Info on David Carlisle....
Read the info on Carlisle below...once you have read it you have to ask yourself how many possible contacts does this guy have at high levels in the industry..? He appears to be very connected....I ask myself, "Torvecian, how does a guy like this end up on the board at Torvec at this particular time?"
fyi...this is just part of the info I got off of Torvec's web site ....
Relevant Areas Of David Carlisle's Experience
The type of work that I have done includes the following — note that in most instances the work is still highly confidential (we generally sign annual non-disclosure agreements with specific companies) and I am unable to link the specific client to the type of work.
Market Entry Planning — I have worked with several companies to develop their ‘blueprints' for doing business in the U.S. market — these are called market entry plans. These plans are comprehensive and represent a "how to" manual for conducting manufacturing/distribution operations in the United States. Elements of the plan typically include product positioning, sales and marketing strategy, pricing strategy and sales, forecasts, sales process, dealer network definition and management, logistics and vehicle distribution, service, parts, in-house vs. third-party assessment, organizational structure, executive office administration, launch economics, project management and implementation planning, product regulatory issues, and company regulatory issues. I have even been involved in market entry planning for various marques that did not enter the U.S. market after they reached various "no-go" checkpoints in the launch evaluation process. As a part of these efforts I have visited most of the U.S. ports of entry for bringing in motor vehicles.
Product and Division Launch Planning — I have assisted motor vehicle companies in launching new products (for example, a new sedan) or new divisions (for example, a new luxury car division). Launching a new division can require a level of effort similar to a complete market entry plan, whereas launching a new product might only require the development of a business plan and implementation work plan.
North American Service Parts Conference (NASPC) and European Aftermarket Conference (EAC) — I have accumulated through my company (Carlisle & Company, Inc.) 12 years of industry comparative metrics and fully documented best practices (and some worst practices) for over 20 companies in N.A., encompassing nearly 150 facilities, with over 100 metrics on each facility, and another 100+ metrics at the "corporate" level. Our database ranges from company-wide supply chain cost-of-sales, to square feet of dock space at specific warehouses. We also have similar data and detail for all the major European OEs. We leverage our extensive industry contacts to provide highly focused, "content rich", benchmarking services, employing the APQC Benchmarking Code of Conduct. The idea is to develop an extremely clear understanding of all aspects of the service parts business. How do different companies approach different business problems? What are the results in clearly comparable numbers? What are the IT, process, staffing, and organizational implications? Recent service parts benchmarking studies include: salaried staff — numbers and structure, vintage-car parts retention policies, parts pricing notification processes, terms and conditions, weekend order processing, returns policies, recall parts policies, inventory management policies, glass fulfillment, and accessories organization/strategies/practices.
Marketing — I have directed work focused on understanding market share and the impact of sales and marketing strategies. As a consequence of this work, I have reviewed dealer and customer-based market research that involved thousands of surveys to quantify the factors contributing to customer satisfaction and purchase behavior.
Global Software Development Advisory Council — I have worked with one of the largest software manufacturers in the world, on a highly select customer advisory council. The mission of this advisory council is to assess future trends, identify best practices, and guide the development of future service parts software solutions. Our client has formed several advisory councils in the past around other industries — typically third parties and consultants are not allowed into these forums.
Brand Equity — I have been involved in developing brand equity strategies for several OEMs. For one OEM, I led the internal brand equity task force that developed the brand product positioning strategies that have been in place for the past 5 years. For another OEM, I was part of a strategy team that refocused an ailing division based on close attention to a future vision of product brand equity. For others, I have helped reshape their brand equity strategies to become the seed from which other distribution, logistics, and pricing strategies are born.
OEM Focus Groups & Roundtables — I have facilitated dozens of focus groups, within OEMs and across OEMs, that brought together hundreds, if not thousands, of OEM employees to discuss matters of attitude, policy, and procedure.
Supplier Focus Groups — I have facilitated supplier focus groups that brought together numerous OE suppliers to discuss a broad array of issues.
Pricing — For the past decade, I have been intimately involved in developing strategies and enabling systems/processes for OEMs in parts and accessory pricing, and vehicle pricing. I led the efforts to develop these processes and strategies for one of the largest global OEMs. This OEM still has in place much the same processes we put in place in the mid-1990s, and refined in 2001.
Distribution Benchmarking — I have been involved in several vehicle distribution benchmarking efforts that encompassed global operations in North America, South America, Asia Pacific, and Europe. Almost all of my clients have either sponsored a benchmarking project or participated in one.
Production Logistics Strategy — I have worked in various projects that developed distribution strategies for the U.S. These strategies encompassed analysis of port-of-entry, port processing, rail distribution, and truck transportation of vehicles to dealers.
Service Parts Distribution Strategy — I have worked with a number of OEM service parts divisions in determining/optimizing their supply chain networks. This includes modeling and quantifying various product flows, warehouse quantities, locations, and sizes, and inventory management philosophies. A number of my clients have significantly modified their logistics networks based upon our recommendations.
Transfer Price Analysis — I performed an analysis for one of the leading OEMs to address its current transfer price arrangement between the U.S. and Canada in terms of selling parts back and forth between the U.S. and Canadian Service Parts Divisions. This study considered the services conducted by each division on behalf of the other. By investigating financial returns for comparable public companies performing similar services, we determined a fair "arms-length" transfer price mechanism to support sales between the two divisions.
Acquisition Analysis — I performed an acquisition analysis focused on an East Coast port processor that took into account all major facets of the port processor's processing operations as well as its geographic position for future sales growth.
Management/Business Auditing — I have provided management and business auditing services for nearly two decades. In general terms, the purpose of these audits has been to determine if company performance outcomes and management practices are within acceptable industry norms.
Sales Strategies and Visioning — I have been involved with a key Asian account for the past 11 years in preparing annual business plan strategies, visions, and initiative updates. These business strategies are then turned into annual Sales Force training curricula. As a consequence of these activities, I have been continually involved in activities that pertain to vehicle ordering, allocation, forecasting, wholesaling, and distribution.
"Project Genesis" Future of the Retail Environment — In the midst of the trend towards dealer consolidation and the forming of public entities, I led a 2-year effort focused on understanding where the U.S. retail environment was heading. This considered key trends in consolidation, taking retail groups public, wholesaling, retailing, order-to-delivery, and the use of the Internet by end-customers.
Ordering & Allocation Benchmarking — Several times during my career, I have been involved in benchmarking current practices in OEM vehicle forecasting, ordering, and allocation.
Vehicle Leasing Strategies — I have been involved in developing vehicle leasing strategies for OEMs; I have also assisted a large leasing company in refining its vehicle leasing portfolio.
Dealer Attitudes and Satisfaction — I have been involved with Carlisle & Company's product development and launch of various satisfaction survues here and in Eueope. These annual surveys measure U.S. dealer satisfaction along more than 200 areas of interest, encompassing more than 8,000 dealers, and representing approximately 15 different OEMs.
Service-Customer Needs and Attitudes — I have directed work that has involved surveying, as well as reviewing market research, for dozens, to hundreds, to thousands of OEM dealer customers. These surveys gauged customer satisfaction and understanding along a broad array of issues affecting them in the dealer and aftermarket environment.
Customer Retention Strategies — I have directed work with various OEMs that focused on increasing customer retention in their new car showroom and dealer service shops. This work has included extensive customer research, benchmarking, and analysis. The output of this work includes strategy visioning, gap analysis, cost/benefit analysis, and program plans.
Sales Growth Strategies — My work with various clients has focused on increasing sales through a variety of strategic levers, including terms and conditions, pricing, operational effectiveness, and policy changes. As is typical of all our strategy work, we bring extensive customer research into the customer-requirements phase of strategy development.
Dealer Focus Groups — I have facilitated numerous dealer focus groups that brought together hundreds of dealers to discuss how their business works, how they react to certain products or concepts, what they think about their brand, what they think about various policies, as well as myriad other issues.
Customer Focus Groups — I have facilitated and managed customer focus groups that brought together hundreds of customers to discuss what they think about vehicle product and support issues.
