Mel Thornley

Mel has over 20 years of experience in the implementation of Business Process Improvement. He gained a Masters Degree in Engineering and an MBA  In addition he is a Chartered Quality Professional, a, certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and an NZOQ certified Master Lean Coach.

Mel is a Competitive Manufacturing unit standards assessor and is able to assess to level 5.

Mel has extensive experience in the implementation of improvement strategies gained from the Automotive, Aerospace and Heavy Engineering industries. In addition he has several years experience in Customer Service and New Product Development.

Since founding Thornley Group in 2006, Mel has worked with manufacturing, food, financial and service organisations in New Zealand and has personally trained hundreds of people in the Lean and Six Sigma methodologies.

Lloyd Murphy

Lloyd has extensive experience of implementing Lean and Six Sigma methodologies primarily in the food industry.  Having held a number of management positions in the Fish and Mussel Processing Industries, Lloyd has a successful track record of improving systems and processes.

Lloyd is a registered assessor in Competitive Manufacturing unit standards and holds level 4 and 5 qualifications in the subject.  He is also a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt and Lean Process Leader.

Lloyd has successfully provided consultancy and training for Manufacturing and Food based industries in New Zealand.

Nigel Grigg

Nigel has professional experience ranging from Process Improvement and Project Coordination in Iron components manufacture to University Lecturer at Massey University in Palmerston North New Zealand.

He has a PhD in Management Science, an MSc in Quality Management and a BSc in Mathematics for Business Analysis.  Additionally he is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Nigel is a very experienced trainer with many years in lecturing, research and consultancy and he has worked with a large number of organisations in the delivery of improvement programmes.

Nigel has successfully delivered Lean and Six Sigma training to a wide range of organisations in New Zealand. 

Darren Foxall

Darren has a solid background in automotive engineering and supplier performance management. Working within the auto industry managing process improvement and new product programmes, he has many years of experience working with companies internationally in the pursuit of business excellence.

He has a BSc in the Management of Manufacturing Systems and an MSc in Supply Chain Management.  A certified Six Sigma Black Belt and Lean specialist, Darren is also an expert in Quality Management Systems.

In a senior management capacity he has managed teams of specialists in the coaching and training in lean and six sigma methods.

Robert Leitch

Robert has extensive experience working with New Zealand Industry.  He spent 9 years as the first CEO of Competenz and has worked with numerous organisations in the improvement of their performance. He is a Chartered Engineer and a Fellow of the Institute of Materials with a Degree in Materials Science and a Diploma in Business.

He has his own PTE company that is registered by the NZQA.  He is a Competitive Manufacturing unit standards assessor and is accredited by the NZQA to assess to level 6.

In addition to Lean and Competitive Manufacturing, Robert brings his experience and NZQA accredited Occupational Safety and Health training to Thornley Group.

In his career to date he has been involved in the training of thousands of people in New Zealand.