top of page

Meet The Team

 

The Lean Quest Team is a group of dedicated, determined, and deeply experienced individuals who specialize in the optimization of entire supply chains for our Clients using Lean Methods while training our Clients to be self-sufficient in the implementation of Lean Methods. We have engaged with clients in a variety of industries and departments. Check out our clients page for details. Although we cover all aspects of Lean Design, we specialize in the following:

  • Business Plan development and deployment

  • Operational efficiency design and modeling - Current and new facilities; process and storage 

  • KPI development and deployment

  • Lead-time and inventory reduction strategies

  • Continuous Improvement workshops - Problem Solving

  • Organizational Culture design and development

  • Strategic thinking and planning

  • Value stream mapping

Chuck Emery
Chuck Pic.png
Chuck Emery

Managing Partner

GetLeanCertified.png

Contact Chuck

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Lean Quest

16541 Gothard Street

Suite 105

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Tel: 310.629.3233

Chuck gained his Lean knowledge and experience working for 16 years in the Information Systems Department of Toyota where he acted as an internal consultant for the Service Parts Logistics Division. In addition to consulting, during this tenure, he was responsible for the design, development and implementation of systems that supply service parts throughout the United States and North America. Chuck has a number of major accomplishments focused on Lean Methods, with highlights including:

  • Managed a project to design and develop an automated warehouse control system, which provided Toyota with its most automated distribution center in the world.           

  • Managed a 50-person-year project to design and develop a warehouse management system for Toyota's largest distribution centers in the world with complete integration of Lean methods.           

  • Led efforts to create and implement department wide Education and Training Strategies, to re-skill over 500 associates, which was a model for creating University of Toyota.           

  • Developed business and technology strategy, including integration of lean concepts, for Toyota's North American Service Parts Division.           

  • Provided supply chain solution strategies for Toyota's B2B Internet spin-off (iStarSystems).  

 

Since starting Lean Quest in 2002, Chuck has worked with clients implementing Lean in their organizations across many industries and departments.

David Graham
Dave Graham
Dave Graham

Managing Partner

GetLeanCertified.png
LEI Cert Trainer 2.png

Contact Dave

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Lean Quest

16541 Gothard Street

Suite 105

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Tel: 949.254.0659

Dave gained his Lean knowledge and experience working for 17 years at Toyota Motor Sales in the Customer Service Division implementing Lean across the aftermarket parts supply chain and distribution operations.

  • Implementation of Lean Concepts in multiple distribution center environments

  • Piloting and rolling out Lean outbound supply chain concepts from distribution centers through dealership inbound and storage operations

  • Continuous Improvement Training and Development of divisional groups

  • Design, launch, and operations of both North American Parts Centers including inbound from Suppliers 

 

Since starting Lean Quest in 2002, Dave has worked with clients implementing Lean in their organizations across many industries and departments.

  • Development and execution of a Lean warehouse network strategy for a $4 billion aftermarket network.  

  • Lean Operations implementation resulting in productivity improvements of 15%+, space reductions of 30% - 50%, improved quality by as much as 50%, improved delivery compliance of 25% - 50%, reduced staffing by as much as 20% and improved morale by as much as 93%.

  • Value Stream continuous improvement activities resulting in value stream lead time reductions of 25% - 75%.

  • Design and delivery of workshops for the Lean Enterprise Institute and Georgia Institute of Technology.  

Alan Noss
Alan Noss

Managing Partner

GetLeanCertified.png
LEI Cert Trainer 2.png

Contact Alan

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Lean Quest

16541 Gothard Street

Suite 105

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Tel: 949.254.0269

Alan consciously used his Toyota years to prepare for a consulting career, dedicating 13 years in Toyota’s transforming $3 billion Service Parts Logistics Division. During his tenure, he was responsible for on-going training, development, and implementation of Lean methods throughout the supply chain.

  • Implemented the first regional rollout of JIT deliveries to the dealership level. This resulted in shorter order lead times, reduced dealer inventory levels, and improved dealer operational efficiencies generating annual savings exceeding $250,000 per dealership. 

  • Managed configuration and quality control of advanced planning software for Toyota’s B2B internet spin-off (iStarSystems) which focused on delivering advanced supply chain planning capabilities to automotive service parts industry.

  • Led two distribution centers in the implementation of Pull System and Lean concepts to achieve operational efficiencies. Trained operations management in the development of strategies and plans for implementing lean concepts resulting in productivity gains of 25%.
     

Since starting Lean Quest in 2002, Alan has worked with clients implementing Lean in their organizations across many industries and departments.

  • Lead consultant for the implementation of an enterprise-wide Lean program including project delivery and capability build for a $16 billion insurance and financial institution based in Australia. The program ran for 4 years covering all business units within the organization with the aim of improving business processes and customer experience. Some of the results included reducing claims data entry times by up to 20% through reducing non-value-added activities, improving quality of data entry of claims by 50% through the implementation of Standard Work, reducing the amount of work in-process by 20%, and improving the customer satisfaction of brokers by reducing turn-around for underwriting queries.

  • Mapped end-to-end claim processing Value Streams to identify opportunities to improve customer satisfaction, improve productivity, and reduce overall processing times. Results were a reduction of 25% in total annual labor hours, reduced processing time by 80%, and higher customer satisfaction from improved service availability.

Luis E. Quinones
Luis E. Quiñones

Senior Manager

GetLeanCertified.png
Mopar.png
LEI Cert Trainer 2.png

Contact Luis

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Lean Quest

16541 Gothard Street

Suite 105

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Tel: 321.332.4700

Luis’s practical experience spans for over 16 years in the warehousing and distribution industry with 14 focusing on Lean Implementation. His Lean Foundation was established while at Toyota's North American Parts Operations Division for over six years followed by seven plus years dedicated to deploying Lean at Chrysler's Mopar Distribution Network.

  • Key member in the network's largest Parts Distribution Center and in the planning and launch of both National Parts Centers'.  

  • Completed two nine-month apprenticeships with Toyota Motor Corporation's Japanese warehouse experts that included visits to Toyota operations in Japan.​

  • Responsible for the establishment of Mopar's first Lean Model, Lean Deployment through the NAFTA Distribution Network, and establishing Mopar's only US Commingled (Mopar & Mercedes Benz) site in Orlando, Florida into the new Lean Benchmark.  

  • Key leader in establishing an unprecedented relationship between the International UAW and Senior Management resulting in Benchmark Lean Language written into the 2003 National Contract and then enhanced in the 2007 National Contract.

 

Since joining Lean Quest in 2008, Luis has worked with clients implementing Lean in their organizations across many industries and departments.

  • Lead a major re-design of the outbound process (order release to delivery) of a worldwide operation supplying aircraft emergency and maintenance parts

  • Key member in the design, launch, and stabilization of over 5 new distribution centers with various clients

  • Project manager and lead in six-month project to reduce cost and eliminate off-site storage space in Mexico distribution center. Results:  Improved storage density over 50% and increased outbound productivity by over 100%.

Scott Hans
Scott Hans.png
Scott Hans

Senior Manager

GetLeanCertified.png

Contact Scott

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Lean Quest

16541 Gothard Street

Suite 105

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Tel: 810.347.6262

Prior to joining Lean Quest, Scott worked for over 35 years in Supply Chain leadership roles primarily in the automotive industry. The foundation of his Lean knowledge and execution experience was built during the nearly ten years he spent with Toyota in their North American Service Parts organization.

 

  • While at Toyota he led the Supply Chain Management team responsible for the implementation of daily ordering of North American sourced service parts including Logistics design, Supplier Development activities, and procurement interface. 

  • With Toyota he also was a key leader at multiple distribution centers executing the principles of lean and continuous improvement under the umbrella of the Toyota Production System (TPS)
     

In his nearly 25 years with General Motors he held a broad range of Supply Chain leadership roles continuing to drive lean execution and continuous improvement including:

 

  • Leading the North American Operations of all Distribution Centers for GM Service Parts

  • Leading the Global Supply Chain organization responsible for all Service Parts forecasting, scheduling, and delivering around the Globe.

  • Additionally, he held both North American and Global leadership roles in Distribution Operations, Logistics, Manufacturing Materials Management, and Lean Warehouse Operations driving lean thinking and execution.

 

Scott joined Lean Quest in 2020 and his experience has already allowed him to make an impact with our clients and generate positive results on several key projects.

Mike Spalding
Mike Spalding

Senior Consultant 

GetLeanCertified.png
Mopar.png
MS Bio.png

Contact Mike

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Lean Quest

16541 Gothard Street

Suite 105

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Tel: 512.767.8345

Mike gained his Lean knowledge and experience working for over 25 years in Warehousing, Distribution and Supply Chain Management. During that time, he gained IT experience as a Business Systems Analyst responsible for the design, development and implementation of Global Warehouse Management Systems, Productivity Tracking Tools, Storage Analysis and Design Programs and Supply Chain Optimization Tools.

  • Played a key role in the development and installation of a new WMS for MBUSA OEM Parts Network and Supply Chain. 

  • At MB, he was responsible for all U.S. Parts Distribution Centers space utilization and process optimization as well as developing inventory control procedures to maximize fill rates and minimize carrying costs.

  • During his time at Chrysler LLC, he participated in launching Mopar’s first Model Parts Distribution Center using Lean Principles and deployed Lean Storage throughout 21 regional PDC’s and 4National PDCs.

  • While at Chrysler, he designed a Warehouse Productivity Tracking and Reporting database integrated with the WMS that was used at all 26 NAFTA Locations.  This tool was integrated into an IBM WMS and has now become a benchmark in distribution productivity tracking.

 

Since joining Lean Quest in 2010, Mike has focused on developing tools for use in operations that leverage Lean Thinking.

Guy Olivier
Guy Olivier

Senior Consultant

GetLeanCertified.png

Contact Guy

-------------------------------------------------------------------

Lean Quest

16541 Gothard Street

Suite 105

Huntington Beach, CA 92647

Tel: 916.704.4604

Guy gained his Lean knowledge and experience working for 25 years at Toyota and several other companies all focused in Lean Manufacturing and Engineering.  Since leaving Toyota in 1991, Guy has held increasingly more senior Management positions in diverse industries that include textiles, aerospace, medical, and semiconductors.

  • A graduate of the "Toyota Management" program, a 3-year, full-time program with an emphasis on management grooming and TPS (Toyota Production Systems).

  • Played a key role in turn-around campaigns at supplier factories acquired by Toyota, transforming "batch and queue" environments to JIT (Just-in-Time). 

  • As Vice President of Manufacturing and Services for an emerging aerospace OEM Composite Engineering Inc, Guy developed Lean manufacturing processes and assembly lines for jet powered UAVs (Unmanned Arial Vehicles) and other missile programs for the US Air Force and Navy. 

  • Led the implementation of new ERP systems, achieved ISO9001, ISO13485, & AS9100 certifications and simultaneously managed multiple facilities at the P&L level. 
     

In 2006, Guy launched his consulting career, helping commercial and government organizations alike streamline operations, improve quality, and eliminate waste across all aspects of business. With a focus on bottom line results, Guy has applied Lean thinking beyond the manufacturing floor to administrative, HR, NPD (New Product Development), and sales and even to project-based programs like ISO and EPR implementation, with great effect. Understanding the Lean change cycle and the dynamics of leadership and culture has become, and remains one of Guy's passions.

bottom of page