John Cheh
Vice Chairman, Esquel Group
John Cheh is Vice Chairman of the Esquel Group, the world's leading cotton apparel manufacturer. Esquel s product range features a wide variety of men s and ladies pure cotton and chief value cotton apparel. Strategic integration into the areas of cotton farming, spinning, weaving and knitting, dyeing, finishing as well as accessories and garment manufacturing enables the highest standards in quality control at every stage of production, as well as the flexibility in responding to market changes. Esquel employs a 47,000 strong multi-national work force, and has 20 manufacturing facilities and sales offices in countries including China, Mauritius, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Vietnam, Japan, the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
John has more than 20 years of extensive experience in the diplomatic and commercial arenas, with a focus on economic analysis, trade negotiations and strategic investment. He received his bachelor s degree in economics and political science from McGillUniversity and his Ph.D. in economics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He joined the Canadian government in 1974 and worked for the Treasury Board and Privy Council Office. From 1981 to 1993, he served with Canada s Department of External Affairs and International Trade, and served in Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo in senior diplomatic positions. He also worked for two years as the Executive Director of the Canada China Business Council in Toronto. In 1994 he moved to Hong Kong as President, Asia, Bell Canada International, in charge of strategic telecommunications investments and M&A activities. In 2001 he became President of Bombardier China, and joined Esquel in October 2003.
Thomas G. Travis
Managing Partner, Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A.
Thomas G. Travis is managing partner of Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A., a leading international trade and customs law firm. He also serves as the chairman of Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services. Mr. Travis has extensive experience in a wide variety of international trade and customs matters, including the representation of countries and private interests in matters before the World Trade Organization (WTO), the World Customs Organization (WCO), the U.S. Congress and federal agencies, and before the revenue and customs services of many nations. He has played a leading role in the firm s trade policy and government relations group which has provided services to many countries, including Cambodia, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Fiji, Dominican Republic, Turkey, Hong Kong, China, Colombia, Laos, Guatemala, Philippines and Indonesia. Long-time firm clients include numerous large, multinational corporations such as Sara Lee, General Motors, Hewlett Packard, Microsoft, Levi Strauss, VF Corporation, Ann Taylor, Hugo Boss, Kellwood, General Electric and Proctor & Gamble.
Mr. Travis is widely recognized as a leading authority in the complex and highly technical world of international trade. He possesses extensive knowledge on subjects such as the classification, valuation, origin of imported merchandise, preference systems and free trade agreements between the U.S. and its trading partners. Mr. Travis is a distinguished speaker and has been highly praised for his presentations.
Both Sandler, Travis & Rosenberg, P.A. and Sandler & Travis Trade Advisory Services are prominent industry leaders due to the extraordinary depth of talent and experience possessed by their staff. Mr. Travis has been instrumental in attracting professional resources to the firms including two former U.S. Ambassadors and Chief Textile Negotiators, four former Deputy Commissioners of U.S. Customs (the second highest Customs position in the U.S.), and other senior professionals from the Office of the United States Trade Representative, the U.S. Customs Service and the State, Labor and Commerce Departments. The foundation of the firms success is built upon providing governments, manufacturers, importers and retailers the information and support they require to meet the constantly changing demands of global trade. The firms host more than 100 seminars per year and publish online newsletters, bulletins and technical reports to assist clients in the development of their strategic planning and compliance efforts. The firms have 10 offices throughout the U.S. and Canada staffed by over 300 customs and trade professionals.
Mr. Travis has served as counsel to American Apparel and Footwear Association for many years. He is an honors graduate of PrincetonUniversity (A.B., 1969) and ColumbiaUniversityLawSchool (J.D., 1972), and is a member of the Washington, DC, Florida, New York and New Jersey Bar Associations.
[Back to Top]
Phillis Lin
Senior Manager- Kurt Salmon Associates
Phillis Lin is a senior manager in Kurt Salmon Associate s (KSA) Shanghai office. KSA is the leading consulting firm to retailers and consumer products companies around the globe. Phillis is a specialist in Branding, Merchandising, Product Development and Sourcing. Her expertise ranges from setting strategies to designing processes and organizations to carrying out implementation. Her work in the United States and China has helped retail and wholesale clients achieve revenue growth, reduced costs and faster speed to market.
Phillis projects have included:
Established brand strategy for China s largest casual wear apparel retailer, to include: financial benchmarking against western and Asian competitors; competitive landscaping and market positioning; value chain assessment in all areas of operations; and scaled implementation plan to achieve brand strategy.
Reengineered and implemented product development, sourcing and manufacturing processes for a leading global intimate apparel company, to include: assessment of current processes, organization, and tools in company divisions; creation of leading-edge processes including organizational change and tools support; phased training and implementation of process, organization and tools.
Conducted conference room pilot for a sourcing system for a leading international retailer, to include: identification and documentation of current sourcing process gaps across hard- and soft goods; creation and documentation of new international sourcing process with new system; design and documentation of specifications for system; and system configuration according to process design and specifications.
Designed and executed a training program for the implementation of a sourcing system for a billion-dollar apparel retailer, to include: design of company-wide training program involving new processes and systems; development and execution of user-acceptance testing activities; creation of training materials and reference manuals; and
Reengineered and implemented merchandise planning processes for the apparel division of a top retailer in North America, to include: process gap identification and documentation; process design of merchandise financial planning, strategic planning and line planning activities; training and implementation of all processes; design of tools to aid in development of strategic, financial and merchandise plans; and the integration and implementation of Makoro as a planning tool.
Phillis received a BA in economics, with minors in industrial engineering and East Asian studies from StanfordUniversity. She is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese.
[Back to Top]
Mike Mikkelborg
Co-Founder & General Manager, Asia
Source Global On Demand
Mike Mikkelborg is co-founder and general manager, Asia, for Source Global On Demand, a high-tech on demand sourcing services company supporting leading U.S. and European companies in their pan-Asia sourcing activities.
Born in Sweden, Mike also was the co-founder of two wholly-owned foreign enterprises in China within five years. Prior to joining Source Global On Demand, he was co-founder and CEO of EMF, a China-based manufacturer of apparel and home textiles with 900 employees. Excelling in social compliance and lean production principals for its two factories, EMF supplied Wal-Mart, Target, IKEA, Disney, Cosco, Kmart, JCPenney, Carrefour, Kohl s and other leading retailers.
With more than a decade of industry experience, Mike also experience with textile start-ups in Eastern Europe, and has been featured in China Business Review.
[Back to Top]
Atiff Gill
Manager - Kurt Salmon Associates
Atiff Gill is a manager in Kurt Salmon Associate s (KSA) Shanghai office. KSA is the leading consulting firm to retailers and consumer products companies around the globe. Atiff has provided multi-functional consulting services for manufacturers and retailers across a variety of industries in the Asia-Pacific region. He has worked on a range of projects from market entry assessment to product and category management, supply chain reengineering, retail and brand strategy, process mapping, financial modeling and mergers and acquisitions. Atiff has significant experience in apparel, home improvement, consumer electronics and health and beauty care.
Atiff s projects have included:
Managed a large cross-functional team create a strategy to 2010 for one of China s largest casual apparel brands. Success of this resulted in follow-up projects across the value chain where Atiff led a store operations efficiency and effectiveness program.
Process mapping and recommended business improvements (merchandising, logistics and store operations) for a leading fashion retailer based in Taiwan.
Delivered a high-level assessment of the key trends facing fabric producers in Asia-Pacific to aid a major textile company s decision on entering the market via acquisition.
Assessed and recommended direct sourcing agents in Asia-Pacific to be used by one of the largest Japanese retailers.
Developed best practice standard operating procedures for the implementation of a merchandise management system at a large Japanese retailer; and
Delivered and implemented new category management process and software for a leading department store retailer in Japan.
Prior to joining KSA, Atiff worked for Kingfisher plc, one of Europe s leading retail groups, for five years. Functional areas of experience while in the UK included buying, inventory management, marketing, B2C e-commerce and interactive television. More than two years was then spent in Asia-Pacific managing successful business development (M&A and organic entry) for the company s retail brands. Atiff obtained his BSc.Management Studies (Honours) degree from LondonUniversity and his postgraduate in Management Studies from OxfordUniversity.
[Back to Top]
Susan S. Black
Publisher - Apparel Magazine
Susan S. Black is publisher of Apparel Magazine of Edgell Communications and a19-year veteran of the award-winning B2B publication. Apparel provides leading brands, retailers and manufacturers with technology and business insight, from concept to consumer. It also produces the Apparel Executive Forum, Apparel s Tech Conference, apparelmag.com, Apparel s e-Newsletter and numerous Web Seminars on a variety of technology and business topics.
Susan is a member of the Enterprise Competitiveness Council and a member and past chairman of Supply Chain Leadership Committee, both part of the American Apparel and Footwear Association. She also serves on the Executive Committee and Board of Directors of the Textile/Clothing Technology Corporation.
Additionally, Susan serves as a director of the American Apparel Education Foundation and on the Industry Advisory Board for the University of North Carolina-Greensboro s Department of Consumer, Apparel, and Retail Studies.
