Rafael Lucero

LEAD Associate - Spain

Rafael, M.S. Industrial Engineer from the UPV (Universidad Politecnica de Valencia, Spain) and Master Degree in Logistics and Supply Chain Management from the ISEL, has had extensive experience in manufacturing companies prior to its consulting life. He worked in Ford of Spain, Huhtamaki Spain and Faurecia Spain and reinforced its logistics and supply chain management knowledge and started to practice in some different aspects of the Lean Manufacturing Culture. He strongly believes Lean Manufacturing or TPS (Toyota Production System) should be called Thinking People System, because it's the main point to have a sustainable and really profitable Continuous Improvement Program.

Rafael has successfully trained and implemented Lean to both multinational corporations and also local small and medium enterprises.

The companies he works with attain a clear return on investment (5:1 minimum) through major productivity gains, inventory reduction, lead time reduction and overall bottom line improvements. To get these types of results, the entire enterprise was examined using Value Stream Mapping covering all facets of the organization including production, scheduling, purchasing, maintenance, logistics, in office department and production.

Rafael has successfully implemented (with his enthusiastic teams) and taught:

• 5S and Visual Factory


• Value Stream Mapping


• SMED


• Kaizen Events


• Hoshin Planning


• Kanban Systems


• Lean Material Handling Systems


• Total Productive Maintenance (TPM)


• PDCA


• OEE-Based Improvement Programs

Rafael has worked with lots of companies at various stages of their Lean journey in some different business sectors. He has worked with plastic injection, plastic extrusion, food and beverage processors, concrete products, automotive, packaging, ceramic industry, chemical industry, metal, distribution and logistics operations.

Some of the clients he has worked with include Coca Cola, Ford of Spain, PSA (Peugeot Citroen Spain), Ferro, Faurecia Spain, Biomet Europe, Huhtamaki Spain, Mapa Spontex Spain, SP Berner Plastic Group, Lladro, Alicorp , Grefusa, Grupo Pescanova, Cerámicas Gaya, Plasbel Plásticos, Industrias Ochoa, Industrias J. Ferrer, Sistema Azud, Micuna, Grupo Alpuch, Osborn International, SOR Ibérica, Chuyval Motor Group.

Rafael is fluent in English and native Spanish.