Affairs for N.V. Zwan (part of Unilever), Schoten, Belgium

1979-1988: Lector in Law (part time), Third level evening courses.

1981-1991: Founder and Managing Director of Management Advice Group PDH, PVBA in Belgium, a (crisis) management consultancy company

1980-1988: Managing Director and General Manager of a group of steel construction and steel stockist companies in Belgium.

1988-2001: Managing Director of Wexal International based in Enniscorthy, Ireland,  Managing Director of the Heat Exchanger Group of Reynolds International, Director of a Japanese Joint Venture of Reynolds (which jobs he combined).

2001-2002: Managing Director of Alcoa Extrusion Holland (Roermond).

2001-now: International consultant to the extrusion and automotive component industries

Patrick is also the founder of Management Advice Group PDH Limited, which specialises in arbitration, mediation, environmental management & management consultancy.  The company has a broad international customer base.

Personal interests & Hobbies

Service Clubs: Charter President Rotary Club Enniscorthy (Irl), Past-President Rotaract Brugge (B), senior member Round Table Knokke-Heist (B) & Round Table Wexford (Irl), member 41 Clubs of Wexford & Knokke-Heist.

He is a shooting member of the Royal Head Guild Sint-Sebastiaan Brugge.

He also enjoys farming animals (horses and sheep), longbow shooting, flying (holder of theoretical PPL), mechanics, hunting, vintage cars and nature.

Areas of Expertise

Management Consultancy

Translation

Arbitration and Mediation

Environmental Services