Terms are listed most recent first. Check back often to see when we post new Lean content.
Bill Smith (1929-1993) is the little-known inventor of Six Sigma while working at Motorola. Reportedly, his early version of the problem-solving steps was “MAIC”, or measure, analyze, improve, control, with “Define” added later to make it the current version, “DMAIC”. As a result of Smith’s efforts, Motorola was the first Read more…
John Shook is a Lean author, and currently (as of 2020) the chairman of the Lean Global Network and a senior advisor to the Lean Enterprise Institute. He co-wrote Learning to See, the book that is most responsible for introducing Western manufacturing to value stream mapping. He also has the Read more…
Shigeo Shingo (January 8, 1909 – November 14, 1990) is one of the early pioneers of the Toyota Production System. He worked with Taiichi Ohno, though there is some question as to how instrumental he was in the development of this new way of thinking. The debate ranges from him Read more…
Walter Andrew Shewhart (March 18, 1891 – March 11, 1967) was an engineer, statistician, and physicist. He did a great deal of work in industrial quality with an emphasis on statistical process control. He is perhaps best known for his impact on the PDCA cycle. Deming reportedly adopted it from Read more…
Mike Rother is an author of several books, two of which are associated with the LEI (Lean Enterprise Institute) and received the Shingo Publication Award. Mike is also affiliated with the University of Michigan. His biggest contribution to the Lean community lies in his promotion of the concept of value Read more…
Dr. Jeffrey K. Liker is one of the foremost experts on the Toyota Production System and is a prolific writer on the subject. His most famous work is The Toyota Way, but he has authored several additional books on related topics. Dr. Liker is a professor at the University of Read more…
Dr. Joseph M. Juran (December 24, 1904 – February 28, 2008) is well known for his work in managing to produce better quality, specifically in post-World War II Japan. Because of the timing and his area of expertise, he is closely associated with Deming. Deming, however, emphasized statistics in his Read more…
Daniel T. Jones is one of the pioneers in Lean thinking. He co-authored The Machine That Changed the World and Lean Thinking. Jones is the founder of the Lean Enterprise Academy, part of the Lean Global Network that also includes the Lean Enterprise Institute.
Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa (July 13, 1915 – April 16, 1989) was a professor of engineering at the University of Tokyo. He is most widely known for his work in the field of quality. He is credited with propagating the concept of quality circles (Deming shares in recognition for the growth Read more…
Jeff Hajek is the author of this reference guide you are reading and Whaddaya Mean I Gotta Be Lean?, a primer on Lean for frontline employees. He also publishes the Velaction.com website, which contains an extensive online directory of Lean terminology and the Gotta Go Lean Blog. He is a Read more…
Mark Graban was an early blogger in the Lean community, publishing Leanblog.org. He was a recipient of the Shingo Publication Award for his book, Lean Hospitals. Mark was one of the first people to create a specialty version of Lean, applicable to the healthcare industry. He is a consultant, speaker, Read more…
Eliyahu Moshe Goldratt (March 31, 1947 – June 11, 2011) was a thought leader during the early development of Lean thinking. His ideas were not actually presented as Lean, though. He focused more on his own ideas, primarily the “Theory of Constraints” and drum-buffer-rope. His basic premise was that you Read more…