Listen:
LeanBlog Podcast #30 is an interview with Bob Emiliani, author of the books Better Thinking, Better Results and Real Lean: Understanding the Lean Management System (Volume One) (and Volume Two). Bob had a long career at United Technologies, Pratt & Whitney and also has degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Chemical Engineering, as well as a PhD in engineering from Brown University.
Better Thinking, Better Results, which is now out in a 2nd revised edition, has a new epilogue about Wiremold, the subject of the book, and how they have moved away from Lean after their acquisition by another company. In this podcast, we'll talk about why that happened and what others can learn from the story, in efforts to prevent the dismantling of even the most successful of Lean transformations. You can visit the page for this podcast at leanpodcast.org for links to Bob and his books, including the “Real Lean” series.
Keywords and Main Points, Episode #30
- Why did you update the Wiremold story and produce a second edition of your book Better Thinking, Better Results?
- So what happened?
- Why didn't Legrand value the Lean transformation that Art, his team, and the people of Wiremold did?
- So it looks like Legrand made some mistakes.
- What can we learn from what happened to Wiremold?
If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the “Lean Line” at (817) 993-0630 or contact me via Skype id “mgraban”. Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast. Click here for the main LeanBlog Podcast page with all previous episodes.
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excellent podcast, Mark, thanks for traking Bob down.
There is much to learn from Wiremold, yet it is a sad story for the employees who had such pride in competing with low-cost foreign imports, successfully.
[…] can also read Bob’s thoughtful review of Art’s book. Also, listen to my podcast with Bob (who documented the Wiremold story in the book Better Thinking, Better Results: Case Study and […]
[…] equipment. Legrand was firmly committed to batch production and standard cost accounting, and the lean transformation unwound in a few […]