Meet Our Affiliates

Dr. Lluis Cuatrecasas heads the Instituto Lean Management (ILM) in Barcelona, Spain. ILM Spain spreads Lean Thinking throughout Spain and collaborates with organizations in Spanish speaking countries to promote Lean activities.

ILM Spain was founded in September 2006 by Dr. Cuatrecasas, who is an Industrial Engineer and Professor of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, Spain. At Catalonia, Dr. Cuatrecasas developed education and research activities in industrial management within the engineering schools and currently is the Director of the Business Administration Department of the University. Prior to 1986 he managed production in several industrial companies. Recently, he has been advising industrial companies (from a variety of industrial sectors) working with the Technologic Transfer Center of the University helping them adopt Lean concepts.

Dr. Cuatrecasas also managed several Master programs in the industrial knowledge fields at the Foundation of the Polytechnic University of Catalonia, where Lean culture has been a very important topic. Currently, the most important of these Master programs – known as Engiplant – is the most prestigious in Spain and throughout Spanish speaking countries (where several pupils come from), and is offered in five different locations in Spain.

Dr. Cuatrecasas has supported the advancement of industrial management research in Spain as a result of his consulting activities and through his study of the most advanced ten-dencies in management practice. As a consequence, he has published several books and articles in international research journals, and presented at major international congresses. In addition, he has been commissioned by publishers to review the translation into Spanish and prepare forewords for several books on Lean topics, including those written by the Jim Womack and Dan Jones. These activities covered most industrial management topics—process management, quality, logistics, maintenance, economics, etc. – as well as the Lean knowledge and topics frequently discussed over the past ten years. Dr. Cuatrecasas has received numerous awards for his written and oral communications.