Founder & Director
Alan Lothian
Founder and Director of 3ABEL. Over 30 years of operational leadership experience. Toyota-heritage lean expertise. CIMA-qualified. Mentor, coach and practitioner — not a career consultant.
About Alan
Practitioner. Leader. Mentor.
The 3ABEL Story
With 30 years of leadership experience across diverse sectors — including automotive, aerospace, industrial power generation, food & beverage, defence, healthcare, and construction — Alan has a proven track record of delivering business transformation, operational excellence, and sustainable growth.
Specialising in driving performance improvement at pace, he leverages world-class methodologies from Japanese Lean principles (mentored by Toyota Sensei Muraoka-san, trained by Taiichi Ohno himself) and Goldratt's Theory of Constraints.
"Our unique approach at 3ABEL combines strategic vision, hands-on leadership, and team development, ensuring measurable results and long-term success. All our team members are experienced leaders in their own right who've 'walked the walk!'"
Leadership Philosophy
"I believe true leadership is built on long-term accountability, trust, and team empowerment. At 3ABEL, we champion the principles of People, Process, and Passion to help organisations improve capacity, lead-times, quality, and cash flow — while developing teams into high-performers to enable sustained business stability and growth."
If your business is ready to accelerate improvement and achieve sustainable success, feel free to reach out!
Experience
Six-Point Career Summary
Founder & Director of 3ABEL — 3A Business Excellence Ltd
Established 3ABEL to deliver hands-on Operational Excellence, Lean Manufacturing, Theory of Constraints and leadership development practice to businesses across the UK and internationally.
Mentored by Japanese Sensei at Toyota, Nissan and Honda
Received direct mentorship from Japanese Sensei — including practitioners trained by Taiichi Ohno himself — in the Toyota Production System, lean manufacturing and the principles of flow and waste elimination that underpin all of 3ABEL's improvement work.
Over 30 years of operational leadership in multi-nationals and SMEs
Held senior operational leadership roles across Automotive, Aerospace, Power Generation, Electronics, Pharma, MOD/Defence, NHS and Manufacturing — with direct accountability for production, supply chain, quality and continuous improvement performance.
Specialist in Theory of Constraints and Critical Chain Project Management
Deep practitioner expertise in Goldratt's Theory of Constraints and CCPM, applied in manufacturing, services and project environments to identify and systematically eliminate the constraints that limit throughput and performance.
Supply Chain Development across Tier 1 to Tier N
Led multi-year supply chain development programmes across automotive and industrial sectors — working with procurement directors and strategic suppliers to drive improvements in Quality, Cost, Delivery and People.
CIMA-qualified finance expertise integrated with operational improvement
Combines CIMA-qualified financial expertise with operational improvement knowledge to deliver finance training, IFRS/GAAP/SOX compliance support, business resale readiness and finance for non-finance managers programmes.
Qualifications
Certifications & Expertise
- CIMA Qualified — Chartered Institute of Management Accountants
- Toyota Production System — direct mentorship from Japanese Sensei
- Theory of Constraints Practitioner — Goldratt Institute methodology
- Lean Manufacturing — Toyota, Nissan and Honda heritage
- Critical Chain Project Management (CCPM)
- Kata Coaching — scientific thinking and improvement routines
- SC21 Supply Chain Improvement Programme
- Leadership Development — high-performing work teams
Work with Alan
All 3ABEL engagements are led personally by Alan. Book a free, no-obligation discovery call to discuss your improvement, recruitment or finance challenge.