Transform Operations.
Eliminate Waste.
Drive Results.
Two decades of aerospace industry expertise — from the brink of bankruptcy to billion-dollar success. I bring that same relentless pursuit of efficiency to your business.
Lean Cases For Change
70% of manufacturing sites use “Lean Manufacturing”, but most struggle to implement it properly.
- I bring two decades worth of experience growing my career within one of the biggest aerospace companies, where the Lean Operating System was foundational toward the culture of its people.
- The non-negotiable adoption of the Lean Operating System and its structured methods completely turned the company around, from being on the brink of bankruptcy, to becoming extremely profitable and ultimately being acquired. This engrained hunger to survive and a relentless pursuit to drive efficiency became forged within its culture.
- The company invested in every employee to be trained & fully empowered them to suggest improvements. Enterprise-wide metrics were also set for all organizations to contribute toward the desired culture. It was an incredible experience, where exponential results came about.
- I can help recreate this model for your business
Some businesses “talk the talk” of Continuous Improvement (CI) at a leadership level, but don’t actually “walk the walk” or demonstrate this throughout all levels of the organization.
- I’ve seen this disconnect first hand, where CI/Lean only applied to certain parts of the org… This provides mixed signals to employees, where only small pockets embrace it, while others never recognize it as a priority. This doesn’t lead to sustainable progress.
- I’ve also seen Lean fully embraced at the highest levels of leadership as an Operating System for their business.
- Organizations were properly staffed with Lean focals/facilitators/trainers.
- Salaried/office employees and all manufacturing teams were measured regularly on consistent metrics that resulted in an aligned culture, high morale, & superb business performance.
Small to medium manufacturers face lengthy deployment lead times, hidden integration costs, and hefty upfront capital investments… as barriers toward implementing automation.
- I help solve this by optimizing the current workforce first, then strategically introducing automation.
- I bring real aerospace industry experience in leading operations… from a cell level, to a multi-site program level, and as a site leader.
- I led a program that ramped production 3x in one year via industrialization, driving efficiency improvements, a relentless focus on quality/yield. We then introduced automation selectively in bottleneck areas and to meet shorter takt times.
- I led a program that reduced labor hours & defects by 50% in less than a year… while ramping production 25% & transitioning from a 3-shift to a 2-shift structure. We then introduced automation to eliminate safety risks & time consumed with tool movements.
70% of manufacturing sites use “Lean Manufacturing”, but most struggle to implement it properly.
- I bring two decades worth of experience growing my career within one of the biggest aerospace companies, where the Lean Operating System was foundational toward the culture of its people.
- The non-negotiable adoption of the Lean Operating System and its structured methods completely turned the company around, from being on the brink of bankruptcy, to becoming extremely profitable and ultimately being acquired. This engrained hunger to survive and a relentless pursuit to drive efficiency became forged within its culture.
- The company invested in every employee to be trained & fully empowered them to suggest improvements. Enterprise-wide metrics were also set for all organizations to contribute toward the desired culture. It was an incredible experience, where exponential results came about.
- I can help recreate this model for your business
Some businesses “talk the talk” of Continuous Improvement (CI) at a leadership level, but don’t actually “walk the walk” or demonstrate this throughout all levels of the organization.
- I’ve seen this disconnect first hand, where CI/Lean only applied to certain parts of the org… This provides mixed signals to employees, where only small pockets embrace it, while others never recognize it as a priority. This doesn’t lead to sustainable progress.
- I’ve also seen Lean fully embraced at the highest levels of leadership as an Operating System for their business.
- Organizations were properly staffed with Lean focals/facilitators/trainers.
- Salaried/office employees and all manufacturing teams were measured regularly on consistent metrics that resulted in an aligned culture, high morale, & superb business performance.
Small to medium manufacturers face lengthy deployment lead times, hidden integration costs, and hefty upfront capital investments… as barriers toward implementing automation.
- I help solve this by optimizing the current workforce first, then strategically introducing automation.
- I bring real aerospace industry experience in leading operations… from a cell level, to a multi-site program level, and as a site leader.
- I led a program that ramped production 3x in one year via industrialization, driving efficiency improvements, a relentless focus on quality/yield. We then introduced automation selectively in bottleneck areas and to meet shorter takt times.
- I led a program that reduced labor hours & defects by 50% in less than a year… while ramping production 25% & transitioning from a 3-shift to a 2-shift structure. We then introduced automation to eliminate safety risks & time consumed with tool movements.
Program Management & Org Strategy Case for Change
Some businesses have developed into complex matrix organizations, where decision-making is unclear or decisions are being made at too high levels of leadership
- I can help establish a framework to drive structure, processes, and a cross-functional organizational strategy that can enhance decision-making, empowerment, and role clarity through various phase transitions in a product’s life cycle
- I was the catalyst for change in my own organization that inspired a new way of working that elevated overall team execution, reduced costs across the organization, improved morale, and remained the customers’ first choice.
Some businesses have developed into complex matrix organizations, where decision-making is unclear or decisions are being made at too high levels of leadership
- I can help establish a framework to drive structure, processes, and a cross-functional organizational strategy that can enhance decision-making, empowerment, and role clarity through various phase transitions in a product’s life cycle
- I was the catalyst for change in my own organization that inspired a new way of working that elevated overall team execution, reduced costs across the organization, improved morale, and remained the customers’ first choice.
Services
Lean Transformation
Identify efficiency strategies to meet/exceed business goals, solve production ramp-ups, improve quality issues, sustain/reduce labor levels while improving output, improve team communication & culture
Organizational strategy
Assess current structure & governance methods, develop framework and processes for decision-making/empowerment/ accountability/ roles & responsibilities, including customer linkage & product life cycle variations.
Lean Packages
Choose the engagement level that matches your operational urgency.
1 week
Emergency Efficiency
Audit
- Complete operational assessment
- Priority improvement identification
- ROI projections for top 5 opportunities
- 30-day quick wins action plan
2 Weeks
Labor Crisis Solution
Sprint
- Full kaizen event facilitation
- Workflow redesign
- Automation opportunity assessment
- Implementation roadmap with 90-day targets
1 Month
Fractional Lean Operations
Executive
- Ongoing transformation leadership
- Monthly kaizen events
- Quarterly efficiency reviews
- Executive coaching on lean culture
My Lean Philosophies
Leaders must consistently demonstrate the exact behaviors desired of their employees
Establishing the culture (top to bottom) that embraces the framework of how to consistently make decisions, while leveraging the lean tools.
Engaging every employee’s contributions on how to optimize operations uncovers hidden gems, while also improving pride and quality of the product.
Standard Work drives improved quality, mistake-proofing, output consistency, & highlights further opportunities to optimize.
Continuous Improvement Culture creates order where chaos previously thrived
My Mission
To help businesses achieve sustainable growth and operational excellence by engraining the principles of Lean into their organizational culture… at all levels.
I strive to simplify complex problems by fostering a culture of continuous improvement that delivers measurable results in enhancing efficiency, improving communication, inspiring team innovation, & increasing employee pride in the products they produce and the value they each can add.
By partnering with clients, I help create actionable strategies that translate into lasting success, morale enhancers, and added value to the end customer.
Companies I’ve Worked For
Felipe J. Villalobos
Aerospace Program & Operations Director • Founder of Apex Lean Solutions
Felipe Villalobos is a hands-on leader and entrepreneur with over two decades of experience transforming how teams design, build, and deliver complex programs to satisfied customers. His career spans leadership roles at Collins Aerospace, Pratt & Whitney, and GE Aviation — where he directed multi-million-dollar programs for Airbus and Boeing and led global teams through industrial ramp-ups, lean transformations, and major customer recoveries.
Known for his customer-first mindset, passion for continuous improvement, and calm command under pressure, Felipe builds high-performing organizations that deliver results — on cost, on quality, and on time. Today, as founder of Apex Lean Solutions, he helps companies of all sizes with organizational strategy, streamline operations, reduce waste, and scale growth using the same proven strategies that power the aerospace industry’s most demanding programs.
When he’s not guiding businesses or mentoring teams, Felipe can usually be found spending time outdoors with his family, driving or cycling on twisty roads, wrenching on his cars, or exploring new ways to combine innovation and efficiency — in business and beyond.