Evolving Excellence: Thoughts on Lean Enterprise Leadership
by Kevin L. Meyer and William H. Waddell

ISBN: 0-595-41708-6
458 pages
$29.95

Purchase on Amazon

Short Summary

A 450-page categorized compilation of favorite posts from the Evolving Excellence blog, this book offers different—even outright contradictory—viewpoints that explore various aspects of lean enterprise excellence. In the shared desire to see American manufacturing thrive, authors Kevin Meyer and Bill William H. Waddell have poured their knowledge, opinions, and ideas into their blog for the past two years. Sometimes tongue in cheek, usually provocative, occasionally humorous, but always passionate, they point out the failures of companies, organizations, and individuals in the manufacturing industry while also lauding those that understand true excellence.

Endorsements

“Evolving Excellence is the most insightful blog I have ever read.”
- Ross Robson, Executive Director of the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing

“If you love manufacturing then we hope you’re reading Evolving Excellence. It’s a must-read for manufacturers and those who dream.”
- Pat Cleary, Senior Vice President, National Association of Manufacturers

“The authors are knowledgeable and they tell it like it is.”
- Bob Emiliani, author of Shingo Prize winning Better Thinking, Better Results

About the Authors

Kevin L. Meyer

  • Kevin is President and Founder of Superfactory Ventures LLC, which includes
    the manufacturing excellence resource website Superfactory.com and the Evolving
    Excellence blog    . A graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he has over
    twenty years of experience implementing lean manufacturing and lean enterprise
    at Osram/Sylvania, Abbott Laboratories, Newport Corporation, and Specialty
    Silicone Fabricators. Kevin is also President and co-Founder of Agilonics LLC, a
    specialty contract manufacturer. He is on the advisory boards of a lean
    consultancy and two startup technology companies, and is a long-time board
    member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence where he currently
    serves as Vice President. Kevin currently lives in the seaside village of Morro Bay, California.


William H. Waddell

  • Bill is President and Founder of Best Manufacturing Practices, and is a lean
    writer and speaker. Over the past twenty years, he has helped many companies
    achieve a breakthrough with operations, including Copeland Corporation and
    United Defense. Bill also played a key role in the turnaround efforts at Cincinnati
    Microwave and McCulloch Corporation. His experience includes working with
    maquiladora plants in Mexico and with offshore plants, particularly in southern
    China. Bill was the keynote speaker at the 2006 Lean/Six Sigma Conference and
    presented at both the 2005 and 2006 Lean Accounting Summits. He has also lectured
    at the U.S. Air Force Institute of Technology, the University of Cincinnati,
    the University of Dayton, the University of Wisconsin and in various other professional
    and academic forums. Bill is co-author of Rebirth of American Industry. He currently lives in Tucson, Arizona.

Table of Contents

  • Preface
  • Chapter 1 – Lean Machines - Thoughts on the fundamental aspects of lean manufacturing
  • Chapter 2 – The False God of the Almighty Algorithm - Various rants and ramblings on MRP, ERP and enterprise software solutions to manufacturing problems
  • Chapter 3 – Looking Lean vs. Being Lean - How some companies can look great and win awards, yet find themselves in bankruptcy court
  • Chapter 4 – Ramblings on Lean Management and Culture - The myths and realities of people, culture and the soft side of lean
  • Chapter 5 – Missing a Few Rungs on the Corporate Ladder - What we think about this matter of leadership
  • Chapter 6 – Playing the Long Shot - And the latest buzzword – innovation !
  • Chapter 7 – It’s About Cost, Stupid! - Diatribes on accounting, finance, and lean thinking
  • Chapter 8 – Yet More Lean Supply Chain Nonsense - And of course we have to scoff at the great outsourcing binge
  • Chapter 9 – A Little Bit of History - Tipping our hats to the great thinkers who brought lean to life
  • Chapter 10 – Either They Get It or They Don’t - Stories of manufacturers who have made great strides and some who have made a mockery of lean
  • Chapter 11 – News From India, Detroit and Other Exotic Places - Our ongoing reactions to the news of trials and tribulations in the auto industry
  • Chapter 12 – Theory Meets Reality In the Heartland - A few comments on politicians, academia and other know-it-alls
  • Chapter 13 – Are Houses Next? - And finally, tales of lean in places other than factories
  • Afterward
  • About the Authors
  • Glossary
  • Resources
  • Index

Preface (From Book)

Over the past year or two, we have been blessed to have found a growing, enthusiastic following for our regular commentary on Lean Manufacturing in the Evolving Excellence blog. This book is a categorized compilation of some of our favorite posts. The text and grammar occasionallyreflect the burning of the midnight oil, and a few of the articles have been edited to include new information or thoughts.

You will see different viewpoints, some even outright contradictory, as we explore various aspects of lean enterprise excellence. Sometimes tongue in cheek,usually provocative, occasionally humorous and always passionate, we have poured our knowledge, opinions and ideas into the blog, driven only by ourshared desire to see American manufacturing thrive. You’ll note that we occasionally disagree with each other, and from time to time even contradict ourselves.This is the inevitable result of our differing perspectives, as well as our own ability to learn and change over time.

Some of the articles will challenge you to think in different ways; some you may find to be completely off-base and offensive. We hope you do think aboutand react to our writing, as we feel rather strongly that the lean movement requires some introspective analysis. We are pretty blunt when pointing out the failures of companies, organizations, and individuals … while also lauding those that really do understand true excellence. The sources we reference are linked toon the blog and we encourage you to visit to dig deeper to learn more about the topics.

Image files

Media Contact

Lani Kitts
Administrative Assistant
Superfactory Ventures LLC

(888) 439-8880 - phone/fax
admin.sf@superfactory.com

PO Box 1403
Morro Bay, CA 93443
USA