Contact Our Team

  

Rod Smith has worked for The Duha Group for over 40 years holding positions as Plant GM, Logistics Manager, Director of Human Resource, Director of Operations and currently Director of The Duha Center of Excellence. His primary focus is to achieve standardization and balancing across the global supply chain both within the Duha facilities and between their suppliers and customers. His team of eight coaches, support Continuous Improvement demand from many regions within a variety of industries.

Rod has been a student of Continuous Improvement culture for over 20 years, and holds a Master Black Belt certification in organizational Continuous Improvement implementation and facilitation, which included an extended period studying techniques in Japan and other areas of the world. Rod has been the driving force behind the Continuous Improvement transformation at the Duha Group and its Passport to World to Excellence program. His extensive career has enabled him to facilitate Continuous Improvement events in each of the Duha Group’s eight facilities worldwide.

These experiences have allowed Rod to understand many of the challenges organizations face when attempting to implement Continuous Improvement management philosophies in different environments/cultures from both a shop floor and office/administrative perspective. In his role as Director of Organizational Excellence developing the external branch of the Duha Center of Excellence, Rod has had the opportunity to work off-site with many partners and customers, which has strengthened his understanding of how Continuous Improvement initiatives can be implemented in any organization.

Rod has had the opportunity to train over 5000 practitioners in over 160 companies within many different industries. In 2007 alongside two colleagues, Rod developed and organized the first annual National Kaizen Conference which has been held every year since, showcasing the stories of over 75 Companies and their successes through Continuous Improvement strategies.

 

Fontana Coy has been a Master Black Belt team member of the Duha Group for over 9 years and works in the Duha Center of Excellence as a Operations Excellence Partner. She is a certified PROSCI Change Practitioner, holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from the Asper School of Business majoring in International Business and Logistics/Supply chain and Business Administration Diploma from Red River College. She brings over 20 years’ experience in Customer Service and 5 years’ experience in Distribution/Marketing/Sales. Recently she has expanded her Continuous Improvement (C.I.) capabilities into the Agile model holding her Certified Agile Leadership (CAL) Essentials (E) and for Organizations (O).

As a nationally certified Fitness Instructor, Personal Trainer and 200 RYT Yoga Instructor she shares her passion for health and wellness with both charitable and non-charitable organizations in her spare time.

With Rod Smith (Master Black Belt) as a direct mentor, Fontana has earned her Master Black belt certification. She has lead over 45 external companies on the start of their Continuous Improvement journey with Opportunity Identification exercises (Value Stream Maps, SWOT’s, and Kaizen’s) as well as Visual Management Systems, CI Training Programs and Standard Operating Procedures. She is also our primary Yellow Belt facilitator for Communication Skills and Green Belt facilitator for Facilitation Skills. Fontana has presented her message of Continuous Improvement at multiple AME and QNET Conferences.

         

Mark is the newest member of the Duha Center of Excellence team and has over 20 years of hands on experience in manufacturing with specific training in the TCCS Toyota Production System and Canadian Manufactures & Exporters continuous improvement program. He has spent the last ten years at Russel Metals as part of the leadership team implementing continuous improvement and health and safety initiatives within the organization.

Through work and life experiences and after completing his Operations Management Diploma and Certified Life & Executive Coach Training, Mark has found a strong passion in motivating, coaching and empowering leaders and individuals. He is a strong believer in personal development and as a Big Brother with Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Manitoba he is always looking for ways to become a great role model by influencing people in a positive way. He has been active in the Winnipeg soccer community, as a coach and manager and through these experiences has developed strong verbal, team-leading and motivational skills.

Mark has successfully implemented a continuous improvement culture in two companies and his expertise is requested at many others. He has trained hundreds, from office to shop floor employees as well as people in the service and medical industries, on continuous improvement principles. He has also been a presenter at the QNET Excellence Conference and the Dare to Compete conference with Canadian Manufactures & Exporters (CME) on the topic of Lean Office and Change Management.

 

Andrew Doherty brings over 18 years of multi-industry experience to The Duha Group by serving in senior management leadership roles with various organizations and through acting as a coach to support organizations in developing their continuous improvement programs. Andrew has hands-on experience in manufacturing, distribution, energy, food, retail, and health care. His end-to-end knowledge of how organizations operate has been developed with deep exposure to supply chain management, new product development, change management, and manufacturing process design; this breadth of experience has enabled him to be an effective builder of continuous improvement programs that deliver results and are sustainable.

Andrew is an Industrial Engineer, graduating from the Dalhousie program (2002). He is currently a Board Director with the Alberta Chapter of the International Society of Sustainability Professionals (ISSP). Andrew is passionate about “making things better” and helping people/organizations become more successful than they ever thought possible. His forte is facilitating organizations to sync the processes involved in the flows/interdependencies between people, information, material, equipment, and/or tools. In many of the organizations that Andrew has worked with, the key outcome has been the unlocking of available capacity which has delivered significant bottom line results.

As a father of 4 kids, Andrew has realized the importance of process to make life easier! Most of Andrew’s personal time is spent being involved in his kids’ sporting activities whether it is coaching hockey and soccer, or serving on the Board for the Sherwood Park Figure Skating Club. Born and raised on Prince Edward Island - Andrew and his wife, Katie, moved in 2002 to Sherwood Park, Alberta in which they now call home.

Currently at with the DCOE Andrew holds a Master Black Belt Certificate and is the Continuous Improvement Coach, training internal and external students as well as implementing sustainable CI programs in customer organizations.

 

                                  

Martin is a member of the Duha Center of Excellence team and has over 12 years’ experience in different Industries (Retail, Transportation, Manufacturing and Customer Service). He holds a College Degree in Business Management from Germany and has worked in Leadership Roles such a Supervisor and Manager for a variety of Companies in Germany and Canada (since 2008).

Martin has started his Continuous Improvement (CI) Journey in 2010 with the CME and later the Arizona State University. He is certified in Lean Six Sigma (Green Belt) and Innovation Engineering (Green Belt) and achieved the Black Belt Certification with Duha. Martin has coached and implemented CI in different Companies and functioned as the Chair for the Continuous Improvement Steering Committee (CISC) for a major Recreational Vehicle Supplier in Manitoba.

 Martin has been a speaker for the Innovation Engineering Pilot project in Canada, presenting the rapid innovation technique to Business Owners at a conference in Winnipeg.

 Currently he trains internal and external employees in the tools of Continuous Improvement and helps to implement sustainable tools in a variety of different Companies. With his manufacturing background and certification in Safe Leadership (Made Safe Manitoba) and Safeguarding of Machines (Workplace Engineering Solutions) he can assist with Safety Implementations and Compliance questions as well.

 In his free time Martin serves as a soccer coach and Board Member for the Pembina Valley League in Manitoba. During winter season he spends time at the Hockey arena to cheer on his kids.

 

 

Ric Ptak has almost 40 years experience in manufacturing. He began his career as a journeyman cabinetmaker then transitioned into leadership as plant manager of a large millwork shop with 75 employees, which also housed electrical and metal departments. He was instrumental in helping the company implement its ERP system; in helping the company achieve COR Certification (Certificate of Recognition – verifying Occupational Health and Safety Programs that meet National Standards), and engaging team members in implementing numerous innovations and improvements that made the firm more efficient, effective and profitable.

Ric became a DCOE certified Master Black Belt Trainer while working with FPInnovations (the world’s largest forest industry research institute), as an Industry Advisor for the past 11 years. He has introduced numerous manufacturers to DCOE’s array of tools for identifying and eliminating waste, and identifying and acting on opportunities for continuous – and sustainable – improvement. His guiding purpose is to help client companies reduce costs and maximize profit – while creating a safer, more productive, and more engaging and collaborative work environment.

Based in Halifax, Ric now brings his wealth of knowledge, skill and experience to manufacturers in all industries across Atlantic Canada. He provides a wide range of services to manufacturers who want to eliminate bottle necks, shorten lead times, prevent equipment downtime, and improve employee engagement, safety and quality of leadership, across the board.

His services range from inexpensive Opportunity Identification Assessments – that pinpoint your most costly pain points, along with best opportunities to make improvements that can be implemented rapidly and are most likely to show measurable results – to training in all key aspects of CI, including Value Stream Mapping, SWOT Analysis, Kaizen (brainstorming and problem-solving exercises), Key Performance Indicator Tracking, Visual Management Systems, Huddle Systems, and Mentoring and Leadership. He can also help with equipment selection and plant floor layouts to improve workflow.