My guest today is Dr. Jeffrey Liker, Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan. He is the Director of the Japan Technology Management Program and co-Director of the lean manufacturing program.

This will be the first of two podcast episodes with Dr. Liker. Today, we discuss the transition from “lean manufacturing” to “lean enterprise”, some of the challenges companies face in becoming lean, and some of the methods that Toyota uses to further the Toyota Production System.


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In this podcast, I talk with Norman Bodek, author, lean consultant, and Toyota Production System expert. We talk about the Toyota principle of "respect for humanity" and how to stop blaming individual employees for problems or defects. Management is responsible for the design of the system, and therefore are also responsible for the results. Visit www.leanblog.org for more information.


MP3 File