About the Authors
Dr. Jeffrey K. Likeris Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering and
Director of the Japan Technology Management Program at the University of
Michigan. He is author of the international best-seller, The Toyota Way: 14
Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer, McGraw Hill, 2004
(winner of the 2005 Shingo Prize and the Institute of Industrial Engineering
2005 Book of the Year Award). Previously he edited Becoming Lean: Experiences of
U.S. Manufacturers (Productivity Press, 1997), winner of the 1998 Shingo prize (for
excellence in manufacturing research). He has also won Shingo prizes for his
research in 1995, 1996, and 1997. Other books by Dr. Liker include Engineered in
Japan, (Oxford University Press, 1995); Concurrent Engineering Effectiveness:
Integrating product development across organizations(Hanser-Gardner, 1997), and
Remade in America: Transplanting and Transforming Japanese ManufacturingMethods
(Oxford University Press, 1999). His most recent book, with James Morgan, is
High Performance Product Development: How Toyota integrates people, process and
technology to create a revolutionary lean product development system(Productivity
Press). Dr. Liker is active as a keynote speaker, speaker for executive retreats,
and lean consultant, independently and through a company he cofounded—
Optiprise, Inc. Recent clients include DaimlerChrysler, Metalsa, Danfoss, Rio
Tinto Mining, Caterpillar Asia Pacific, Benteler Automotive, Amcor, Federal
Mogul, PPG Industries, Johnson Controls, Tenneco Automotive, Framatome
Technologies, Northrop Grumman Ship Systems, Jacksonville Naval Air Depot,
the U.S. Air Force, and Portsmouth Naval Ship Yard.
David Meierlearned the Toyota Production System (TPS) as one of the first
group leaders hired at Toyota’s Georgetown, Kentucky facility in the plastics
moldingdepartment. He was trained and mentored in Japan and Kentucky over
a ten-year period by TPS experts including full-time coaching by several Japanese
coordinators. After leaving Toyota, David founded Lean Associates, Inc., a con-
sultingfirm that is dedicated to supporting companies that are pursuing imple-
mentation of the Toyota Production System.
David wrote two chapters for Lean Manufacturing: A Plant Floor Guide
(Society of Manufacturing Engineers, 2001) and has been a trainer and speaker for
over eight years. He has presented training workshops on Standardized Work,
Value Stream Mapping, and Introduction to Lean Fundamentals for the Society of
Manufacturing Engineers, and the Shingo Prize Conference. David has supported
many companies in a variety of industries including automotive, aerospace, wood
and plastic products, chemical processing, metal machining, fabricating, weld-
ing, and assembly operations in both manufacturing and non-manufacturing
work areas. He specializes in developing TPS expertise within organizations so
that they become capable of achieving lean transformation.Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Click here for terms of use.