Overview
LGN has been serving the African market with the establishment of an institute in South Africa in 2009. We are in the process of developing working relationships with lean practitioners, universities and associations throughout Africa with our partners, primarily in the area of healthcare. We recognize there is growing interest in the region for more lean knowledge and technical support.
Our goal for advancing lean thinking and practice throughout Africa is to identify like-minded lean thinkers and practitioners and facilitate connections and learning opportunities among interested companies, institutions and individuals. Our approach is to provide a unified and coordinated strategy to advance lean thinking in the region through selective education and awareness activities, as well as engage in co-learning projects and partnerships.
Our development activities in Africa are led by Rose Heathcote of Lean Institute Africa who focuses on Central and South Africa and Yalcin Ipbuken of Lean Institute Turkey who focuses on Northern Africa.
If you or your organization would like to learn more about our activities in Africa, please contact us at info@leanglobal.org or reach out to Anton or Yalcin directly.
Leadership Team
Anton Grutter
Director
anton.grutter@gsb.uct.ac.zaAnton Grütter has taught operations management at a number of South African universities for many years and recently in China as well. He has trained and advised on process improvement and organisational transformation for more than 25 years and did his PhD research on the effectiveness of the implementation of lean practices at medium-sized manufacturers. At present most of his work is on learning how to deploy sustainable lean management systems in the justice and healthcare systems in the South African public sector.
Yalcin Ipbuken
President
yipbuken@lean.org.trYalcin Ipbuken is president of the Lean Institute Turkey, which joined the LEI global network of nonprofit affiliates in May 2002.
In July 1998, he organized the Lean Summit Turkey, a two-day conference drawing more than 500 attendees and speakers, including keynoters Jim Womack and Dan Jones.
In his previous thirty-year career with the KOC Group in Turkey, Yalcin led the group?s internal consulting division and its external search for new ideas and trends. He helped develop consulting services to improve the performance of individuals, groups, and organizations.
Earlier with KOC, he managed projects that improved the productivity of Group companies and played a significant role in the formation of KOC human resource policies. He also played a key role in coordinating total quality efforts at KOC for almost 10 years.
As assistant to the president of KOC Holding, he led long-term research projects on the automotive industry in Turkey. This was a natural result of his early involvement in TOFAS, the first mass producer of automobiles in Turkey, as company personnel and industrial relations manager for 12 years.
Ipbuken learned the coal trading and textile raw materials businesses as the Middle East representative for the Kofisa Trading Co. The position took him to Iran, Iraq, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia and gave him valuable experience working with people from different cultures, religions, and backgrounds.
He learned American business methods during the six years he was the personnel and administrative supervisor for the Tumpane Company, which was a contractor to the American military in Turkey.
Ipbuken received a law degree from Istanbul University Law School.
He currently serves on the boards of the Turkish Olympic Committee and the Turkish Quality Association.
Other Regional Initiatives
