How I Work
Practical, collaborative and direct, without the overhead of a large consultancy structure.
What to Expect
Working with an independent specialist is a different experience from working with a large consulting firm. Here's what that means in practice.
You work with the expert directly
There's no account manager, no project coordinator, no junior consultant doing the actual work while a senior consultant attends the kick-off meeting. Every piece of work (design, configuration, analysis, training, workshop facilitation) is done by me. That's the point.
Discovery before anything else
Every engagement starts with understanding the problem properly. That means conversations with the right people, on-site observation where relevant, and an honest assessment of what's actually needed, even if that turns out to be different from what was initially described. Getting the scope right early saves significant time and money later.
Comfortable with both IT and operations
Effective WMS work requires bridging two worlds that don't always communicate well. I'm equally comfortable in a technical workshop with your architects and integration team as I am on the warehouse floor with your shift supervisors. Translating between the two, accurately and without losing nuance, is a core part of what I do.
Honest about what's achievable
If a proposed approach won't work, or if the scope of a project is being underestimated, I'll say so clearly and early. That's more useful than reassuring language that leads to problems further down the track. Clients consistently find that candour more valuable than optimism.
Documentation that's actually useful
Design documentation should be clear enough for your team to work from, test against, and refer back to after go-live. That means language your operational and IT teams can understand, not consultant-grade prose written to look comprehensive without actually being useful.
Knowledge transfer, not dependency
The goal of any engagement should be leaving your team in a stronger position than before. That means sharing the reasoning behind design decisions, not just the decisions themselves, so that your people understand what was done and why, and can make informed choices in the future without needing to bring a specialist back in for every change.
Flexible to the Work at Hand
Different projects call for different engagement structures. SMH Supply Chain works on a range of models to suit the nature and duration of the work.
Project-Based
A defined scope, agreed deliverables and a fixed or capped price. Suited to discrete pieces of work: a solution design engagement, a system health check, a training programme, or a specific optimisation project with clear objectives and measurable outcomes.
Time & Materials
A daily or hourly rate applied to actual time spent. Suited to engagements where the scope is hard to define upfront: complex troubleshooting, advisory work alongside an existing programme, or an implementation where requirements are expected to evolve.
Retained Advisory
An ongoing arrangement providing access to specialist advice on a regular basis. Suited to organisations that need periodic expert input: design reviews, configuration guidance, help with complex decisions, without the cost of bringing in a consultant for each individual question.
Not sure which model fits your situation? Start a conversation and we can work it out together.
Sydney-Based.
Globally Experienced.
SMH Supply Chain is based in Sydney, Australia. A significant amount of work can be done effectively by remote: design reviews, configuration guidance, workshop facilitation over video and detailed documentation work are all well suited to remote engagement.
On-site presence is valuable at specific points: initial discovery, key design workshops, go-live support and GEMBA-based optimisation work genuinely benefit from being there in person. The preference is to be on-site when it matters, and remote when it doesn't.
For international engagements, the preferred model is intensive on-site blocks (typically one to two weeks) alternating with remote work periods, rather than extended residencies. In practice, this often produces better outcomes: concentrated on-site sessions drive real progress, and the remote periods allow design work to be completed and reviewed properly between workshops.
Countries Worked In
Things People Usually Ask
Do you work with organisations outside Australia?
Yes. A significant portion of the work over the past two decades has been outside Australia, across APAC, South Africa and Europe. Remote engagement works well for most types of work; for engagements that require on-site presence, travel can be arranged. The preference is for structured on-site blocks rather than long-term residencies.
We already have a Manhattan implementation. Can you help us get more out of it?
Absolutely, and this is often where independent specialist input is most valuable. Many organisations go live with Manhattan and never fully unlock what the system can do. Operations optimisation, task interleaving reviews and directed work redesign frequently deliver significant productivity improvements in systems that have been running for years.
We're mid-implementation and running into problems. Can you help?
Yes. Difficult implementations (where design decisions are proving unworkable in testing, where integration issues are holding up progress, or where the client team has lost confidence in the design) are something I've navigated more than once. An independent review at the right moment can identify the root cause and a practical path forward.
How do engagements typically start?
With a conversation. There's no obligation attached to an initial discussion; it's an opportunity for both sides to understand the situation and work out whether there's a good fit. If there is, I'll put together a clear proposal covering scope, approach, deliverables and commercial terms.
Can you work alongside our existing consultancy or internal team?
Yes, and this is a common arrangement. Independent specialist input works well alongside existing programme teams: filling a specific knowledge gap, reviewing design decisions, providing a second opinion at key milestones, or taking on a defined workstream within a larger programme.
Let's Talk About Your Project
An initial conversation is free, informal and usually clarifies a great deal about what's actually needed.
Get in Touch