February 3, 2018

AMA Founders & the Team



In 2016, Norm Poynter and Steve Sinkoff, colleagues for over 13 years prior, decided to enter into a joint venture to fulfill a long-term discussion they started when they first met, back in 2005.  For many years, they both discovered that they were driven by helping organizations thrive by empowering the internal teams to succeed, Norm from the consulting side, and Steve, initially from the consulting side, but then from building robust and interactive communities. For many years, they discussed being a customers’ advocate, and to ensure that customers were able to leverage the knowledge and expertise that was available to them. They agree that expertise sometimes comes from many sources, not just one, and through their vast networks, they would be able to bring the very best and competent skills to every engagement. So, they collaborated and started AMA (Asset Management Advocates).

 

Norm Poynter – Co-Founder, Asset Management Advocates (USA) and NLAS Possibilities (Canada)

Connect: LinkedIn Twitter: @normpoynter  Email: norm@normpoynter.com

Norm Poynter is the founder of NLAS Possibilities and the co-founder of Asset Management Advocates (AMA).

Norm is a very skilled, senior management consultant with deep expertise in asset information management, master data governance, best practices, and standards creation.  He has successfully led many projects within oil & gas, chemical, agriculture, utilities, public sector, and others in the areas of turnaround management, re-engineering, process improvements, process safety, data, and governance/management. He has successfully built a comprehensive, world-class EAM team.

Norm focuses on the integration of systems across landscapes to form knowledge execution management systems, asset information management systems, and sustainable groups of core corporate competencies and subject matter (communities of practice). This approach is used to enable standardization, consistency, and productivity through better use of grassroots technologies like SAP.

Norm is a sought-after public speaker and has keynoted many events around the world. He also leads the NLAS/AMA training initiatives.

 

Steve Sinkoff – Co-Founder, Asset Management Advocates (USA) and Go2Learn, LLC.

Connect: LinkedIn Twitter: @ssinkoff  Email: ss@amadvocate.com

Steve is the founder of Go2Learn and the co-founder of Asset Management Advocates (AMA).

For the last 23 years, Steve has been working with asset-intensive businesses dedicated to helping them make sound business decisions.  He began as a VP of Marketing for an SAP EAM Consulting firm specializing in asset-intensive industries, and eventually took over sales and operations.  The firm was purchased by a Big-4 consulting organization.

Steve then founded a global conference production company and built the world’s largest SAP EAM community, bringing together 1000s of SAP EAM users to share experiences and learn from each other. He also built global SAP communities in specific industries around utilities and oil & gas.  This company was acquired by ASUG (Americas SAP User Group).

In 2015, Steve started Go2Learn, a training and conference production company focused on bringing strategic asset management to the forefront.  He also co-founded AMA and TransformNA, which are dedicated to giving organizations an alternative to jumping directly into the new technology trap, and to focus on using what they already have, better.

 

E. J. (Ted) Lister- Subject Matter Expert – Work Management

Connect: LinkedIn Twitter: @STONavigator Email: ejlister@stonavigator.ca

Ted Lister began his career in electrical design before trading electrons and protons for ones and zeros. It was 1992; Ted was red-lining drawings—after commissioning a billion-dollar gas plant—using red-colored pencils on A1 paper. It wasn’t long before he discovered the value of computer programs to accomplish this task. He was hooked.

As the years followed, Ted pursued a career in large-scale, complex industrial projects, which required large amounts of data to plan, schedule, and execute. As he worked with engineering firms to develop software solutions, he realized the process methodology—similar to that of hydrocarbon processes—was plagued with leaks (a.k.a. spreadsheets). To make matters worse, users were often not trained in data integrity, resulting in ones and zeros leaking from the data pipeline (a.k.a. business process methodology).

Do not miss the opportunity to learn from an experienced physical asset management guru and entertaining speaker.

 

Joseph Grobler — Subject Matter Expert – Supply Chain

As the creator of world-leading supply chain optimization methodologies, Joseph has introduced the CSC “Connecting Supply Chains” methodology to the global market.

Joseph’s vision for optimizing the “system” that clients already own has achieved tangible and sustained business value for clients worldwide.

 

 

 

 

Sarah Ditchburn  – Change Management Leader

Sarah is a certified leadership coach and change management professional passionate about building leadership capabilities as well as change teams and communities of practice. Sarah has over 20 years of experience working with clients to plan, design, and implement change initiatives aligned with business objectives including process and organization redesign, merger integration, and performance enhancement programs. Sarah’s clients span multiple industries, including oil and gas, professional services, not-for-profit, government, manufacturing, agriculture, pharmaceutical, and travel, and aviation. Sarah currently focuses on creating organizational capacity to lead and sustain behavioral and cultural change by teaching workshops across North America to all levels of leaders. Sarah utilizes her coaching expertise to work with leaders to enhance how they lead and receive change, building sustainable competency, in turn, improving employee engagement and business results.

 

 

Gina Schipani  – Project Manager

A solution-focused Project Manager, continuous improvement professional with 27 years of experience in ERP implementations and Business Process Improvement in the Oil and Gas, Agricultural, and Mining Industries.  Over 20 years developing, implementing, supporting, and managing an SAP business suite. Accomplished at managing Business Process Improvement programs/projects, locally and internationally in the areas of Asset Management, Capital Management, Procurement, and Inventory. Identified as an achiever with stamina and strengths in delivering value by understanding business needs and focusing on strategic goals.

 

 

 

 

 

Sherry Willetts  – Intellectual Capital Hierarchy SME

Sherry is a cross-functional, business-oriented BA with experience in several industries including Oil and Gas, Logistics, and Research. She is an organized, analytical thinker with sound problem-solving abilities and well-developed oral, written, and interpersonal communication skills.

 

 

 

 

 

Chris Murphy  – Senior Consultant

Chris provides leadership and support to achieve asset management objectives and operational excellence within asset-intensive businesses. He has over 30 years of experience in maintenance and asset management, as well as ISO 55000 and ISO 14224.  Chris has over 20 years of SAP EAM experience.

 

 

 

 

Todd Heuver  – Project Manager

Todd is a senior project manager with extensive domestic and international experience in areas including operations, production planning and scheduling, sales and operations planning, supply chain, business process optimization, change management, organizational effectiveness, and continuous improvement in the oil & gas, telecommunications, chemicals, utilities, education, and public sectors.

 

 

 

 

 

Kunle AjaniKunle Ajani – Senior Consultant

Olukunke (Kunle) Ajani is a senior consultant with over 17 years in the Oil & Gas, Utilities, and Natural Resources industries.  He has “hands-on” SAP R/3 experience on more than 6 SAP full life-cycle implementations.

Kunle’s skills include:
– Business Process Re-engineering (BPR)
– Project leadership
– Asset Information Management
– Maintenance integrity and execution processes
– Work management
– SAP design, configuration, prototyping, implementation, data migration, system integration, and development/enhancements
– Business Warehouse
– Post Implementation Support

 

Praveen Kale – Subject Matter Expert, Digitalization and Mobility

Praveen Kale assists AMA as one of the leading digital and mobile experts in Asset Management. He excels in automating asset management processes across functional and technical domains, leveraging the latest technologies, including IoT, Augmented Reality, and Artificial Intelligence. He has deployed digital solutions for Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) for customers in the US, Canada, and other world regions. Praveen understands the business processes in Asset Management and focuses on optimizing them for Operational Excellence.

 

 

 

 

Ron Torrance – Senior Consultant 

Ron Torrance has over 18 years of experience working as a professional services consultant in a variety of industries including Manufacturing, Mining, Oil & Gas, and Chemical throughout North America. His EAM project experience includes all aspects of maintenance business process development, configuration, integration, testing, validation, training, documentation, and support. Ron also has extensive experience managing and coordinating all aspects of master data conversion/migration and has held numerous positions both as a Project and Functional Lead on numerous EAM implementations. Ron specializes in Maintenance “Best Practices” with a concentration in Maintenance Planning and Scheduling.

 

 

 

Yassen Horanszky  – Senior Consultant/Project Lead

A highly motivated business professional specializing in business process development, business strategy, project management, facilitation, and business analysis. Proven track record of developing cohesive processes with a framework for continuous improvement.

Yassen’s breadth of work experience includes Asset Integrity, Canada Gas Major Projects, Surface Development, Global Operational Excellence, Oil Sands, and Shale Gas Operations, and HSE&SR teams; working with staff ranging from the Executive Leadership Team through corporate head office and on-site Operations. Recognized for being self-motivated, results-driven, organized, a systems thinker, and delivering high-quality work.

 

 

 

Trevor Gibbons  – Senior Consultant

Proven leader with a demonstrated ability to deliver critical results for business units and organizational leaders. Experienced in working with all facets of Oil and Gas organizations, from executive-level leadership and technical teams to on-site construction and operational teams.  Consistently credited with finding unique ways to tackle problems that garner buy-in from management and promote healthy teamwork.

 

 

 

 

 

Joanne Laramee  – SAP EAM Consultant

Joanne is a very experienced SAP EAM consultant with significant experience in Asset Master Data Management, Maintenance Plans, and Work Management, with deep experience in the oil & gas and chemical industries.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Garlon Yau  – SAP BI and PowerBI Consultant

As an expert in business intelligence, data analytics, and systems implementations, Garlon empowers senior leaders to pursue their strategic objectives through the deployment of diverse digital transformation initiatives. Through his work, Garlon helps clients transform digital, systems, and analytics obstacles into opportunities. He works closely with team members at all levels of an organization to understand their operations and business processes to make recommendations for improvement by finding efficiencies, realizing cost savings, reducing downtime, maximizing staff performance, and improving data quality.

 

 

 

 

Leo Brooks  – SAP EAM/APM Data Analyst

Leo is an up-and-coming Data Analyst, injecting fresh insights into the Oil & Gas, Manufacturing, and Utilities sectors. Contributing to one of the first SAP APM implementations, he leverages his youthful zest to ask critical questions, visualize data, and draw meaningful conclusions. An avid skier and adventurer at heart, Leo is carving unique trails both on and off the data slopes.