# Career and advisory: questions and answers Author and editorial review: Dr. Ignacio S. Gatell Updated: 2026-10-19 Canonical page: https://drgatell.com/knowledge/career.html Licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) 22 answers on Dr. Ignacio S. Gatell’s career, results and advisory services, with sources. ## Career, results and advisory ### What did he do at Alcoa? From September 1999 to May 2009 at Alcoa he progressed from Casthouse Process Engineer and Production Coordinator to Lean Manufacturing and Quality Assurance management in Spain and Europe. Roles included Europe Operational Excellence, Planning and Manufacturing Manager (2007–2009), Europe Casting Operations and Technology Manager (2006–2007, more than 600 professionals) and a corporate Lean consulting assignment in Pittsburgh (2005). Also asked as: Tell me about his Alcoa career · ¿Qué hizo en Alcoa? Sources: [My career (cont.)](https://drgatell.com/#experience) ### What did he do at EMAL? From May 2009 to June 2016 he was Senior Manager, Business Systems and Lean Transformation at Emirates Aluminium (now part of EGA), leading more than 25 professionals. He deployed Hoshin Kanri, established Lean training and certification pathways, coached senior management and set up the employee innovation system. Reported results included a 5% increase in foundry efficiency and a 12% reduction in the maintenance budget. Also asked as: Tell me about EMAL and Hoshin Kanri · ¿Qué hizo en EMAL? · What did Dr. Gatell do at EMAL? Sources: [My career (cont.)](https://drgatell.com/#experience) ### What was his role at EGA? At Emirates Global Aluminium he led more than 100 professionals across transformation, innovation, quality and health functions. He led process optimisation and waste elimination across the enterprise, managed employee-driven innovation, oversaw ISO 9001, 14001, 45001 and IATF 16949 systems, and directed the Medical Center and emergency response. Enterprise efficiency initiatives delivered annual savings in the USD 12–20 million range. Also asked as: What did he lead at Emirates Global Aluminium? · ¿Cuál fue su rol en EGA? · What did Dr. Gatell do at EGA? Sources: [My career (cont.)](https://drgatell.com/#experience) ### What did he do at EDGE? From November 2024 to May 2026 he was Vice President, BRIDGE Excellence and Process Industrialization at EDGE Group, leading the transformation of the Learning and Innovation Factory into BRIDGE. Results included external revenue up 400% from 2024 to 2025, more than 3,000 training days annually, employee satisfaction above 92% and ISO 21001 certification. Also asked as: What were the results at BRIDGE? · ¿Qué hizo en EDGE? · What was his job at EDGE Group? · What did he achieve as Vice President at EDGE? Sources: [My career (cont.)](https://drgatell.com/#experience) ### What were the results at Gamium-DIDIT? From September 2021 to December 2023 he was Chief People Officer and then Chief Operating Officer. The company grew from six founding partners to more than 25 people; he professionalised service delivery and achieved ISO 27001 certification within the relevant process scope. Also asked as: Did Gamium obtain ISO 27001? · ¿Qué logró en Gamium-DIDIT? Sources: [Gamium–DIDIT](https://drgatell.com/#experience) ### What was Excellence UAE? From 2013 to 2020 Dr. Ignacio S. Gatell was CEO and Founder of Excellence UAE, delivering strategy, Operational Excellence and business transformation advisory. Client experience includes Schneider Electric, Toyota Tsusho, Dubai Police, Abu Dhabi Police and RTA. He coached executives and developed process improvement and project management approaches. Excellence UAE is the consultancy foundation from which Digital Green Lean later developed. Also asked as: What did he do at Excellence UAE? · Which clients did Excellence UAE work with? · Did he run his own consultancy before DGL? · ¿Qué era Excellence UAE? Sources: [Excellence UAE](https://drgatell.com/#experience) · [CV — Professional experience](https://drgatell.com/knowledge/cv.html) ### What was his first job? His early career included an internship at Iberia, Líneas Aéreas de España, as Assistant to the Head of Laboratory in the engine section, before joining Alcoa in 1999 as a Casthouse Process Engineer. Also asked as: Did he work at Iberia? · ¿Cuál fue su primer trabajo? Sources: [Iberia, Líneas Aéreas de España](https://drgatell.com/#experience) ### What is his education? International PhD, Cum Laude, in Business and Economics, University of Oviedo (2020–2026); Executive MBA (2006–2007); MSc in Industrial Chemistry (1992–1999). Languages: Spanish native, English fluent. The doctoral defence took place in June 2026. Also asked as: What degrees does he have? · Does he have an MBA? · ¿Qué estudios tiene? · ¿Tiene un MBA? Sources: [Practice supported by learning](https://drgatell.com/#education) ### What are his areas of expertise? Strategy and execution (transformation, organisational design, governance, performance management, innovation and strategy deployment); Operational Excellence (Toyota Production System, Lean Manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma, value stream mapping, maintenance and supply chain improvement, integrating Industry 4.0); and leadership through people and culture (coaching, mentoring, cross-cultural teams and capability development). Also asked as: What does Dr. Gatell contribute? · ¿Cuáles son sus áreas de especialización? Sources: [Business decisions, execution and people](https://drgatell.com/#expertise) ### What languages does he speak? Spanish is his native language and he is fluent in English. Also asked as: Does he speak English and Spanish? · ¿Qué idiomas habla? Sources: [Practice supported by learning](https://drgatell.com/#education) ### How many years of experience does he have? The website presents more than 27 years of experience spanning industrial operations, executive leadership, technology and research, starting with Alcoa in 1999 and an earlier internship at Iberia. Also asked as: How long has he worked in industry? · ¿Cuántos años de experiencia tiene? Sources: [Who is Dr. Ignacio S. Gatell?](https://drgatell.com/knowledge/questions.html#who-is-dr-gatell) · [My career (cont.)](https://drgatell.com/#experience) ### Are results comparable across roles? No. The career page says the USD 12–20 million enterprise efficiency range and the USD 18+ million innovation result describe different programme scopes and must not be added together. The innovation result includes the combined innovation system and Lean projects, not employee suggestions alone. Also asked as: Can I add up the savings figures? · ¿Se pueden sumar las cifras de ahorros? Sources: [My career (cont.)](https://drgatell.com/#experience) · [What did the EMAL–EGA innovation work achieve?](https://drgatell.com/knowledge/questions.html#innovation-results) ### How many ideas did the innovation system receive? In 2019 the combined innovation system and Lean projects received approximately 40,000 employee ideas and delivered USD 18+ million in yearly audited savings. The figure includes Lean projects as well as the innovation system, so it is not attributed to suggestions alone. Also asked as: What was the USD 18 million about? · ¿Cuántas ideas recibió el sistema de innovación? Sources: [My career (cont.)](https://drgatell.com/#experience) · [What did the EMAL–EGA innovation work achieve?](https://drgatell.com/knowledge/questions.html#innovation-results) ### Has he deployed Hoshin Kanri? Yes. At EMAL he led strategic analysis, planning and Hoshin Kanri deployment to align improvement initiatives with corporate objectives, and also standardised Lean culture across sites through training and certification pathways. Also asked as: Did he implement strategy deployment? · ¿Ha implantado Hoshin Kanri? Sources: [My career (cont.)](https://drgatell.com/#experience) ### What does growth advisory include? Growth advisory includes growth priorities and business roadmaps, cost-centre-to-profit-centre transformation, and capabilities and operating models for growth, turning operational capabilities into commercial opportunities with a clear direction and the organisation needed to deliver it. Also asked as: What is cost centre to profit centre transformation? · ¿Qué incluye la asesoría de crecimiento? Sources: [Growth & Business Strategy](https://drgatell.com/#executive-advisory) ### What does P&L advisory include? P&L advisory covers P&L priorities and performance drivers, efficiency, costs and production planning, and accountability, governance and execution, connecting profitability objectives with operational execution and aligning costs, quality and productivity. Also asked as: How does he link profitability and operations? · ¿Qué incluye la asesoría de P&L? Sources: [P&L & Operational Performance](https://drgatell.com/#executive-advisory) ### What does due diligence cover? Operations and quality due diligence assesses capability, risk and improvement potential to inform an acquisition decision, followed by integration planning and project management support with clear priorities, responsibilities and a practical delivery roadmap. Also asked as: What is operations and quality due diligence? · ¿Qué cubre la due diligence operativa? Sources: [Acquisition Due Diligence & Integration](https://drgatell.com/#executive-advisory) ### What skills programmes are offered? Operational Excellence and DGL skills (Lean Manufacturing, Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy), leadership and organisational culture, and tailored learning, to develop the knowledge, leadership and business culture needed to improve operations and sustain integrated transformation. Also asked as: What does Skills, Leadership and Culture cover? · ¿Qué cubren los programas de habilidades? Sources: [Skills, Leadership & Culture](https://drgatell.com/#executive-advisory) ### What does innovation management include? Employee ideas and internal innovation programmes, external partnerships and collaborative innovation, and programme governance and implementation, to connect people, partners and ideas with business priorities. Also asked as: How does he build innovation programmes? · ¿Qué incluye la gestión de la innovación? Sources: [Innovation Management](https://drgatell.com/#executive-advisory) ### What does technology advisory include? Technology suitability and organisational readiness, adoption priorities and implementation roadmaps, and project management and capability development: a business-led assessment of technology fit, expected benefits and readiness, then planning the capabilities and projects needed for adoption. Also asked as: How do you plan technology adoption? · ¿Qué incluye la asesoría tecnológica? Sources: [Technology Assessment & Implementation](https://drgatell.com/#executive-advisory) ### How many people were covered in the COVID response? The response covered approximately 7,000 employees, with family support when needed within a combined population of around 20,000 people. The reported outcome was maintaining operations without a COVID-19-related staffing shutdown during the period under his responsibility. Also asked as: What were the COVID-19 results? · ¿A cuántas personas cubrió la respuesta al COVID-19? Sources: [What was his role in EGA’s COVID-19 response?](https://drgatell.com/knowledge/questions.html#covid-response) · [What did island mode mean in the COVID-19 programme?](https://drgatell.com/knowledge/questions.html#island-mode) ### What was LIF? The Learning and Innovation Factory was a classroom-focused training cost centre that, under his leadership, was repositioned as BRIDGE, a centre of excellence connecting learning with industrial use cases, improvement projects and external engagement. Also asked as: What was the Learning and Innovation Factory? · ¿Qué era la Learning & Innovation Factory? Sources: [What was the LIF-to-BRIDGE transformation at EDGE?](https://drgatell.com/knowledge/questions.html#bridge-transformation) · [From Training Centre to Centre of Excellence](https://drgatell.com/#case-bridge)