The Lean Enterprise Academy is the UK equivalent to the Lean Enterprise Institute. The websites share a common look and feel and sell many of the same products. The Lean Enterprise Academy is a non-profit organization that aims “to develop and disseminate knowledge of lean thinking and lean practice.” It is part of the Lean Global Network. https://www.leanuk.org/
Juran, formerly the Juran Institute, was founded by Joseph Juran in 1979. It is a training and consulting company that supports quality management, business process improvement, Lean manufacturing, and Six Sigma. Unlike many of the other organizations, it is a for-profit company. It is included in this list because of its connection to one of the more prominent Lean thinkers. NOTE: The inclusion of this for-profit company should not be taken as a recommendation or Read more…
ISO is a non-governmental, international organization with a membership consisting of 165 national standards bodies. While it has no real authority over its members, it strives to (according to its website) “share knowledge and develop voluntary, consensus-based, market relevant International Standards that support innovation and provide solutions to global challenges.” Its key standards are the ISO 9000 family for quality, and the ISO 14000 family for environmental management. While ISO creates the standards, it does Read more…
Fastcap is a small manufacturing company located just north of Bellingham, Washington. While the company itself develops and sells tools to support the woodworking industry, its real claim to Lean fame is that it is used as a vehicle for its founder, Paul Akers, to test and promote his Lean thinking. Many of the products in Fastcap’s lineup are based on Lean principles and tools. Paul is an avid author and video producer. Owning a Read more…
AME is a non-profit organization based out of Rolling Meadows, Illinois. Created in 1985, it currently (2020) has 4,000 members. It offers training and other resources intended to create enterprise excellence, with Lean thinking specifically mentioned. https://www.ame.org/
AQQ is a non-profit based out of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It lists its mission as: ASQ empowers people, communities, and organizations of the world to achieve excellence through quality. ASQ claims members in 130+ countries. It is difficult to find current enrollment numbers, but it reportedly had 80,000 members in 2013. It offers quality focused resources and training to improve individual expertise as well as organizational excellence. https://asq.org/
James Womack is one of the leading proponents of Lean in the US. He co-authored The Machine That Changed the World and Lean Thinking, two of the most widely read books on the topic of continuous improvement. He also founded the Lean Enterprise Institute and remains (as of 2020) a senior advisor to the organization.
Eli Whitney (December 8, 1765 – January 8, 1825) is most widely known for his invention of the cotton gin. What is more applicable to Lean, though, is his focus on quality, specifically interchangeable parts. The legend goes that he was awarded a contract to make muskets for the fledgling colonial army. At the time, it was a painstaking process with parts needing to be matched and modified to fit together properly. According to the Read more…
John Francis (Jack) Welch (November 19, 1935 – March 1, 2020) was a long-tenured CEO during the heyday of General Electric (GE) from 1981-2001. While in charge of the company, shares rose a massive amount, around 4,000%. His legacy is both revered and hated by different people. He changed the course of GE in a major way, focusing on insurance and financing instead of manufacturing. After his departure, GE fell on hard times, and many Read more…
Sakichi Toyoda (February 14, 1867 – October 30, 1930) was the founder of Toyoda, though originally, it was not an automobile manufacturer. It was called the Toyoda Loom Works. In addition to being an entrepreneur, Toyoda was an inventor and created an automatic loom that stopped itself when a string broke. This was an early example of jidoka in modern automation.
Kiichiro Toyoda (June 11, 1894 – March 27, 1952) was the son of Sakichi Toyoda, the founder of Toyoda Loom Works. Kiichiro Toyoda was the man responsible for shifting the course of Toyoda from being a textile company to becoming an automobile manufacturer.
Eiji Toyoda (Sept 12, 1913 – September 17, 2013) was, at the time of his tenure, the longest serving president of Toyota. He was the nephew of Sakichi Toyoda, the man who founded Toyoda Loom Works, the predecessor of the automotive version of the company. Eiji Toyoda reportedly visited the Ford River Rouge Complex in Michigan and borrowed many ideas to ramp up production at the Japanese auto maker. He was, however, careful not to Read more…