Oriol Cuatrecasas heads the Instituto Lean Management (ILM) in Barcelona, Spain. ILM Spain spreads Lean Thinking throughout Spain and collaborates with organizations in Spanish speaking countries to promote Lean activities.

President and founder of Lean Institute Brasil. Vice-chair of the Lean Global Network. Senior Advisor of the Lean Enterprise Institute in the U.S.A. One of the founders of the lean global movement. Speaker  in conferences and events in 26 countries. Researcher at the MIT project  that lead to the publication of the book “The Machine that changed the world” where the term lean was coined. Author of chapters of the Portuguese-language version of the books “The Machine that Changed the World” and “Lean Thinking” by Womack and Jones. Holds a B.S. in Production Engineering and a master’s degree and Ph.D. in Business Administration.

John Shook is recognized as a true sensei who enthusiastically shares his knowledge and insights within the Lean Community and with those who have not yet made the lean leap.

Shook learned about lean management while working for Toyota for nearly 11 years in Japan and the U.S., helping it transfer production, engineering, and management systems from Japan to NUMMI and subsequently to other operations around the world. While at Toyota’s headquarters, he became the company’s first American kacho (manager) in Japan. In the U.S., Shook joined Toyota’s North American engineering, research and development center in Ann Arbor, MI, as general manager of administration and planning. His last position with Toyota was as senior American manager with the Toyota Supplier Support Center in Lexington, KY, assisting North American companies implement the Toyota Production System. As co-author of Learning to See John helped introduce the world to value-stream mapping. John also co-authored Kaizen Express, a bi-lingual manual of the essential concepts and tools of the Toyota Production System. In his latest book Managing to Learn, he describes the A3 management process at the heart of lean management and leadership.

Shook is an industrial anthropologist with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Tennessee, a master’s degree from the University of Hawaii, and is a graduate of the Japan-America Institute of Management Science. He is the former director of the University of Michigan, Japan Technological Management Program, and faculty of the university’s Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering. Shook also helps companies learn lean management through the Lean Transformations Group, LLC, and the TWI Network, Inc.

Director - Lean Institute Brazil

Christopher Thompson has been disseminating and implementing lean thinking and practice for 14 years in Latin America as a member of the Lean Institute Brazil. He has supported more than 200 companies in their lean transformations covering sectors such as automotive, aeronautics, construction, metallurgical, food, pharmaceutical, technology, health, consumer, chemical and services. In recent years, it has been leading organizations through digital transformations using lean thinking. Has as a Master's Degree in Naval and Oceanic Engineering from the Polytechnic School of USP.