Seif Shieshakly
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Education
MBA – IMD Lausanne, Switzerland
BA Quantitative Economics and International Relations – Tufts University, MA, USA
Professional experience
Applying Lean principles to the implementation of a Continuous Improvement Process to the supply chain of Abdul Latif Jameel Co.Ltd., Saudi Arabia’s sole Toyota distributor, Seif developed his Toyota Way (トヨタウェイ) skills with the company that originated Lean as a modern business phenomenon. He then transferred to Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan, working for their Middle East division, managing Kaizen (改善) supply chain projects for the GCC region.
His next move was to Porsche Consulting, the Lean Management division of Porsche AG, Germany, where he specialised in transferring Lean Thinking from the automotive industry to other sectors. With a focus on establishing sustainable Continuous Improvement cultures, he successfully managed Lean Implementation in a diverse range of sectors, from FMCG to Logistics, Transportation and Automotive.
Setting up Four Principles with Patrick Wiebusch in 2010, Seif has overseen not only the successful delivery of Lean projects across a wide array of business sectors and territories, but also the growth of Four Principles to today’s status as one of the world’s leading exponents and pioneers of Lean Thinking and Implementation.
Four Principles specialist Lean experience
Aluminum, Automotive retail, Education, Financing and service, FMCG, Food and beverage, Government, Health care, Heavy industries, Information security, Paper, Printing and packaging, Private equity, Retail industries
Clients in
Saudi Arabia; China; Egypt; France; Japan; Lebanon; Switzerland; UAE
Patrick Wiebusch
Co-Founder & Managing Partner
Education
MBA – RSM Rotterdam, The Netherlands
BA in International Economics and Business Administration – The European Business Program, Munster, Germany
Professional experience
After graduating, Patrick joined Oliver Wyman / Mercer Management Consulting in Germany, where he worked with global names in Banking, Transportation, Automotive and Manufacturing. Upon completion of his MBA, he moved to Porsche Consulting, the Lean Management division of Porsche AG, Germany. Here, he focussed on transferring Lean Principles from the Automotive sector to other industries.
Working with Porsche Consulting, Patrick developed his expertise in Lean and Continuous Improvement Processes, becoming an expert in their implementation across a wide array of business sectors. Equipped with this knowledge, he set up Four Principles with Seif Shieshakly in 2010, leading successful Lean projects in a diverse range of industries and geographies, as well as establishing the business as one of today’s leading global specialists in Lean Thinking and Implementation.
Four Principles specialist Lean experience
Banking, Car rental, FMCG, Government, Health care, Heavy industries, Paper, Printing and packaging, Private equity, Retail, Security, Transportation
Clients in
Saudi Arabia; China; Egypt; France; Lebanon; Qatar; Switzerland; UAE
Mehdi Chelhi
Partner
Education
MSc in Strategy and Marketing – HEC, Paris, France
Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering – INSA, Rouen, France
Professional experience
Joining CSC Peat Marwick’s consulting business unit in Paris after graduating, Mehdi acquired vast experience in cross European strategy and management assignments for a variety of global names in Banking, Telecoms, Utilities and Manufacturing. Moving into Lean Management with the same company, he gained Lean Six Sigma certification before embarking on a career in which he applied his skills across a diverse array of business sectors and countries.
Mehdi went on to undertake a wide range of projects for CSC Peat Marwick, including the Lean transformation of a global telecoms carrier to implement sustainable growth, profitability and competitiveness, as well as high profile Lean programmes in Sales, Marketing, Global Procurement, IT and Operations.
Four Principles specialist Lean experience
Automotive retail, Car rental, Financing and service, FMCG, Government, Healthcare, Transportation, Utilities
Clients in
Saudi Arabia; Bahrain, Kuwait
Manuel Silva
Principal
Education
Masters Degree in Logistics – Villanueva University, Spain
Industrial Engineering Degree – Panamericana University, Mexico
Professional experience
Manuel’s working life started as a process and quality technician for a foundry, a role he carried out during the latter stages of his Engineering Degree course. This brought him into contact with metal transformation processes suitable for the automotive industry – experience he built on in his next role as a quality assurance engineer for an automotive TIERI rubber supplier in Mexico, where he oversaw implementation of QS-9000.
He then went on to specialise in Continuous Improvement Processes and supply chain optimisation in automotive, logistics, manufacturing and retail industries in Spain. Subsequent career moves spanned IVECO in the automotive industry as well as some of Spain’s leading logistics companies and textile brands. In this time, Manuel developed a wide range of skills, including Lean logistics process improvements, automated solutions and Lean marketing and sales – a range of skills he now brings to bear with Four Principles’ client portfolio.
Four Principles specialist Lean experience
Aluminum, Automotive retail, Car rental, Consumer goods, Distribution, Financial services, FMCG, Food and beverage, Government, Glass, Heavy industries, Logistics, Paper, Petrochemical, Printing and packaging, Security, Supply chain
Clients in
Saudi Arabia; Kuwait; Morocco; Spain; UAE
James Ryan
Senior Advisor
Education
MSc in Engineering Design – Loughborough University, UK
BEng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering – Coventry University, UK
Professional experience
James started his career as a technician in industry whilst studying towards his degree. After ten years working in Europe and the US as a development engineer for the likes of Mercedes Benz, Chrysler and Smart, he joined Porsche Consulting, the Lean Management division of Porsche AG in Germany. Specialising in Automotive, Aerospace, Electronics, Manufacturing and Software, James spent several years honing his skills with Porsche Consulting, focussing – and publishing articles – on Lean Enterprise, Lean Management and Lean Development.
He then joined Four Principles, bringing his diverse skillset to Lean projects across a wide variety of clients and sectors, not only as a Lean specialist, but also as a Chartered Engineer and Member of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.
Four Principles specialist Lean experience
Aviation, Dairy, FMCG, F&B, Government, Healthcare, Heavy industries, Manufacturing and assembly, Petrochemical, Printing and packaging, Transportation, Utilities
Clients in
Saudi Arabia; Bahrain; Ireland; Kuwait; Qatar; UAE
Mohamed El Aouad
Associate Director
Education
MSc in Strategy and International Management – ESSEC Business School, Singapore
Master in Industrial Engineering (specialising in Quality Management for Manufacturing Processes) – Ecole des Mines, Douai, France
Professional experience
Mohamed’s professional career started with Wavestone in Paris where he assisted large financial services companies in assessing the efficiency of their processes and enhancing the performance of their organization. After that he joined GEP in London, where he worked on European procurement and supply chain consultancy. Applying Lean Management principles to reduce raw materials waste, optimise SKUs and achieve significant procurement savings, Mohamed helped a global chemical company to rationalise packaging materials for its operations in Denmark, France and Germany. His role with GEP also saw him assist a UK based financial services provider in optimising its facilities management service specification, using Lean Principles to eliminate all over-specification and waste, resulting in significant improvements to bottom line profitability.
Mohamed’s experience also includes working for Accenture where he led engagements for public sector clients in GCC region covering strategy development as well as operating model design for newly established entities.
During his experience with Four Principles Mohamed supported various clients in KSA in improving their processes using Lean methodologies. Recently he has helped a large financial institution set-up an operational excellence team which is delivering strategic initiatives that are creating significant cost savings and enhancing customer experience.
Four Principles Specialist Lean Experience
Government, Assembly, Automotive retail, Financing and service, FMCG, F&B, Healthcare, Heavy industries, Logistics, Manufacturing
Clients in
Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Morocco
Rauf Elgamati
Director Digital Transformation
Education
Bachelors Degree in Business & Computer Science – Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
Professional experience
Rauf began his career with PwC as a Consultant in IT Risk Assurance before entering the Digital Trust practice, as a Senior Consultant. From here, he progressed over the years to become a Senior Manager within the Digital Trust practice. His role contributed to the overall strategic direction for the practice determining the target markets, priority clients and key propositions. Rauf helped to grow the practice revenue by 45%, introducing innovative propositions and delivery models, leading high impact technology consulting projects and providing services across IT governance, IT risk and compliance, cybersecurity and digital transformation.
Rauf exited PwC to join Swvl, a tech start-up which became the first Middle East US$1.5bn unicorn to list on the NASDAQ, as Head of Enterprise IT – Director. Here he led the global enterprise IT team across 9 countries, developed and executed a comprehensive enterprise IT strategy, the IT governance framework, the IT SOX compliance program, and led the end-to end digitalisation initiatives.
Four Principles Specialist Lean Experience
Banking, eCommerce, Education, Government, Transport, Retail
Clients in
Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates
Fabio Menegon
Director Private Equity
Education
Masters Degree in Lean Management – CUOA Business School, Vicenza, Italy
MSc in Business Engineering – Udine University, Italy
Professional experience
After graduating, Fabio first applied his Lean expertise at Carel Industries in Padova, Italy. A global HVAC/R business, his work for Carel enabled him to apply a complete Lean transformation as part of the company’s internal support team, a project which involved dealing with both direct and indirect processes. Having completed his work at Padova, Fabio was tasked with similar Lean transformations at Carel’s plants in Suzhou, China and Lancaster, in Philadelphia, USA – two contrasting cultures which gave him an invaluable insight into how Lean is applied and adopted in very different geographies within a single global enterprise.
After seven years with Carel, Fabio then joined global home appliances manufacturer Whirlpool Corporation. Here, he applied Lean in improving strategic supplier integration and performance, managing the company’s EMEA Supplier Integration Programme for two years before leaving to join Four Principles.
Four Principles specialist Lean experience
FMCG, F&B, Plastic molding, HVAC, Electronics, Home appliances, Aluminum, Glass, Paper, Optic fibers, Wire harness, Dairy, Education, Printing and packaging, Government, Health care, Heavy industries, Light industry, Manufacturing and assembly, Distribution, Retail, Corporate social responsibility, Building maintenance, Telecom, Trading industries, Construction, Apparel, Embroidery, Oil & Gas
Clients in
Saudi Arabia; Bahrain; Egypt; Kuwait; Qatar; Morocco; Spain; UAE