I would like to thank John Beakes and Dr. Robert Deutch of RWD Technologies,
Inc. for taking the first chance on me as a consultant. My wife and I are especially
grateful for the wonderful insurance coverage, which provided in-vitro-fertilization
services. We were blessed with two wonderful boys as a result.
Thanks to Mike Scarpello and the folks at Ford for making my transition
away from the comfort of Toyota a pleasant one. Thanks also to my colleagues
at Total Systems Development, and especially John and Charlie for providing
the opportunity to learn the ropes and develop my skills as a consultant.
To all my friends at Hoffman—it was a big challenge, but everyone made it
worthwhile. Special thanks to Dennis Spiess and his family for sharing your
“home away from home.” Thanks to Ray, Michelle, Mark, Al, and Lyle for provid-
ing challenging situations and opportunities to try new ideas. To Don Westman:
I appreciate your confidence in me and your willingness to “stay the course.” The
Kentucky Management team—Diane, Duane, Mark, Bill, and Gene—was one of
the most unified management teams I have worked with.
Paul Kenrick has provided opportunities to challenge my abilities and to
continuously improve my methods. To the many folks at Parker-Hannifin—
Dave, Diane, Joe, Tim, Alex, Millie, Phil, Donnie, Glenn, Greg, and everyone in
the plants—who are working hard and facing the challenges of lean.
This acknowledgement would not be complete without a special thank-you to
my good friend, and fellow “guru,” Bill Costantino. Our paths have been aligned
from the first day at Toyota in 1987. I appreciate your continued support, guidance,
and many exciting opportunities along the way. It was Bill who connected me with
Jeff Liker for this book. I will always cherish your friendship and insights.
I am grateful to Jeff Liker for trusting in Bill’s recommendation and taking
on a novice writer in this process. It is a great bounty to work with an accom-
plished author on such a great project.
Most importantly, I must thank my family—my wife Kimberly, who pro-
vided life support while I was working, my daughter Jennifer, and my sons
Matthew and Michael. Each of them has made sacrifices while I have been busy
with this project. They heard me say over the years that I was going to “write a
book.” Now I finally have! My mother, Patricia Meier, spent countless hours
reviewing and editing my work, utilizing her great attention to detail to find the
countless punctuation errors. She has always been there to support me as I pur-
sued my crazy dreams.
From Jeff Liker
It was great working with David and sharing his insider Toyota perspective
with my outsider view of the Toyota Way. As an outsider, I depend on the kind-
ness of strangers inside Toyota for access to the constantly evolving system we
xii Acknowledgments