Company - Our Team
James Devlin | Alfredo Revilak | Paulo Avoletta | Alejandro Saavedra | Sergio Merighi | Esteban Nunez
James P. Devlin, Founder and CEO, Synth Solutions USA and Brazil
Jim brings nearly 20 years of consulting, facilitation and management experience to Synth Solutions. An expert in decision-making, and a master facilitator and trainer, Jim’s focus is to help organizations and individuals leverage their knowledge to accomplish their objectives.
Prior to founding Synth Solutions, Jim was Vice President of Professional Services for six years with Expert Choice, Inc., the leader in decision making software and services. While at Expert Choice, Jim led the consulting practice, working with over 100 large and mid-size corporations to help them solve complex problems. Some of his recent engagements include NASA, Exxon-Mobil, Inter-American Development Bank, and The World Health Organization. Jim co-created and teaches the Expert Choice Belt Training Programs, including the EC Yellow Belt™, EC Green Belt™ and EC Black Belt™. Prior to transitioning into knowledge management and consulting, Jim served six years with Witco Corporation, a specialty chemicals manufacturer, as Sales Manager – South America, and then Business Manager – South America.
Jim is fluent in English, Spanish, and Portuguese. He engaged in doctoral research at George Washington University (GWU), with a focus on knowledge management. He holds a Certificate in Knowledge Management from GWU (2001), a Master of Philosophy degree from the University of St. Andrews, Scotland (1991), and a Bachelor of Arts degree from Fordham University, New York City (1989). A Rotary International Foundation Scholar (1990/1991), Jim is a Certified Knowledge and Innovation Manager™ (KMCI 2003), and has completed the Quality Function Deployment Institute’s QFDI Green Belt™ (2003) and QFDI Black Belt™ (2007) training programs.
Dr. Alfredo Revilak, PMP – CEO, Synth Solutions Mexico
Leading one of the most innovative solution providers in Mexico today, Alfredo brings more than 20 years of consulting experience in the knowledge management and information technology (IT) fields to Synth Solutions. An expert consultant, trainer and facilitator, Alfredo is focused on helping his customers achieve excellence through applied knowledge.
Prior to joining Synth Solutions, Alfredo was Vice President of Consulting Services at SAC, where he was responsible for driving consulting sales and delivery, and he contributed to the company's sales of more than US$50M. He has consulted with large international organizations such as Citibank-Banamex, BBV-Bancomer, the World Bank, The Pan American Health Organization and the General Services Administration from the US Government. He was also a founding Principal of HCL-James Martin (Mexico), as well as the Chief Information Officer for the National Commission of Banking and Securities (Mexico).
Alfredo is fluent in Spanish and English. He holds a Doctor of Science degree from the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences from The George Washington University (2006). He also holds a Masters degree in Computer Science from the University of Arizona (2001) and a Bachelors degree from The Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México, where he graduated in Computer Engineering (1989).
Paulo Avoletta – Commercial Director, Synth Solutions Brazil
Paulo brings more than 20 years of software sales, consulting and training experience to Synth Solutions. An expert in most software and hardware technologies, and an accomplished facilitator and trainer, Paulo is sought out for his keen knowledge of systems and his responsiveness to customer needs.
Prior to joining Synth Solutions, Paulo was Vice President of Sales and Services for the technology provider Network Availability Group (NAG), based in Sao Paulo where he drove high volume sales to multinational clients such as SAP, Grupo Pial Legrand, HILTI, and American Express. Prior to joining NAG, Paulo spent five years with Mude Comércio e Serviços Ltda, where he managed seven product lines and ultimately grew the business more than 50% in less than two years. At Mude, Paulo held consistently increasing levels of responsibility beginning with IT Manager, to Marketing and Sales Manager, to Technology Products Group Manager. In addition to these roles, Paulo has held several positions in multinational corporations, such as Gessy Lever, where he led software and hardware technology deployments and consulting.
Paulo is fluent in Portuguese and English. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Information Technology Management from McKenzie University (1985). In his spare time, Paulo is the Founding Partner and Director of Planeta Criança Assistência à Criança Carente (Children’s Planet – Assistance for Needy Children).
Alejandro Saavedra Pacheco – Commercial Director, Synth Solutions Mexico
Alejandro brings more than 21 years of consulting and information technology implementation experience to Synth Solutions. An expert at implementing enterprise solutions such as SAP and Memex & Softland, Alejandro also has extensive experience developing solutions using the latest web and Service Oriented Architecture technologies.
Prior to joining Synth Solutions, Alejandro held the position of Senior Consultant at EDS, GCS, Memex, and SAC, where he was responsible for implementing software solutions for large international organizations such as EDS, GM, Banamex-Citibank, Bancomex, BBV-Bancomer, Aeromexico and GBM. Alejandro has been a project leader on the implementation of enterprise initiatives including quality Assurance, project management, and activity based management.
Alejandro’s experience is particularly strong in the Mexican Federal Government sector where he has implemented Memex, a law-enforcement Intelligence and analysis software. He was also a founding principal of GCS de México S.A., a key partner of SAP for mid size companies in Mexico. Alejandro is fluent in Spanish and English and he holds a Licenciado en Informática degree from the UPIICSA, and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from University of California at Berkeley.
Sergio Merighi – Global Process Excellence and Lean Six Sigma Practice Leader
Sergio brings more than 25 years of dedicated quality and process improvement experience to Synth Solutions. As the former Global Quality and Customer Satisfaction Director at Chemtura, Sergio built on his already strong experience in Specialty Chemical manufacturing with other Fortune 500 corporations, such as Westvaco and Mannesmann. Sergio is a globally recognized expert at the Master Black Belt level in Six Sigma and Lean implementations, project facilitation, and the training and coaching of project leaders. His strengths include identifying opportunities and driving these to a positive impact on the bottom line.
Prior to joining Synth Solutions, Sergio was responsible for the Quality System and Process Excellence processes at Chemtura’s plants in Brazil, Mexico, USA, Canada and Europe. In this role, Sergio trained, monitored and mentored more than 70 Green Belts with 150 projects, both manufacturing and transactional in nature, at eight sites world-wide. Under Sergio’s leadership, Chemtura generated a savings of over US$150MM in the five year period from 2002 to 2007.
A consummate instructor, Sergio has led Lean training, Kaizens, and TPM Events worldwide. He has also mentored site Lean Leaders, enabling them to continue with local events without any support. He is familiar with tools such as 5S, Visual Factory, TPM, QCPC, and VSM.
Sergio is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish, and Italian. He holds an Industrial Mechanical Engineering degree from the Faculdade de Engenharia Industrial – FEI (1979). He has also completed several graduate studies, including: Quality Control – Universidade São Judas Tadeu (1981); Specialization in Business Administration – FAAP (1982); Master’s Degree in Quality – UNICAMP (1998); Environmental Management degree – UNICAMP (2001); Six Sigma Black Belt - Breakthrough Technologies, Inc – New York (2001); Lean Leader - LVSI – Lean Values System International – New York (2003).
Esteban J Nunez – Vice President, Operations
Esteban brings 15 years of international management and client experience to Synth Solutions. A recognized process expert and project leader, Esteban is noted for his uncanny ability to look at processes and systems and make them more efficient and effective. Esteban has recently completed advanced training in Process Analysis and Mapping, and Process Measurement and Improvement. He is now engaging with customers to help them model and improve their processes.Prior to joining Synth Solutions, Esteban spent two years with Expert Choice – the leader in decision-support software and services – where he led the international sales and services operations for the company. While at Expert Choice, Esteban became an expert in the use of the Expert Choice 11.5 and web-based software products, and he has effectively facilitated numerous meetings and voting sessions over the years. Moreover, Esteban reinvented the partner management program and processes, cutting costs and making the overall operation more efficient.
Esteban also worked at VWR Science Education as a Regional Director for Latin America and the Caribbean. At VWR, Esteban led the sales and marketing efforts for the region, and developed the distribution and direct sales channels. He also worked with InfinityQS leading their marketing and sales efforts to Latin America, and specializing in Six Sigma and Statistical Process Control.
Prior to this experience, Esteban spent 10 years with Primavera Systems, a leading Project and Portfolio Management software development company. At Primavera, he held various roles in marketing, channel sales, and account management, and was a key member of the International Division, with focus in the Latin America and Caribbean region.
Esteban is a native of Puerto Rico, and is fully bilingual in English and Spanish, without accent. He completed a Bachelor’s Degree in Marketing from Villanova University (1993), and obtained a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Temple University in Philadelphia (1998). He has completed the Expert Choice Green Belt™ training program.