Robert Martichenko

Robert Martichenko is a business leader, author, speaker, educator, and strategic advisor. As a business leader with an entrepreneurial focus, he spent over fifteen years as the founder and CEO of the LeanCor Supply Chain Group. LeanCor was acquired by Transplace (Uber Freight) in 2020, and Martichenko subsequently transitioned to strategic advisory work in early 2022.

In addition, Martichenko has created TrailPaths to focus on research and education to better understand the “People and Human” side of Lean thinking, leadership, and workforce development. In particular, he is working with like-minded professionals to trailblaze the paths that will help organizations and individuals to develop, engage within and sustain meaningful employment environments and cultures of respect. This work is looking into the past, present and future to disseminate and leverage our “Lessons in Lean relative to the Human Spectrum.”

A continuous thought leader, Martichenko sits on multiple not-for-profit and educational advisory boards, including the American Logistics Aid Network (ALAN) and the Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) . In addition, he has received several prominent industry awards, most notably, the Distinguished Service Award from the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), the highest recognition achievable for professionals in the supply chain industry.

Martichenko has written and co-written several business books, most recently, Discovering Hidden Profit. His other books include two Shingo Research award-winning books: People: A leader’s day-to-day guide to building, managing, and sustaining lean organizations and Building a Lean Fulfillment Stream. Additionally, He is the author of "Everything I Know About Lean I Learned in First Grade" and co-author of "Lean Six Sigma Logistics." His debut fiction novel, "Drift and Hum," has won multiple awards including the IBPA Benjamin Franklin Gold Winner Award for Best First Book-Fiction. He has also written the poetic verse for two children’s books, "It’s Perfect Being Me" and "A Day Well Spent."

Martichenko complements his professional experience with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics, an MBA in Finance, and a Six Sigma Black Belt. Born in Timmins, Ontario, Canada, he and his family have lived in the United States for the past three decades.