We Know Lean Business Consulting, Strategy & Training
Lean Horizons Consulting has partnered with enterprises in all industries and all parts of the world to unleash the full power of Lean. Prior to founding Lean Horizons Consulting, Mark DeLuzio dramatically shifted the balance in an increasingly competitive environment as the architect of the Danaher Business System.
Over the years we have built a field force of internationally experienced industry professionals who understand Lean principles and the ability to put them to work—from manufacturing and consumer services to healthcare, financial services, private equity, and oil and gas. Some excel in execution. Others in consulting. Our ability to do both is a unique combination and strength, because companies who commit to a real transformation need both
Our seasoned executives, mentored by Taiichi Ohno’s Autonomous Study Group, bring deep content knowledge and experience-based competencies in strategy, supply chain and logistics, organization design and Lean process transformations. Having actually planned and integrated enterprise-wide Lean business systems in our former professional domains, we dramatically improve our clients’ success. We’ve been there and done that; we know what to do, and perhaps more importantly, what not to do.
In our growth, we’ve never compromised quality or sidestepped our commitment to abide by the Toyota Production System fundamentals. Our diligence not only places stringent requirements on us, it also provides you with end-to-end solutions and the ability to build a lean business that can respond resolutely to whatever the world throws at it.
Meet Our Global Management Team
Mark DeLuzio, Founder & CEO
Mark DeLuzio—known as a pioneer of Lean and the principal architect of the Danaher Business System—serves as a trusted advisor to senior leaders in global manufacturing organizations whose financial and operations metrics have flatlined. Leveraging his unmatched and inventive experience, Mark helps them think differently about how to optimize their approach system-wide. For his winning record in transforming companies and facilitating non-zero sum game deals, Mark is also on the board of Hillenbrand Inc. (NYSE: HI).
While many know Lean in theory, Mark has lived it inside-out in practice. After developing the first Lean Accounting process in the US for Danaher’s Jake Brake Division—setting an industry standard many companies are still trying to replicate—Mark became the VP of Danaher Business Systems where he led its global deployment and enlightened Wall Street on its merits. Engaged intheir first study mission to Japan to learn from Toyota and its suppliers, he’s still mentored by the masters of the Toyota Production System today. Fundamental in Danaher’s recognition as the leading implementer of Lean, Mark founded Lean Horizons in 2001 to helm a global team that serves clients on five continents in both specific and broad business applications of Lean. Their hallmark project with GE’s Money Division—that generated $216m in its first year by reducing retail credit card processing approvals to one day from 63—was profiled in the Harvard Business Review. In 2007, Mark’s “Excellence in Manufacturing” contributions were recognized when he was inducted as a Life Member of the Shingo Prize Academy.
Whether through speaking, authoring, or service on corporate and non-profit boards, Mark’s passion for educating others is evident. Before relocating to Arizona to be closer to family, he spent eight years on the board of his alma mater’s school of business. Institutions like MIT’s Sloan School of Business, Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Business, and RIT have invited him to talk with their students about his experiences with DBS and Lean in order to deepen their understanding of what does and doesn’t add value.
Simon Zhang, Managing Director China
Simon Zhang has been involved in leading all aspects of the lean function with a specialty in leading the development and implementation of gemba kaizen and Lean Conversions for the past eight years out of a total 20 years working experience.
Mr. Zhang gained his Lean training while at Danaher Corporation (NYSE: DHR). He started his Danaher career at Videojet, and as the Danaher Business System (DBS) Leader he was responsible for driving DBS tool implementation and culture change in their China operations. The results that Mr. Zhang was able to produce at Videojet allowed him to be promoted to the Danaher Corporate office as the Danaher Business System Office Director, Asia. As the DBS Office Director, he played a pivotal role in leading the DBS implementation and creating financial benefits across multiple Danaher businesses.
Mr. Zhang is also a Master Black Belt in the following areas.
- Transactional Process Improvement (TPI)
- Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
- Standard Work
- 5S
- Danaher Material Process
- Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED)
- Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)
- Production Preparation Process (3P)
- and Variation Reduction
Mr. Zhang holds an MBA in Managing Science and Engineering from South China University of Technology and a Bachelor’s degree from Hebei Normal University.
Contact Simon Zhang:
simon.zhang@leanhorizons.com
+86.139.2699.4906
Ashok Puri, Managing Director India
Ashok Puri is the Managing Director, India with Lean Horizons Consulting. Mr. Puri has been working since 1987 as the Director of Project Consulting (Process/Hydro Carbon Sector) at JCE Engineering and Management Services, Ltd, and as the Managing Director of JCE Management Services Pvt Ltd since 2001. Mr. Puri has spent 11 years as the Director and four years as the India Head of Kaizen Institute India. He also has worked for 10 years at Engineers India Limited, a leading Indian Engineering Consulting Company.
Mr. Puri is experienced in Total Productive Maintenance (TPM), Total Quality Management (TQM), Just in Time (JIT), and Kaizen Management System (KMS). He has also been trained by Asian Productivity Organization in Japan, in “Management Consultancy for Productivity Improvement.”
Mr. Puri holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering, University of Delhi, as well as an MBA from Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi.
Contact Ashok Puri:
ashok.puri@leanhorizons.com
+91.114.162.9387
Joe Rutz – Managing Director
Joe has held senior leadership positions in Operations and Information Technology for various companies, including Danaher Corporation where he was a major contributor to the development of Danaher’s M&A Integration process and administrative lean, key components to the Danaher Business System. Joe’s exposure to lean started at American Precision Industries where he was responsible for implementation of Demand Flow Technology at 12 factories in North America and Europe. His experience expanded at Danaher Motion transformation. Joe’s experience was pivotal in the development of global process standardization and the implementation of Oracle for lean manufacturing for Danaher Motion’s factories worldwide. He has applied the lean concepts in Information Technology and administration processes and applied it the Oracle 11i “One Motion” project using VSM, TPI, Standard Work, and policy deployment. He has been trained by former members of Taiichi Ohno’s “Autonomous Study Group .”
Education:
BS Management – University of Central Florida
MS – Systems Management Florida Institute of Technology
Contact Joe Rutz:
joe.rutz@leanhorizons.com
+1.716.536.3790
Jim Hudson – Managing Director
As a managing director with Lean Horizons Consulting, Jim leads Lean transformation implementations. His ability to help senior leaders develop core competencies in Lean management principles has led to repeated success across all types of production, supply chain and office-based environments.
By specializing in leader-led culture shifts, Jim helps companies drive big changes using small leveraged habits. Whether you’re just starting or have extensive experience with Lean, Jim will take your management team from its current state to world class, industry-leading performance.
Education:
BS Engineering – United States Military Academy – West Point
MBA- Pepperdine University
Contact Jim Hudson:
jim.hudson@leanhorizons.com
+1.727.755.8995
Paul Meals – Managing Director
Paul Meals has cultivated his Lean expertise in key leadership roles in private and public sectors including union and non-union facilities. Paul has extensive experience with the Danaher Business System acquired during his decade of work at Jake Brake, the cornerstone for Lean, at Danaher. He has been mentored by the principles of Shingijutsu, the creators of the Toyota Production System. Paul’s broad business experience has allowed him to achieve sustainable, breakthrough results in Administration, Marketing, New Product Development, Finance and Manufacturing. Paul’s work includes automotive, aerospace, construction, health care, consumer goods, electrical and gun industries. His tacit knowledge has spanned over 40 years in various leadership positions including the creation, implementation and development of Lean Management Systems. His team based, collaborative approach to Lean has provided superior results throughout his career.
Education:
BS Business Administration – Western New England University
Dale Carnegie
Contact Paul Meals:
paul.meals@leanhorizons.com
+1.206.458.8446
Scott Baus – Managing Director
Scott Baus has become one of the worlds most respected Sensei’s mainly through his work as a Vice-president of Business Development with Simpler Consulting, Inc. (2002-2010), where he implemented projects for Singapore Ministry of Health, National Healthcare Society in UK, Joint Aviation Construction Corporation in Russia, Roscosmos, RZD, RosAtom, Sberbank of Russia and Standard Charter Bank in Asia, Ministry of Defense in UK and the Department of Defense in the United States. Scott has also worked with many Fortune 500 companies in developing company strategies and forming teams to transform the business. Scott has become one of a handful of lean Sensei’s worldwide who successfully translated Toyota’s manufacturing principles into other sectors and his work with the UK military remains a ‘benchmark’ for what lean transformation can achieve.
Having learned the Toyota Production System (TPS) from Shingijutsu during his time as a General Manager with the Boeing Company from 1984-2002. Scott occupied many different positions; Including General Manager over all Maintenance and Modification, Head of Production in Fabrication Division and Head of Production Control over a regional division. Scott was fortunate to learn 3P concepts (Production Preparation Process) from the inventor of 3P, Chihiro Nakao of Shingijutsu. Known as the “Father of Moonshine,” Nakao-San is, in our opinion, is the World’s foremost authority on Manufacturing Engineering and the Toyota Production System.
Education:
BS Engineering – Butler University
BS Management – Wichita University
Lean Six Sigma Black Belt – University of Tennessee
Contact Scott Baus:
scott.baus@leanhorizons.com
+1.210.214.9986
Clem Confessore– Managing Director
Clem Confessore is a Managing Director with Lean Horizons Consulting. Tutored by Toyota Production System (TPS) pioneers, including Shingijutsu, and engaging in the evolution of the Danaher Business System at Danaher Corporation, he has guided the implementation of Lean principles and strategies for over 20 years at over 65 sites.
Mr. Confessore’s career has featured a balance of results orientation with process-orientation and a dedication to continuous improvement. He has relentlessly pursued the elimination of waste through Lean, resulting in stunning improvements in quality, delivery, cost, and growth.
Mr. Confessore has held executive positions at multi-national corporations serving as Corporate Director of New Products Startup, VP Operations, VP Marketing and Sales, VP Continuous improvement, and CEO in the Consumer Products; Aerospace; Automotive; Defense; Test & Measurement; Machine tools; Armament; Computers and Peripherals; HVAC; and Power Generation industries. He has led an LBO and been a member of the C level team that led an IPO. Mr. Confessore led organizations awarded both the IBM and the Xerox Corporate Quality Performance Awards.
He has served on the Norwich University Board of Fellows and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award of that university. Mr. Confessore holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Norwich University, and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from Southwest University. He is a SME Certified Manufacturing Engineer.
Education:
BSME – Manufacturing Engineering – Norwich University
MBA – Norwich University
Lean Master Black Belt – Danaher Corporation
Contact Clem Confessore:
clem.confessore@leanhorizons.com
+1.845.988.7710
Uli Mueller – Managing Director, Lean Organizational Development
By way of coaching, consulting and project management Uli helps clients solve critical leadership, organizational development and change management needs as key enablers for future business growth. Taking a holistic and integrated diagnostics and development approach he ensures that all organizational drivers are well aligned with a client’s business strategy and built on foundational core values and competencies. Having “sat on the other side of the table” he quickly understands clients’ businesses, pain points and expectations while having the experience to deliver customized solutions with measurable impact to the bottom line.
Before transitioning into Consulting, Uli spent 25+ years in HR Leadership roles across a variety of industries such as Medical Devices, Life Sciences, Pharmaceuticals and the Industrial sector being located in Germany and later in the US. The last 14 years of his corporate career he was part of Danaher Corporation, a Fortune 150 Science & Technology company where – amongst other roles – he served as the VP Global Human Resources for Hach, a $1.2B Danaher operating company, and later as the VP Global Learning & Organizational Development for Danaher. Uli is fluent in the German and French languages.
Education:
BS – Business Administration – University of Bridgeport
BS – Human Resources Management – University of Wuerzburg (Germany)
Contact Uli Mueller:
uli.mueller@leanhorizons.com
+1.970.214.7299
Kerry Kovarik – Senior Consultant
Kerry Kovarik has had the opportunity to work for esteemed corporations such as Danaher, Stanley Black & Decker, Masco, Emhart, ITT and Mueller. Kerry’s roles in these companies were centered around engineering with the majority of his career serving in Senior Level Management roles. At Danaher, Kerry was introduced to the Toyota Production System and participated in study/competition tours in Japan with Shingijustu. Kerry was an instrumental member of the team that helped build and launch the Danaher Business System (DBS) in the Tool Group, which happened to be the largest division within Danaher at that time. DBS became the main catalyst in the turnaround of the Tool Group and the subsequent foundation for the significant growth and profitability of Danaher ever since. Kerry’s strengths lie in technical management and assembling high performing, lean, balanced & agile teams. Key Focus disciplines have been on such things as new product and process development; global supplier development; speed-to-market; DFM/DFMA; VE and Cost-out; supplier quality; New Product Introduction; elimination of waste; strategy development & deployment. Kerry’s work has become the subject as best-in-class for benchmarking specifically in the global supplier development and AME arenas. As a consummate team player Kerry’s passion is to work with technical groups and closely collaborate within the total company as well as with external supplier partners so that everyone wins.
Education:
BS – Industrial Engineering – Purdue University
Contact Kerry Kovarik:
kerry.kovarik@leanhorizons.com
+1.717.203.5266
Mohamed Saleh – Senior Consultant
Mohamed Saleh success is anchored in decades of hands-on Lean experience in healthcare, manufacturing, government and service sector most esteemed corporations. He’s an international speaker, writer, mentor, executive coach and an experienced trainer with the ability to relate to all levels within an organization. Mohamed’s roles in these companies were centered around Lean Transformation with the majority of his career serving in Senior Level Management roles. At Franklin Products, a supplier of Boeing and during his master’s program in Lean Management, Mohamed was introduced to the Toyota Production System and shadowed and was mentored by some of the very first Shingijustu disciples in the early 2000’s. Further enhanced by his 12 year tenure as Senior Sensei and Lean Executive architect at Hartford Healthcare, 18 years consulting experience on setting Lean visions, advising on Lean system designs and leading full enterprise-wide Lean Transformations in an array of industries as well as a decade teaching as part-time Professor in the School of Technology Management at Central Connecticut State University, he offers a unique perspective to developing win-win strategic partnerships, builds long lasting relationships on organizational heritage, depth in true principle based Lean architects and ability to drive cultural enterprise-wide Lean transformations that has astounding benefits and sustained long-term results.
Education:
BSME – Manufacturing Engineering – Central Connecticut State University
MSTM – Masters of Science in Technology Management – Central Connecticut State University
Phd. – Business Administration – Northcentral University
Contact Mohamed Saleh:
mohamed.saleh@leanhorizons.com
+1.203.464.9177
Kami Adkins – Consultant
Kami Adkins is our Strategy Deployment Consultant working with senior leadership teams to facilitate the development of company-wide strategic objectives, oversee the strategy deployment process and assist in building cultures to sustain continuous improvement. Ms. Adkins’ management style and team building skills positioned her in strategic leadership roles throughout her career building confidence and coordinating the administration of strategy deployment plans within many industries. Kami’s introduction to lean management practices began in 2000 in manufacturing and has expanded to include manufacturing, construction, education, retail, security exchange, energy and agricultural industries. She also is key in facilitating and supporting Lean Horizons’ Administrative Lean offerings. Prior to joining Lean Horizons Consulting, Kami held positions as EVP of Administration, Human Resource Director, Compliance and Operations Specialist, HSE Coordinator, Marketing Director, Sales Manager and Sole Proprietor/Entrepreneur.
Education:
BS Management – Stephen F. Austin State University
Contact Kami Adkins:
kami.adkins@leanhorizons.com
+1.936.554.5474