Role
Dr Aquila Yeong is a Senior Lecturer in Operations Management in the Department of Management, and a member in the IDEO research group.
He contributes towards teaching in programmes which includes Undergraduate, Postgraduate, Corporate, and Online MBA. He is also module leader in Operations Management related modules, Project and Programme Strategies, and Data Analytics for Managerial Decision Making.
His research interest centres around Value Creation through Process Innovation via alignment of Management Philosophy, Technology and People.
Both his teaching and research are aligned with his active engagement with industry via Knowledge Transfer Partnership and Productivity Through Innovation programme funded consultancy projects. His recent work includes the development and deployment of S-DBR (Simplified Drum Buffer Rope) based Decision Support System for SME manufacturing companies. Impact includes more than doubled productivity and empowered shop floor personnel.
Career overview
Aquila began his career in telecommunication industry as a research and development engineer for a telco company in Malaysia. In his tenure with the company, he has assumed managerial roles in engineering, marketing&sales and customer service departments. He was part of the management team who pioneered the deployment and operation of the first nationwide CDMA based digital trunked radio network. On this platform, he and his team has developed various bespoke digital communication solutions to customers from public and private sectors, which includes industries such as logistics, transportation, emergency response, and gaming & entertainment.
- Senior Lecturer in Operations Management (2017 - Present)
- DBA (2015 - 2019)
- Business System Architecture Designer/Programmer (2015 - 2017) - Amberol Ltd (UK)
- MBA (2014 - 2015)
- Managerial Positions in Telecommunication Industry (2004 - 2014) - Electcoms (Malaysia)
- Engineering (2004 - 2014), Sales/Marketing (2012 - 2013)
- RF and digital communication: ZTE (CDMA2000, GoTa) , Hytera (DMRT), Huawei (GSMT), Motorola (MotoTrbo), Harris (Microwave), Siae (Microwave)
- Develop integrated digital communication solutions (transportation and logistics, construction, entertainment, security, emergency response, utilities, agriculture and etc.)
- Lecturer in Electrical and Electronics Engineering (2002 - 2004) - IUKL (ICT) (Malaysia)
Research areas
Draquila's academic research interest centres around improving company’s productivity through process innovative via the alignment of management philosophies, technology, and people. This includes the design, development, and deployment of customised business solutions according to contextual business environments.
As a KTP associate, he has successfully completed a KTP project (2018) introducing innovation into the business process of a small business. It involved the development of a Theory of Constraint (TOC) underpinned client/server decision support system with embedded heuristic algorithms based on a contextual management decision making process, human-machine interface, and integration to an existing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system. This project successfully more than halved the operations expenses, empowered personnel, and introduced new working culture. The project has been graded ‘Very Good’ and shortlisted for the development of KTP Case Studies by Innovate UK. As part of the supervisory team, he continued to contribute through a KTP project in 2019, which has acted as a catalyst to the development of internal capability for continuous improvement in a high precision tooling company.
In 2020-21, as part of an ERDF funded digital transformation project, he has successfully introduced a production planning and control decision support system for a manufacturer in bespoke furniture for the mobility. The human-centred approach taken throughout the implementation suited well with the production process which is highly dependent on craftmanship. This system enabled its production process to be aligned with its digital marketing, sales, and CRM platform. It has been instrumental in assisting the company to successfully manoeuvred through the Covid-19 pandemic.
These were developed using C# and Microsoft Sql Server.
To better support small businesses, he also explores the use of Office365 (MsExcel/Sharepoint) to support the planning and execution in MTO/ETO (with S-DBR) and Project (with CCPM) environment. This is underpinned by the main flow management concepts in Theory of Constraints (TOC): Constraint Management, Buffer Management, Load Management, and the culture of Continuous Improvement..
He actively supports and collaborates with companies through Knowledge Transfer Partnership, Productivity Through Innovation programme and direct funding by businesses through the University's consultancy platform..
External activity
- Member of Theory of Constraints International Certification Organisation (TOCICO)
Conference and Event Committee member
- Member of The Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET)
Sponsors and collaborators
Amberol Ltd - "Making a Visible Difference"
Nottingham City Council
Rise & Recline Ltd - "We adjust to your needs"