Alastair Semple

Alastair Semple is a Specialist with the Scottish Manufacturing Advisory Service (SMAS), specialising in Lean, Operational Excellence and AI-enabled business improvement. With over 15 years\' experience in continuous improvement, project delivery and organisational development, and a decade supporting businesses through SMAS, he helps organisations combine proven Lean methodologies with emerging AI technologies to improve productivity, capability and competitiveness. Holding an MEng in Product Design Engineering from the University of Strathclyde and Luleå University of Technology, alongside qualifications in Lean Six Sigma, Project Management and Leadership, Alastair has extensive experience delivering operational transformation across manufacturing and service sectors. Throughout his career, he has led and supported improvement programmes focused on productivity, quality, safety and capability development. A notable achievement was supporting the Glasgow COVID-19 testing laboratory during one of the most critical periods of the pandemic, helping scale testing capacity from 5,000 to 85,000 tests per day through the application of Lean and Operational Excellence principles, workforce development and robust problem-solving systems. Alongside his Lean and operational excellence work, Alastair has maintained a long- standing focus on digital transformation and advanced technologies. He authored SMAS\'s Industry 4.0 insight report, drawing on findings from over 180 business diagnostic assessments, helping identify patterns, barriers and opportunities in technology adoption across Scottish industry. This work provided valuable insight into how manufacturers could leverage emerging technologies to improve productivity, resilience and competitiveness. More recently, Alastair has become a leading advocate for practical AI adoption within Scottish businesses. He has designed and delivered AI and Microsoft Copilot workshops to more than 50 businesses and over 80 delegates, helping organisations identify and implement practical AI use cases that enhance productivity, improve decision-making and reduce waste. His work focuses on combining Lean thinking, operational excellence and AI technologies to deliver sustainable business improvements and build organisational capability for the future. Alastair is passionate about helping organisations develop improvement cultures that unite people, process and technology to achieve measurable business outcomes.