"Norman Bodek is the secret weapon of lean manufacturing. In his 59 trips to Japan, Norman met Shigeo Shingo, Taiichi Ohno and other architects of lean, then published their books in English and other languages. The story of his quest is amazing, and it's sprinkled with lessons for anyone interested in lean. Norman has launched a kaikaku - a great transformation in awareness and in actual business. The term (kaikaku) means much more that kaizen (process improvement). It is a large and fundamental change in policy, practice, or awareness. Reading Norman's reflections on his experience of the Toyota Production System will enrich your big picture perspective and help you discover the hidden treasures within your company: eliminating non-value adding wastes to bring out the creative capacity from every single worker." www.sme.org
Vancouver, WA (PRWEB) June 8, 2004 -- Kaikaku The Power and Magic of Lean tells how Norman Bodek met, and what he learned from, the great management masters of the past twenty-five years who have revolutionized manufacturing. It is filled with adventures with Ohno, Shingo, Akao, Nakajima, Deming, Juran, Crosby, and others, talking about the creation and application of Lean, JIT, Kanban, 5S, SMED, TPM, QFD, Hoshin, Kaizen Blitz, Value Stream, Poka-yoke and the other productivity and quality tools. Norman started Productivity Inc. Press, published over 100 Japanese books in English and created the Shingo Prize for Manufacturing Excellence.
The book Kaikaku is filled with stories, each one told to capture your imagination and empower and inspire you to apply better the lean principles:
- How did Toyota go from producing "junk" in 1960 to building the highest quality automobiles and become the world's richest company?
- Learn the techniques of questioning from Dr. Shingo and follow him in his quest to totally eliminate all non-value adding wastes.
- Ohno once said to a group of managers at Toyota Gosei, "I want you to remove this warehouse and make it into a machine shop and I want everyone retrained. I will be back in a year to see that it was done."
- "The Gemba Walk is the most important part of my job. I do it every day twice a day." Plant manager at Sumitomo Electric.
- Claudia and Ken eliminated using bubble wrap, improved safety in the plant and saved the company $98,000 from their Quick and Easy ideas. Learn how their company went from 113-implemented ideas in 2001 to over 7,000 last year.
"Norman Bodek played the key role in the spread of lean techniques around the world. In this wonderful book, he tells how it all happened. Along the way, he weaves in lessons derived from his interaction with the original developers of lean production ideas. I couldn't put it down."- Alan G. Robinson, Co-author of Ideas Are Free and Corporate Creativity
"The book is just great. The style is almost conversational and your sincerity and enthusiasm shine through every paragraph. The stories are fascinating." - T.V. Suresh, President, Tao Consulting, Chenai, India
"I thank Norman for opening the door to Japan and bringing such valuable knowledge to the world. Virtually every Lean tool or principle you are likely to encounter has Norman?s fingerprints on it. Read this book, and follow Norman through his wonderful journey of learning." - Jon Miller, President Gemba Research
"I finished Kaikaku this week and thoroughly enjoyed it. You are a great (and humble) story teller. Many people will gain new insights into Lean principles through your unique experiences, thanks for sharing them." Steve Bell, CPIM, Steady Improvement
"Norman Bodek, a leader in introducing Japanese management practices to North America discusses the power and magic of lean manufacturing in Kaikaku" - Harvey Schachter - The Globe and Mail Newspaper
The press can obtain a copy of the book from PCS Press, Norman Bodek, 360-737-1883, bodek@pcspress.com. Others may buy the book from http://www.pcspress.com/index.asp
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