Northeast L.E.A.N. Conference Announces Keynote Speakers Art Byrne, John Shook, Dr. Eric Dickson & Steven Spear

Newton, MA, July 13, 2016 --(PR.com)-- The Northeast L.E.A.N. Conference provides the best opportunity all year for lean manufacturing and healthcare practitioners to learn from peers and industry experts.

“This year’s conference is dedicated to hands-on 'lean-by-doing' and we’re particularly excited that each of our keynote speakers is a hands-on lean leader who understands and can convey to our audience the details of lean as well as the bigger picture of the cultural transformation required to achieve operational excellence,” said Bruce Hamilton earlier today, President of GBMP.

Art Byrne began his lean journey in 1982 as GM of GE’s High Intensity and Quartz Lamp Department. As an executive for The Danaher Corporation he was instrumental in introducing lean to all of the then 13 Danaher Companies. He was trained in the Toyota approach by four mentors, all of whom had worked directly for Taichii Ohno, the father of the Toyota Production System. As CEO of The Wiremold Company, Art led an aggressive lean implementation resulting in a Shingo Prize for Manufacturing Excellence and an enterprise-wide increase in value of nearly 2500% in just ten years. In 2013, he published “The Lean Turnaround” which details his approach to leading lean conversions in over 30 companies in 14 different countries. Art’s new book “The Lean Turnaround Action Guide” will have its worldwide launch at the conference and every attendee will receive a free copy. During his presentation, Art will discuss how to tactically implement his lean leadership strategies.

John Shook is Chairman and CEO of The Lean Enterprise Institute and best-selling co-author of “Learning to See,” “Kaizen Express” and “Managing to Learn.” John learned about Lean while working with Toyota in 1983 where he was the first American employee at Toyota's world headquarters and their first American kacho (manager) in Japan. He also served as Deputy GM of the Toyota Supplier Support Center (TSSC), which helps automotive suppliers implement lean manufacturing. John’s keynote, “Lean WX” will focus on how to design worker experiences to create world-class organizations that learn to learn.

Eric Dickson, MD, MHCM, FACEP, is Professor of Emergency Medicine at the University of Massachusetts Medical School and CEO of UMass Memorial Medical Center, the largest health care system in Central and Western Massachusetts. Dr. Dickson will describe his personal experience in leading a Lean transformation during a time of organizational chaos, primarily focusing on the importance of defining True North for any organization, creating visual management systems and transforming your army of problem identifiers into an army of problem solvers.

Steven Spear is a Senior Lecturer at the MIT Sloan School of Management and the Engineering Systems Division at MIT. He is also a well-recognized expert on TPS. His article, “Decoding the DNA of the Toyota Production System” has become part of the lean manufacturing canon. Spear’s 2010 book, “The High Velocity Edge: How Market Leaders Leverage Operational Excellence to Beat the Competition” received The Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award. His presentation will address why so few companies define themselves as competing at what he calls “learning speed,” where all work is knowledge work and all workers are knowledge workers.

The annual event was created by the non-profit GBMP to provide information and inspiration to lean practitioners - from those just starting out to seasoned lean leaders from manufacturing, healthcare, insurance and other business sectors. The practical learning format features exceptional keynote and breakout, panel and poster presentations, peer-to-peer discussions, hands-on simulations, interactive learning and sharing, and unlimited networking opportunities for more than 600 attendees. This year’s theme, “Lean-By-Doing: Accelerate Continuous Improvement” emphasizes the tacit nature of implementing lean, the importance of tying together the technical and social sides of lean, the significance of management's involvement and the ability of organizations to sustain the gains. The Silver Toaster Award is presented annually at the conference to one outstanding employee who has embraced lean, performing his or her job always with lean in mind, who helps others implement lean concepts and who exemplifies the Vision, Values and Standards of the Award.

The conference will be held on Tuesday and Wednesday, October 4 & 5, 2016 at the DCU Center in Worcester, MA. More information, including the complete agenda, session abstracts, exhibit and sponsorship opportunities, where to stay, how to buy tickets, group and student discounts, and The Silver Toaster Award nomination form (nominations are due no later than August 5, 2016), is available online at www.NortheastLeanConference.org.