After graduating from Leicester University in Pure Mathematics and Chemistry Ron Felgate joined a semiconductor manufacturing plant of the Philips Group as a development engineer. This was the beginning of a 40 year career in manufacturing moving from junior management to board level. About half of these 40 years as an employee in companies associated with electronic componentary and the other half as a consultant in a wide range of manufacturing companies. These companies included BAe, Dowty, Volex, Britax, Caradon (Plastics) Group, Hazelwood Foods, Northern Foods and Myson Radiators. From this diverse range of manufacturing companies, featuring both good and bad elements, Ron was able to draw on his experiences to formulate a methodology that he subsequently used successfully in the latter 10 years of his consultancy career. The methodolgy is now outlined in Zero Loss.