Programme director and Lean/TPS master trainer
Dirk Van Goubergen
Prof. Dr. Ir. Dirk Van Goubergen combines more than 30 years of practical and academic experience in industrial engineering, operations management, Lean/operational excellence and value stream design.
From knowledge institution to Lean Academy
A standard for Lean education that holds up in practice
Dirk's academic work and implementation experience came together in a clear ambition: Lean education should stay close to its source while enabling people to apply the principles independently.
This led to the first edition of the combined Green Belt in Lean and Black Belt in Lean training and certification programme in 2005. After leaving Ghent University, Dirk continued developing the programme through Lean Academy by Van Goubergen P&M.
In 2005, while working at Ghent University, I believed that as a knowledge institution, we needed to set a standard for Lean education.
Dirk Van Goubergen
A continuing learning journey
Theory is refined through implementation
The programme has evolved through teaching, coaching and direct work with organisations, without losing sight of the fundamental Lean/TPS principles.
- Start of the operational improvement practice of Van Goubergen P&M.
- Development of a new standard for Lean education at Ghent University.
- Continuation of the certified programme through Lean Academy.
- Twentieth edition of the first, broadest and most in-depth Lean training programme in Belgium and the Netherlands.
Fields of expertise
Depth across the full improvement system
Dirk connects process design, management systems and people development instead of treating Lean as a collection of separate tools.
- 01Industrial engineering
- 02Lean/TPS and operational excellence
- 03Operations management
- 04Value stream design
International implementation practice
Academic depth, continuously tested in real organisations
Dirk has worked with leaders and employees on every continent at organisations including Toyota Motor Europe, Volvo, Mars, Philips, Amazon, Daikin, TE Connectivity, Johnson & Johnson and Delphi Technologies.
That direct contact with practice feeds the course material, simulations and complex cases used within Lean Academy.
Current programmes
Courses in which Dirk teaches
Within these programmes, Dirk directly shares his expertise in Lean/TPS, strategy and implementation.
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