Dr Mohamed Afy-Shararah

Areas of expertise

• Manufacturing Systems
• Sustainable Manufacturing

Background

Mohamed is an industrial engineer with a passion for factories and everything associated with them. He has pursued further postgraduate studies and training in lean manufacturing, and in the modelling & simulation of dynamic systems. He has a PhD in Strategic Operations Management from Cardiff School of Management, where he worked with FTSE 250 companies from within the UK high-value manufacturing sector on how to design operations that boost the flow of goods and products through their end-to-end supply chains. He also worked with SMEs to transfer and embed knowledge that successfully delivered a step-change in productivity and profitability. Mohamed's industry exposure and work with different manufacturing organisations has led to the publication of his book: Systems of Manufacturing Excellence: Generating Efficient and Reliable Manufacturing Operations.

Before joining Cranfield, Mohamed worked with some of the world’s leading businesses in the manufacturing and retail sectors. His work spanned a variety of industries, like Automotive, Aerospace, Pharmaceuticals, Electronics, Furniture, Metal Forming, and Food & Drink. He was part of the regional team managing the supply chain function of a leading luxury business, and was a management consultant on lean operations in Norway, Egypt, and the UK. He is experienced in analysing business performances and assisting decision-makers in developing strategies that rely on both digital and operational solutions.

Current activities

Mohamed enjoys doing empirical research, especially in the domain of operations management. Why performances fluctuate, how to consistently perform better, how operations are controlled to the highest quality, managed in a timely and effective manner, and how supply chain material flow is smoothly managed are his main focus areas.

Mohamed performs research in industrial sustainability, specifically the Circular Economy and the innovative operational models required to achieve flow within an efficient closed loop. Additionally, he is keen to expand the application of simulation and how digital twins, sensors, and the Internet of Things can be used for operations management and transformations.

He is interested in exploring the ‘operational noise’ that inhibits the performance of manufacturing systems throughout the whole supply chain. He integrates his skills in system dynamics and discrete-event simulation with the design of manufacturing systems to achieve excellence in operations flow.

Clients

Bentley
Siemens
Estée Lauder Companies
Groupe SEB
Catalent
Pirelli
SPTS

Publications

• Articles in journals
• Conference papers
• Books