Mark Forkun

Mark is the co-founder and President of The Lean Leadership Way Institute, which has offices in the United Kingdom and Poland.

The experience he brings to clients is based on his work experience at Toyota UK, (where he led the  World-Class Leadership Development Programme for two production plants, which included Team leaders and well as Section Managers) and implementing Lean business strategies in over 140 companies (SMEs to large organisations) predominantly in the manufacturing, production, and logistics sectors.  Automotive, steel, aluminium, cutting tools, printing, food processing, cosmetics, packaging, logistics, and retail… to name a few sectors.

Mark is a Genba Coach and trainer/Sensei in Lean based on the Toyota Production System – TPS and has delivered over 1000 assignment projects focusing on such Key Performance Indicators – KPI, as, Building a Quality Assurance Culture based on the right right-first-time principles, improving lead-times and On-time-In-Full Deliveries to clients, Kanban and visual management systems, Onboarding and many other necessary tools and principles based on his experience and understanding of TPS.

Because of his unique experience, Mark is able to assess a company’s pain quickly from a one-day Genba visit and outline a program for improvement. Due to his time at Toyota and the many senior management positions he has held, Mark is very experienced in being able to build the right Lean Culture, which every organisation needs today, as well as deliver financial results.

Over the years, he has privatised 19 companies and placed two on Stock Exchanges in London and Warsaw, Poland. His formula is based on Habits, tools, and principles derived from TPS and the assumption that most people need Genba Coaching and mentoring to bring our their true potential.

Mark holds an Engineering degree as well as an MBA from the OU Oxford and was for over 17 years a fellow of the International Accounting Association ACCA. Mark has worked as Finance Director and Managing Director for numerous industries. He has spent a considerable amount of time developing leaders and managers in production, quality, planning, logistics, purchasing, maintenance, design, technology, finance, and sales.

He works with clients directly as a Genba Coach and Advisor to the Management Board, as well as a Sensei trainer with Managers and Supervisors. His work also includes holding Supervisory Board positions as well as acting as an Advisor and Mentor to Supervisory Board members.

He was the first person in Poland to introduce the concept of 5S and Visual Management to companies in the automotive industry. Over the last few years, Mark has written two books and compiled over 140 blogs which you can find on his Linkedin.com site as well as here on our website under ‘Yokoten blogs”. Recently, due to the privilege Mark has in working with Ex-Toyota Top Leadership, he has been able to bring to clients the true understanding of such concepts as Andon, Kaizen, cost-of-one-unit, KPI and Daily Management Systems, kanban, and Employee Engagement and their impact on quality assurance, building a lean culture and delivering exceptional business results.

He was also the first person, following the book author and Mark’s Sensei, to introduce the notion of the Two-wheel concept which is key to understanding how to implement a true TPS (lean) culture that brings people development and business excellence into one program.

He is a UK and Polish National. His passion is working with people to bring out the hidden potential to continuously improve beyond their expectations and find meaning and purpose in their work. Mark enjoys kite surfing, sailing, and winter skiing with his family.

Małgorzata Orzeł

Partner at the LLW Institute. Practitioner and Business Advisor with 15 years of experience. Specializes in the implementation of Hoshin Kanri, which is the process of long-term strategy planning and implementation, as a key element in lean transformation.

Małogosia had a significant impact on the Transformation and Privitisation of several very large industrial production companies whilst at Authur Andersen and Anderson Consulting.

Her formative years she has held Senior Director roles at Skanska Construction as well as Advisory and Consultant to mid-sized private companies in Strategy development and deployment.

Małgosia also supports Senior Management in personal development as a Coach and Mentor.

She is very active in almost all water-sports as well as down-hill Skiing and snowboarding.

Nigel Golden

Senior Production Manager at Toyota Motor UK. Working with and for companies like Toyota, Volkswagen, London Underground, BAE systems, Highways England, and Jaguar Land Rover i have cross industry Using many years of experience in the use of Lean tools and development of people with the focus on improving shareholder value. Attended and passed Lean training courses at the Toyota Japan facility in Lean with the emphasis on turning the learning into Gemba activities and sustainable improvements on delivering both personal and business improvements. Specializes in Onboarding, Lean Management, Hoshin Kanri, Shop floor Visual Management.