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About Us Principals Frank J. Ficken Managing Director - Lean Implementation and Education Services Frank has been implementing Lean Manufacturing principles in a wide variety of manufacturing environments for over 22 years. He was among the earliest Americans to study Lean techniques inside Japanese factories in the 1980’s. A former General Manager and Vice President of Manufacturing, Frank began consulting over 16 years ago. In that time, he has built a successful record with such firms as Ford Motor Company, Cooper Industries, United Technologies, Broan-Nutone, Amoco and Teledyne Electronics as well as scores of smaller companies. Frank focuses on manufacturing operations, supply chain rationalization and logistics and distribution systems. Frank has authored numerous articles and is a frequent industry presenter on Lean Manufacturing, Lean Supply Chain and Lean Distribution topics. He is also a Six Sigma Black Belt and a member of the Turnaround Management Association.
Gilbert S. Staffend Managing Director - Technology, Systems, Six Sigma Quality Gil’s consulting career includes two decades within Ford and Honeywell where he solved global manufacturing problems in over 130 plants from small to large, in a spectrum of industries from basic manufacturing to advanced technologies. Gil also served as the Corporate Manager of Advanced Manufacturing Technology for Allied Signal - Automotive Group. As an internal and an external consultant for Honeywell, he gained even wider experience with clients including Saturn, Alison Gas Turbine, GE Aircraft Engine Build Group, John Deere, Fort James Papers and many others. Gil’s competence includes finance, engineering, quantitative methods including simulation, CAD/CAM, product planning and design, networking, and strategic information technology from embedded systems to the largest data centers. Gil also received Six Sigma Black Belt training at Motorola Corporation. Gil was previously a member of the Manufacturing Studies Board of the National Research Council and also the National Association of Manufacturers - Technology Policy Committee.
Ann A. Hoewing Managing Director - Organizational and Strategic Development Services Ann is a results-oriented organization development consultant with expertise in design, facilitation and coaching. For the past 10 years she has worked with executive leadership to set a strategic course and align needed organizational support and infrastructure for success, surfacing and challenging entrenched assumptions to unblock growth. Her designs and facilitation partner substantial process skills with collaborative approaches that address multiple agendas and conflict inherent in complex issues, leverage real-time issues, provide practice and reinforcement of new behaviors and structures, broaden involvement, and build consensus and commitment. She has experience across a spectrum of contexts when either continuous improvement or discontinuous change is required. |
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