John Maes has been active in Lean for more than 10 years, as a Master Black Belt and as an Operations Director. He has more than 20 years of international experience and has successfully rolled out Lean in more than 10 countries. He has worked in production environments (Fast Moving Consumer Goods) as well as in (financial) services, in various disciplines including Service, Operations, HRM, Marketing and Sales and product development where his roots lie. He also has extensive experience with the implementation of Lean across the chain, including suppliers. His experience ranges from the shop floor to senior management level. He is currently Senior Vice-President at Rabobank where he is responsible for the Lean Center of Excellence. Additionally, he has published "Successful Lean", a reference book on vision, approach as well as examples of practical use of lean and its benefits.

Rabobank Group is a full-range financial services provider that operates on cooperative principles. Its origins lie in the local loan cooperatives that were founded in the Netherlands nearly 110 years ago by enterprising people who had virtually no access to the capital market. Rabobank Group is comprised of independent local Rabobanks plus Rabobank Nederland, their umbrella organization, and a number of specialist subsidiaries. Overall, Rabobank Group has approximately 61,100 employees (in FTEs), who serve about 10 million customers in 47 countries.