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Mark Oakeson
Managing Director and Founder
Mark Oakeson has been a disciple of lean transformation since the 1980s when he traveled to Japan to work with creators and innovators of the Toyota Production System, Messrs. Ohno, Shingo, Nakao and Iwata. Since that time, Mr. Oakeson has implemented continuous improvement programs in the Americas, the Far East and Europe, and is now a recognized expert in his own right.
Most recently, Mr. Oakeson has pioneered the field of lean growth: helping companies to reduce their risk and cost of growth, positioning for long-term success. His innovative strategies have been applied to Greenfield sites, plant expansions, consolidations, product development and product launches.
He has been a trusted consultant for companies such as Pella Corp., Lantech, Inc., Hayward Pool, Black and Decker and Mercedes Benz do Brazil. Prior to launching LVC, Mr. Oakeson was co-founder of TBM Consulting Group where he helped to introduce lean concepts to Western companies, improving productivity and quality, and typically more than doubling returns on capital.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, with a degree in Engineering, Mr. Oakeson also did post-graduate work in Finance at the University of Connecticut.
Ronald Hicks
Senior Consultant
Ronald Hicks comes to LVC from the executive ranks of multi-national corporations where he built a reputation for innovation in lean transformation as well as a proven track record in global sourcing, expansion, acquisitions and business development.
Immediately prior to joining LVC, Mr. Hicks was VP of Operations and Business Development at Lantech Inc. where he achieved lead time reduction from five weeks to ten hours, 100% productivity gain, 50% floor space reduction and on-time delivery improvement from 40% to over 90%. Additional experience includes senior operations, management, engineering, and plant management roles in companies including General Electric and Danaher Corporation.
Mr. Hicks is a frequent speaker on the topic of lean implementation and cultural change management and a regular contributor to the University of Kentucky’s Center for Manufacturing.
He graduated summa cum laude with a degree in engineering in 1972 from the University of Tennessee.
Albio H. Espinosa
Senior Consultant
Albio H. Espinosa joined Lean Value Chain Consulting de México in January 2006, following a distinguished career with global manufacturing companies. In addition to decades of corporate leadership, Mr. Espinosa also served as director of the Systems Planning program at La Salle University in Mexico.
Most recently, Mr. Espinosa was a member of the executive team at Applica Consumer Products Inc. For more than ten years, he led the lean transformation of the Mexican operation at Querétaro, Mexico. Based on this success, Mr. Espinosa was promoted to VP Global Manufacturing and given oversight of six factories in China where he was responsible for over 30,000 employees. During his tenure, Applica achieved 10% in product cost reduction per year, including more than 15% labor reduction per year.
Prior joining Applica, Mr. Espinosa gathered a decade of experience at Black and Decker México where he served in a range of manufacturing and administrative roles including after-sales service, IT, purchasing, distribution and operations. While at Black and Decker, Mr. Espinosa was responsible for leading the company’s ERP implementation at the Mexican operation and influencing Black & Decker U.S. operations to employ the same program in four factories.
Mr. Espinosa has also worked with Wal-Mart México (formerly Aurrerá Group) and Chrysler México.
Mr. Espinosa holds a BA in Mechanical Engineering and a master’s degree in Systems Planning from La Salle University in Mexico, as well as a master’s degree in Operations Research from Lancaster University in the United Kingdom.
Ricardo Lago
Consultant
Ricardo Lago comes to Lean Value Chain Consulting de México with deep expertise in leveraging information technology for lean transformation. Most recently, Mr. Lago participated in lean transformation programs in the US, Mexico, Latin America and China, helping to implement strategies that integrate IT systems with lean principles to support business process change.
Mr. Lago worked previously for Applica Consumer Products Inc. in Mexico, where he served as ERP Leader for the lean manufacturing transformation of six of Applica’s factories in China. In addition, he was responsible for the entire IT operation of Applica México, including inventory control, planning and supplier audit. He also helped to drive cultural change within company management, enabling acceptance of IT to support, rather than replace, management control.
Mr. Lago earned a BA in Electronic Engineering specializing in Digital
Systems from Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Mexico, and completed master’s
degree studies in IT Management from Monterrey Institute of Technology in Mexico.
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