Author Archive: Bruce Hamilton
Bruce Hamilton brings hands-on experience as a manager, teacher, and change agent. He has spoken internationally on Lean Manufacturing, employee involvement, continuous improvement and implementing change, and has contributed to numerous texts on reliable methods ranging from visual control to variety reduction.Prior to joining the Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership, Mr. Hamilton was General Manager of United Electric Controls Company, recipient of the coveted Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing. He led efforts at United Electric to transform its production from a traditional batch factory to a single piece flow environment that has become an international showcase. His expertise covers both the technical side of lean manufacturing and the equally important soft skills needed to engage and inspire employees and managers.
What is Kaizen?
Over the years my study of TPS has been guided by book learning, tacit learning and more good luck than bad. One stroke of good luck occurred in February 1987 when I picked up a copy of Kaizen: The Key To Japan’s Competitive Success by Masaaki Imai. At that time, most literature about TPS was focusing on [...]
The People Side of Lean
Recently a customer passed along to me an article from the business press which he described as “mind-numbing.” He was referring to an announcement by Fujio Cho that Toyota would post a profit for 2004 of $11 billion! This number was especially dramatic given recent laments by both Ford and General Motors of losses for [...]
