Articles for LMJ are reviewed and audited by our experienced editorial board. They give guidance on what topics to pursue in the journal and suggest ways to develop articles which are submitted for publication. They also provide impartial comment against articles – highlighting the key learning points for readers and suggesting next steps.

Here the board briefly describe their backgrounds and the focus for their current work in the field of lean improvement.

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Jacob Austad, LeanTeam – Denmark

Since to late 1980’s I have worked as an internal consultant and manager in both public sector, logistics, manufacturing and financial services. In 2002 I became team leader for the first lean promotion office within financial services in Denmark. Since 2004 I have translated and published three John Bicheno books and recently finished the translation of Peter Hines’ et al Staying Lean. I am currently working on the completion of my own lean publication.

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Bill Bellows, President, In2: In Thinking

For the past 19 years, I have served as an internal consultant for Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne. My interest in effective thinking developed during my early career as a heat transfer engineer when my interests evolved from a study of the diffusion of heat and mass to the diffusion of the wisdom of Taguchi and Deming.

 

 

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John Bicheno, Lean Enterprise Research Centre – Cardiff Business School and University of Buckingham, UK

My interest in lean is essentially ‘bottom up’ since I believe that strategy emerges from an understanding of both processes and customers at gemba. I have particular interests in lean scheduling, continuous improvement, measurement, design, layout, and service systems. But, after 35 years in operations, I am still learning about lean.

 

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Brenton Harder, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Australia

An early career in the US Marines gave me a first-hand appreciation for the power of process-based execution and the need for speed, efficiency, and elimination of waste in all facets of operations. Leaving the military, I used this experience with General Electric to reduce the complexity and volume of work-in-process in a variety of industries. For the past ten years, I have leveraged lean management in the financial services to drive cost transparency and lead time reductions in both back and front office operations.

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Zoe Radnor, Warwick Business School, UK

As a reader in operations management at Warwick Business School my main interest area is in performance and process improvement in public services. I am currently a fellow of the Advanced Institute of Management (AIM) where I am investigating the sustainability of lean in public services. My experience includes time as project manager of a research project for the Scottish Executive which evaluated how lean techniques were and could be used in the public sector as well as evaluations of the implementation of lean and associated techniques in HM Revenue and Customs, HM Court Services and, in HealthCare organisations. I am currently working on project ‘SLIM’ which aims to develop a Strategic Lean Implementation Methodology for Hospitals.

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Ebly Sanchez, Volvo Group

My background has been in the development and implementation of lean management practices in the automotive industry. My main concerns for the progression of lean centre around the support of cultural change. I see widespread difficulty for manufacturing organisations in applying lean beyond the manufacturing process. I believe it is impossible to achieve world-class levels of competitiveness if lean is not also implemented in project development, supply and purchasing.

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Peter Watkins, GKN, UK

I am responsible for developing and implementing the lean enterprise and business excellence approach for GKN in 130 facilities across 30 countries for over 40,000 employees. I introduced flow of value thinking into the organisation to transform traditional management approaches. I have a particular interest in the role of leaders, at all levels in organisational structures, in supporting sustainable lean improvement.

 

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Wendy Wilson, Warwick Manufacturing Group – University of Warwick, UK

I joined WMG in 1996 as a Senior Teaching Fellow. Prior to this I worked in manufacturing operations for both Toyota and Rolls-Royce, where I gained my MSc in Manufacturing Systems Engineering. During my time at WMG, I have observed two distinct viewpoints on lean thinking. Firstly that lean is concerned with the elimination of waste. Secondly that regarding lean in this isolating way is very limiting and that value streaming needs to start with the marketplace with a rich understanding of who the customers are and what they value.

 

Gwendolyn Galsworth, Visual Thinking Inc., USA

I am the president and founder of Visual Thinking Inc. and the Visual-Lean Institute. I am a Shingo Prize Examiner, and I have helped companies all over the world to accelerate their rate of visual transformation, strengthen cultural alignment, and achieve long-term, sustainable bottom-line outcomes. I have authored several books, of which Work That Makes Sense and Visual Work Visual Thinking have won the Shingo Prize Research Award.

 

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Joseph Paris, Operational Excellence Society

Since founding the consultancy firm XONITEK in 1985, I have passionately devoted myself to realising advancements in the way businesses conduct business – always seeking a balance between the needs of the organisation, the health of the eco-system of which it is the kernel, and the effects of its social-economic impact.  To facilitate these endeavors, I created The Operational Excellence Society, which is dedicated to the continuous and deliberate improvement of company performance and the circumstances of those who work there – to pursue operational excellence by design and not by coincidence.

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Jeffrey Liker, University of Michigan, USA

I am Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering at the University of Michigan and principle of Optiprise, Inc. I have authored or co-authored over 70 articles and book chapters and eight books, including The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer. I am working on a series of books focused on each of the 4Ps. I continue to study and write books about Toyota and practice as a keynote speaker and consultant through his firm Optiprise, Inc. I have worked with companies including Hertz, Caterpillar, Jacksonville Naval Air Depot and Harley Davidson.

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Alice Lee, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, USA

I have a strong passion for developing people and building the problem solving capability through rapid cycle learning. I provide a laser focus on shifting the mindset of senior leaders, staff and physicians to value a keener sense of order around processes and systems, where everyone solves problems at their appropriate level to create a balance of big and little change. Our recent experiments help us see beyond the problem edges to take the big step from improving each piece of the system in isolation to creating an end-to-end perspective for patient and material flow. At this critical juncture in our lean journey, my aim is to drive alignment, synergy, and purpose throughout the organisation by leveraging the enthusiasm and momentum of its people who accept lean as more than a toolbox.

 

Torbjørn Netland, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Norway

I am a postdoc at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) and a Senior Researcher at SINTEF Technology & Society, Trondheim, Norway. Currently I am a visiting researcher at Cambridge University, UK. My research on “Managing Corporate Lean Programs” has been performed in close cooperation with companies like the Volvo Group, Jotun, Madshus, Kongsberg Defence and Aerospace, and Kvaerner. My research appears in several peer reviewed journals and has been presented in more than 20 international conferences. Being a dedicated research communicator, I blog at www.better-operations.com and tweet as .