My guest for Episode #400 is Jeffrey Liker, the retired University of Michigan professor who has recently released the second updated and revised version of his seminal book The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer. The new edition…
Lesa Nichols worked closely with Hajime Oba at Toyota’s Supplier Support Center (TSSC) and later became a production manager at Toyota’s powertrain plant in Georgetown, Kentucky. In this episode, she shares lessons from Mr. Oba on overburden, learning from mistakes,…
Joining me for Episode #397 is Hide Oba. His father was the late Hajime Oba, famous for his work at Toyota and the TSSC, as Steve Spear and I discussed back in Episode #386. Hide worked with his father at…
My guest for Episode #390 is Keith Ingels, the TPS (Toyota Production System) Manager for Raymond Corporation — Raymond is part of Toyota Material Handling North America, which is part of Toyota Industries. Wait, so a Toyota company needs a…
Steve Spear shares lessons from Hajime Oba, who founded Toyota’s Supplier Support Center (TSSC) and became one of the most influential teachers of the Toyota Production System in North America. In this episode, Spear describes how Mr. Oba looked at…
I’ve seen a number of people post on LinkedIn about the passing of the legendary “Mr. Oba” of Toyota (sometimes spelled “Mr. Ohba”) — Hajime Oba passed away on September 4th, in Connecticut. I’ve heard many stories from people who…
Joining me for Episode #370 is Edward Blackman, the founder and managing partner of Kelda Consulting. He has previously had Lean and process improvement-focused roles at organizations as varied as Whirlpool, Amway, and Spectrum Health. Today, we are discussing behavioral…
Thanks as always to Ryan McCormack for this… Healthcare – Creating Value for Patients Healthcare and hospital staff around the world are working tirelessly to provide care during this crisis. I thank everyone that is selflessly sacrificing in service to…
A Toyota team applied the Toyota Production System in a Brazilian hospital to improve emergency care, reduce wasted motion, shorten waits, and make work easier for staff–showing TPS can improve healthcare systems, not just factories. When I was in Brazil…
Jason Burt shares what it was really like to be coached directly by Toyota during Herman Miller’s early TPS journey. In this episode, we explore how Toyota develops people first, why results follow culture, and what many Lean transformations get…
My guest for Episode #297 is John (JJ) Villareal, Ed.D., the superintendent of the Rockwall I.S.D. here in the Dallas area.
In this podcast, we talk about the applications of Lean in education, how to move beyond what JJ calls "the behavior waste of judgment and blame," and how visiting a factory was inspiring and helpful, among other topics.
Even if you don't work in education, I hope you'll be inspired by this podcast.
Here is the headline from the Dallas Morning News: "How Toyota improved Parkland Hospital's ER -- with purple lights."
I'll give credit to Dr. Fred Cerise, the CEO of Parkland Memorial Hospital, for reaching out to Toyota and TSSC for help...
