Mark Preston

Mark Preston is the president / CEO of Lean Applications LLC. For more information, call (404) 308-2898, email [email protected] or visit Leanapplications.io. Mark has been driving change in manufacturing, office, and sales environments for 35+ years. He is passionate about improving People, Processes, and Products. After graduating Georgia Tech, he studied kaizen manufacturing techniques in Japan with TDK. After 11 years with TDK, he then held various executive operations positions at Respironics / Phillips including setting up Global Sourcing for Respironics, creating the Respironics Supplier Development Program and heading the companies Asthma and Allergy Division. After 8 years, he became the director of Acuity Business System at Acuity Brands Lighting and later, Vice President of supplier development and operational excellence. After Acuity, Mark created his own company Lean Applications and continues to help companies all over the globe reach their potential for excellence. Mark was the Director of the AME (Association of Manufacturing Excellence) Champions Club and served on its national board. His book, “Southern Sensei,” takes readers on an engaging application-based approach to further their lean journey. Mark also helped write and launch the AME Lean Sensei Assessment, which helps companies assess their progress on their lean journey.

Articles

ARTICLES

Intro Image Quality Stream Map Pic 4
Management

Learning to See the Quality Stream

By creating the value stream map and overlaying each quality process, we were able to see missing data, key constraints, balance of labor, waste in each process and time constraints.
Mark Preston
July 27, 2025

A quality auditor would be amazed if they saw your entire system from supplier to customer on one wall or in one big picture. Details and improvements are then easy to assess for planned actions. Quality stream mapping helps any organization.


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