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Saverio Pota, Senior Consultant

With over 25 years of practical experience in various industries, both manufacturing and non-manufacturing, (healthcare, government, justice, logistics/distribution) Saverio (Sav) Pota has a unique ability to “make complicated systems simple” using Lean. His passion has always been to pass on this ability to adapt and apply Lean to challenging situations and to others.

Sav’s Lean experience includes many sectors – manufacturing, healthcare, college/educational institutes, government, design/architecture and service. From his early days in the electrical industry where traditional production management (e.g. EOQ and the big batch) was prevalent, he saw firsthand how North American companies latched onto individual concepts, such as Just In Time (JIT), which led to disappointment because benefits could not be sustained. Sav then worked in the Auto Industry where he was first indoctrinated in the Deming management philosophy. This led to an understanding on how company culture is a fundamental requirement for sustaining continuous improvement.

Subsequently, Sav worked for a major Crown Service Corporation where Lean was introduced as a new direction (a direction that lives on 15 years later).The basic principles of Lean, (Define Value, Map the Value Stream, Make in Flow, Pull and Perfection) became the driving force for both cost and service improvements. Mapping the Value Stream clearly identifies the end-to-end flows of a product or service and is paramount for any sustainable improvements. Sav also led a major initiative (Kaikaku) in a product processing overhaul, but more importantly he led a team of his peers in the development of a Value Stream Management organization. Sav believes that it is imperative to have internal value stream owners to ensure that Lean becomes imbedded into the culture of any organization.

Sav’s work continued into the private courier industry, where he planned and managed the start up of new facilities based on Lean principles. As a director at a major North American transportation company, he applied the concepts of Lean in the creation of their long-term vision. This vision was the guiding principle of their business transformation initiative.

Recently, he was part of the design team for the new Children’s Hospital in Saskatchewan. He led teams comprising of Ministry reps, Hospital leaders /staff and designers to analyze existing processes and establish new, more efficient , flexible flows throughout the facility that would be incorporated into the design of the future hospital.

Presently, he is working with several Health Regions in Ontario, College Administrations and Municipality Administrations to transform them using Lean.

As an owner/partner in a manufacturing company, Ontario, he has also managed to benefit from Lean principles. Significantly growing his own company over the years. This company has survived and thrived even throughout the latest recession.

A graduate of Industrial Engineering from the University of Toronto, Sav has furthered his professional development by keeping abreast of manufacturing management techniques by attending seminars and conferences. Sav even had the opportunity to attend a Deming seminar lectured by Dr. W. Edwards Deming. He led a presentation at the "Lean Summit" in Atlanta, Georgia, plus was asked to present at two other Lean Manufacturing Conferences hosted by the Institute for International Research. He was also a co-presenter, with his Lean Advisors colleague Mike Boucher, at the ASQ conference .

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