Beyond Graduation : Ross Fearon
Ross Fearon is the logistics and procurement manager for Konica Minolta Business Solutions, a New Zealand-owned ‘printer and document solutions’ company that employs over 450 staff nationwide. He has been with Konica Minolta for just over seven years.
 Prior to his role with Konica Minolta, Ross had a 20-year career with the New Zealand Army as a logistics officer, gaining significant working knowledge and military operations experience. “The army has schools that cater to developing specifically focused skills, and the on-the-job training is excellent,” Ross says. “It was as part of this training that I gained an insight and interest in core logistics skills, such as warehousing, inventory management and procurement. Ultimately this resulted in me spending three-and-a-half years instructing at the NZ Army Supply School.”
Part of this role included overseas deployment, and in 1994 Ross spent six months in Somalia with the United Nations, working with a team of New Zealand soldiers responsible for providing logistics support for food and stores to the majority of international forces serving there at the time. “All the normal infrastructure that you take for granted back home was non-existent there,” he says. “Trying to perform a task whilst at the same time trying to maintain the personal safety of my team was always a challenge.”
Ross says the training provided within the NZ Army was excellent, but “while it prepared me well with skills I could use after leaving the army, I knew a quality civilian qualification would make the transition easier. At the time, the CILT UK Diploma in Logistics was the only true logistics management course available in the country, so I decided to enrol.”
The course was offered through Massey University at that time and Walter Glass was the course director. “During the time I was studying, I was still working as the logistics officer for the infantry battalion at Palmerston North. I was deployed again overseas, this time to East Timor for nine months where the logistics problems were exactly the same. The only thing that changes is the commodity – when you’re in a country with minimal infrastructure, the basic issues become huge.”
One thing that sticks in his mind is the collection and disposal of human sewage generated by the size of the force deployed. He would be more than happy to share the solution with anyone over a beer!
Having had to take a year off study, Ross finally completed the diploma in 2001 after returning to New Zealand. “Once I had graduated, I decided to leave the army. I found the diploma challenging and rewarding, and having an internationally recognised qualification made it easy for my employer to accept my skills,” he says.
“Konica Minolta is New Zealand’s number one supplier of document solution products and services, and prides itself on the very highest levels of customer satisfaction and service delivery. As its logistics manager, I have used many of the management skills gained from the diploma in my role here, including remodelling the company’s supply chain to achieve greater efficiency, reducing inventory, improving customer service and reducing operating costs. The tools I gained from the diploma were relevant to the work environment, and have proven invaluable.”
Ross also believes it is important to give something back to the community, both with work and family. He joined CILT NZ, where he served as a committee member and later chairperson of the Northern Section, and was involved with the sponsorship and marketing committee. In his spare time he is now heavily involved in surf life saving on Auckland’s North Shore, both with administration and competing.
Ross says that there are still challenges at Konica Minolta, especially given the current economic climate, where costs are increasing and customer expectations are even greater, but with his qualifications and experience he feels well positioned to take on these future challenges.
The CILT UK Diploma in Logistics is now the CILT UK Professional Diploma in Logistics & Transport, and is offered in New Zealand through the Logistics Training Group,
email: info@ltg.co.nz
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