Norman Bodek

Last updated
Norman Bodek
NormanBodek1932-Nov2013-2020.png
BornAugust 12, 1932
New York City
DiedDecember 10, 2020
Kirishima, Japan
NationalityAmerican
Occupation(s)Consultant, author, publisher
Known forIntroducing Lean to US manufacturing through his 89 trips to Japan, visiting over 250 companies and meeting the Japanese masters who created the Toyota Production System and publishing their books in English.

Norman Bodek was a teacher, consultant, author and publisher who published over 100 Japanese management books in English, including the works of Taiichi Ohno and Dr. Shigeo Shingo. He taught a course on "The Best of Japanese Management Practices" at Portland State University. [1] Bodek created the Shingo Prize with Dr. Vern Beuhler at Utah State University. He was elected to Industry Week's Manufacturing Hall of Fame and founded Productivity Press. He was also the President of PCS Press. [2] He died on December 9, 2020, at the age of 88. [3]

Contents

Early life

In 1979, after working for 18 years with data processing companies, Bodek started Productivity Inc. and Press [4] (which became an imprint of CRC Press) by publishing a newsletter called 'Productivity'. [5]

In 1980, he attended an Industry Week conference in New York, where Joji Arai, a manager with Japan Productivity Center, spoke about his role in bringing Japanese businesspeople to the US to study American industry. Bodek asked Arai if he could bring Americans to Japan to study Japanese management. Arai agreed and set up Bodek's first study mission to Japan. [6]

Productivity Press discovered Shigeo Shingo in 1981 and published some of its first books in 1983 [7] and 1985. [8]

Later work and visits to Japan

Bodek's fascination with manufacturing led him to Japan and a lifelong exploration of the methods behind Japanese quality and productivity. [5] Over three decades, up until 2016, Bodek went to Japan 86 times,[ citation needed ] visited more than 250 plants and published over 250 management books. As a fortune cookie once told him, "You have the talent to discover the talent in others." [5]

Bodek claims to have found tools, techniques and new thoughts that have revolutionized the world of manufacturing. He met Dr. W. Edwards Deming, Dr. Joseph Juran, Phil Crosby, Dr. Kaoru Ishikawa, Dr. Yoji Akao, [9] Mr. Taiichi Ohno, [10] [11] Dr. Shigeo Shingo [8] and other manufacturing masters and published many of their books in English. [5] Each person he met gave him a new perspective on continuous improvement, and helped him to better understand links between the functional areas of the Toyota management system, [12] and the value of Lean, Kaizen in achieving quality and continuous improvement.

Bodek led more than 25 study missions to Japan. He was one of the first to publish books and training materials on SMED, [8] CEDAC, [13] [14] Quality Control Circles, 5S, [15] [16] [17] and the Visual Factory [18] [19] Total Productive Maintenance, [20] [21] Value Stream Mapping, Kaizen [22] [23] [24] and Kaizen Blitz, Cell Design, [25] Poka-Yoke, Andon, Hoshin Kanri, and Kanban. [5] Other books followed, on topics including total quality management.

Many of these topics form the building blocks of the Toyota Production System, [10] [12] [22] [26] [27] which, in turn, is the basis for what came to be called Lean Manufacturing in America. [28] [29] For example, a book on Lean Accounting [30] [31] can be seen as Westerner's guide to creating a Toyota-like accounting system.

In the 1980s Bodek ran conferences and seminars, and brought Japanese authors to America.[ citation needed ] He initiated a number of publishing-partnerships that would span several years. For instance, under Bodek's leadership Productivity Press first published Shingo in 1985 [8] and Hirano in 1989. [32] There were more titles by Hirano from Productivity in the 1990s, [15] [33] and PCS in 2006. [34]

Bodek said his most powerful discovery was the way Toyota and other Japanese companies opened the infinite creative potential often lying dormant inside every single worker. [5]

"When you unlock this hidden talent people become highly motivated and actually love to come to work," he said. [5]

Since 1999 Bodek has focused on Toyota's second pillar "Respect for People, employee-development and employee-empowerment." [35]

Harada Method: the human side to Lean

The Harada Method is designed to teach people how to be great leaders, coaches, and to build a winning team. [4] [36]

On his 75th trip to Japan, Bodek met Mr Takashi Harada, [11] who Bodek believed has the ultimate recipe for competing against low-cost labor in China and India. [37] By 2011 the Harada Method had become recognized as one of the most systematic ways to enhance employee development. Harada has been adopted by Kirin Brewery, Uniqlo (retail clothing), Nomura Securities (financial services), The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, [38] and Chugai Pharmaceuticals. [11]

Harada sees his method as the next step in the Lean journey. [36] He believes it integrates easily with Six Sigma, Hoshin Planning, and other continuous improvement efforts, to give real substance to what Toyota calls “respect for people.” [36] Bodek claims employers can use Harada to embed continuous improvement in workplace culture. [11]

The essence of the Harada Method is “self-reliance.” Self-reliance is the ability of each person to become so skilled at something that she or he is virtually irreplaceable. They become artisans in disciplines that serves their future and also the success of their organization. People are fully trusted to make responsible decisions for themselves and for the organization they work for. [36] Shohei Ohtani, the MVP in Japanese professional baseball, used the Harada Method when he was a Sophomore in High School, setting his clear goal to be a great baseball player. Recent rumors are he is worth over $300 million when he joins the American Professional Baseball League in 2018.

Teaching

As adjunct professor at Portland State University's School of Business Administration, Bodek taught "The Best of Japanese Management Practices". [1] In addition to a focus on lean tools and techniques, Bodek also taught the Harada Method to his students. [39] His books including How to do Kaizen [40] were among the readings for the 'ISQA 410' course in logistics, for Spring 2012.[ citation needed ]

Recognition

In 2005, Bodek won the Books and Monographs category of the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing, a prize that awards companies worldwide that "achieve world-class operational excellence status", for his book, Kaikaku, The Power and Magic of Lean. [28] [41]

In 2010, Bodek was inducted into Industry Week's Manufacturing Hall of Fame. The award recognized him as one of a team of "industrial superstars whose collective careers have had an immeasurable impact and influence on U.S. manufacturing." [42]

Bodek was inducted into the Association for Manufacturing Excellence Hall of Fame in 2019. The AME Hall of Fame recognizes industry thought leaders and influencers who support the values, principles and practices found within leading enterprise excellence organizations. [43]

Norman recently wrote a new book, A Miraculous Life, where he shares what he learned throughout his life from numerous masters in management and in the spiritual world. He hopes that reading his miracles will encourage others to recognize the marvelous opportunities that they have to live wonderfully well and also to serve others.

See also

Bibliography

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lean manufacturing</span> Methodology used to improve production

Lean manufacturing is a method of manufacturing goods aimed primarily at reducing times within the production system as well as response times from suppliers and customers. It is closely related to another concept called just-in-time manufacturing. Just-in-time manufacturing tries to match production to demand by only supplying goods that have been ordered and focus on efficiency, productivity, and reduction of "wastes" for the producer and supplier of goods. Lean manufacturing adopts the just-in-time approach and additionally focuses on reducing cycle, flow, and throughput times by further eliminating activities that do not add any value for the customer. Lean manufacturing also involves people who work outside of the manufacturing process, such as in marketing and customer service.

Kaizen is a concept referring to business activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees from the CEO to the assembly line workers. Kaizen also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics, that cross organizational boundaries into the supply chain. It has been applied in healthcare, psychotherapy, life coaching, government, manufacturing, and banking.

The Toyota Production System (TPS) is an integrated socio-technical system, developed by Toyota, that comprises its management philosophy and practices. The TPS is a management system that organizes manufacturing and logistics for the automobile manufacturer, including interaction with suppliers and customers. The system is a major precursor of the more generic "lean manufacturing". Taiichi Ohno and Eiji Toyoda, Japanese industrial engineers, developed the system between 1948 and 1975.

Poka-yoke is a Japanese term that means "mistake-proofing" or "error prevention". It is also sometimes referred to as a forcing function or a behavior-shaping constraint.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Shigeo Shingo</span> Japanese engineer (1909–1990)

Shigeo Shingo was a Japanese industrial engineer who was considered as the world’s leading expert on manufacturing practices and the Toyota Production System.

Muda is a Japanese word meaning "futility", "uselessness", or "wastefulness", and is a key concept in lean process thinking such as in the Toyota Production System (TPS), denoting one of three types of deviation from optimal allocation of resources. The other types are known by the Japanese terms mura ("unevenness") and muri ("overload"). Waste in this context refers to the wasting of time or resources rather than wasteful by-products and should not be confused with waste reduction.

Single-minute digit exchange of die (SMED) is one of the many lean production methods for reducing inefficiencies in a manufacturing process. It provides a rapid and efficient way of converting a manufacturing process from running the current product to running the next product. This is key to reducing production lot sizes, and reducing uneven flow (Mura), production loss, and output variability.

Genba is a Japanese term meaning "the actual place". Japanese detectives call the crime scene genba, and Japanese TV reporters may refer to themselves as reporting from genba. In business, genba refers to the place where value is created; in manufacturing, the genba is the factory floor. It can be any "site" such as a construction site, sales floor or where the service provider interacts directly with the customer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taiichi Ohno</span> Japanese businessman and engineer (1912–1990)

Ohno Taiichi was a Japanese industrial engineer and businessman. He is considered to be the father of the Toyota Production System, which inspired Lean Manufacturing in the U.S. He devised the seven wastes as part of this system. He wrote several books about the system, including Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production.

Five whys is an iterative interrogative technique used to explore the cause-and-effect relationships underlying a particular problem. The primary goal of the technique is to determine the root cause of a defect or problem by repeating the question "why?" five times, each time directing the current "why" to the answer of the previous "why". The method asserts that the answer to the fifth "why" asked in this manner should reveal the root cause of the problem.

Autonomation describes a feature of machine design to effect the principle of jidoka (自働化)（じどうか jidouka), used in the Toyota Production System (TPS) and lean manufacturing. It may be described as "intelligent automation" or "automation with a human touch". This type of automation implements some supervisory functions rather than production functions. At Toyota, this usually means that if an abnormal situation arises, the machine stops and the worker will stop the production line. It is a quality control process that applies the following four principles:

  1. Detect the abnormality.
  2. Stop.
  3. Fix or correct the immediate condition.
  4. Investigate the root cause and install a countermeasure.
<span class="mw-page-title-main">Value-stream mapping</span> Lean-management method for analyzing the current state and designing a future state

Value-stream mapping, also known as material- and information-flow mapping, is a lean-management method for analyzing the current state and designing a future state for the series of events that take a product or service from the beginning of the specific process until it reaches the customer. A value stream map is a visual tool that displays all critical steps in a specific process and easily quantifies the time and volume taken at each stage. Value stream maps show the flow of both materials and information as they progress through the process.

Lean dynamics is a business management practice that emphasizes the same primary outcome as lean manufacturing or lean production of eliminating wasteful expenditure of resources. However, it is distinguished by its different focus of creating a structure for accommodating the dynamic business conditions that cause these wastes to accumulate in the first place.

Kaikaku (改革), is the Japanese term for "radical change". In business, Kaikaku is concerned with making fundamental and radical changes to a production system, unlike Kaizen which is focused on incremental changes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Akira Kōdate</span> Japanese engineer and business manager (1925–2018)

Akira Kōdate (高達秋良、こうだて・あきら) was born in Kanagawa District, Japan on 6 October 1925. He is an engineer and a Japanese business manager, considered one of the greatest international experts in R&D and production management, as well as a master of lean thinking-related methodologies. Since 1953, he has been working as a consultant with the Japan Management Association (JMA) and JMA Consultants Inc, where he works as a principal consultant and technical advisor.

The P-Course is a practical training program about Industrial Engineering implemented to teach the main techniques for industrial work improvement. Although especially aimed at applications in manufacturing, it can be useful also to transfer the core concepts of systematic improvement approach to people involved in operational activities in non-manufacturing businesses.

Gwendolyn Galsworth is an American President and Founder of Visual Thinking Inc and also an author, researcher, teacher, consultant, publisher and leader in the field of visuality in the workplace and visual management. Her books have won multiple Shingo Prize awards in the Research and Professional Publication category, focusing on conceptualizing and codifying workplace visuality into a single, comprehensive framework of knowledge and know-how called the "visual workplace."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Masaaki Imai</span> Japanese business theorist

Masaaki Imai, 1930–⁠2023, was a Japanese organizational theorist and management consultant known for his work on quality management, specifically on kaizen. Known as the father of Continuous Improvement (CI), Masaaki Imai has been a pioneer and leader in spreading the kaizen philosophy all over the world.

The visual workplace is a continuous improvement paradigm that is closely related to lean manufacturing, the Toyota Production System (TPS), and operational excellence yet offers its own comprehensive methodology that aims for significant financial and cultural improvement gains. Introduced by Gwendolyn Galsworth in her 1997 book Visual Systems, this system integrates and codifies the many iterations of visuality in the world of continuous improvement.

The industrialization of construction is the process through which construction aims to improve productivity through increased mechanization and automation. The process commonly involves modularization, prefabrication, preassembly, and mass production.

References

  1. 1 2 devteam (2020-12-16). "Remembering Norman Bodek, the "Miraculous Life" of an Author, Teacher, and Publisher of Groundbreaking Business Books". Lean Enterprise Institute. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  2. ↑ "PCS PRESS – Your key to the world's greatest management wisdom" . Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  3. ↑ devteam (2020-12-16). "Remembering Norman Bodek, the "Miraculous Life" of an Author, Teacher, and Publisher of Groundbreaking Business Books". Lean Enterprise Institute. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  4. 1 2 Harada, Takashi; Bodek, Norman (2012). Harada Method: The Spirit of Self Reliance. Vancouver, WA: PCS Press. ISBN   9780971243606.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 PCS Press CEO Archived February 13, 2015, at the Wayback Machine
  6. ↑ Dusharme, Dirk (24 November 2010). "Interview: Norman Bodek, the Quality Missionary". Quality Insider. Quality Digest. Retrieved 16 June 2012.
  7. ↑ Fukuda, Ryuji (1983). Managerial Engineering: Techniques For Improving Quality And Productivity In The Workplace. Stamford, CT: Productivity Press. ISBN   1563271745.
  8. 1 2 3 4 Shingo, Shigeo (1985). A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System . Stamford, CT: Productivity Press. ISBN   0915299097.
  9. ↑ Akao, Yoji (2004). Quality Function Deployment: Integrating Customer Requirements into Product Design. Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press. ISBN   9781563273131.
  10. 1 2 Ohno, Taiichi (1988). Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production. Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press. ISBN   0915299143.
  11. 1 2 3 4 Hutchens, Will (21 March 2012). "How to Solve the Skills Crisis". PCS Press Articles. PCS Press. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  12. 1 2 Jackson, Thomas; Jones, Karen (1996). Implementing a Lean Management System. Portland, OR: Productivity Press. ISBN   9781563270857.
  13. ↑ Fukuda, Ryuji (1989). CEDAC: A Tool for Continuous Systematic Improvement. Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press. ISBN   9781563271403.
  14. ↑ "CEDAC - Harnessing the Power of Groups".
  15. 1 2 Hirano, Hiroyuki (1995). 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace. Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press. ISBN   978-1-56327-047-5.
  16. ↑ Productivity Development Team (1996). 5S for Operators: 5 Pillars of the Visual Workplace. Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press. ISBN   9781563271236.
  17. ↑ Ono, Ken'ichi; Sugiyama, Tomoo (1997). Visual Feedback Photography: Making Your 5S Implementation Click. Portland, OR: Productivity Press. ISBN   1563270900.
  18. ↑ Greif, Michel (1991). The Visual Factory: Building Participation Through Shared Information. Productivity Press. ISBN   978-0-915299-67-6.
  19. ↑ "久久久久九a亚洲欧洲AV大片,欧美福利网站,亚洲福利在线,精品无码久久久久国产APP".
  20. ↑ Nakajima, Seiichi (1988). Introduction to TPM: Total Productive Maintenance. Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press. ISBN   0915299232.
  21. ↑ Suzuki, Tokutaro (1994). TPM in process industries. Portland, OR: Productivity Press. ISBN   9781563270369.
  22. 1 2 Shingo, Shigeo (2007). Kaizen and the Art of Creative Thinking: The Scientific Thinking Mechanism. Vancouver, WA: PCS. ISBN   978-1897363591.
  23. ↑ Tozawa, Bunji; Japan Human Relations Association (1995). The improvement engine: creativity & innovation through employee involvement: the Kaizen teian system. Productivity Press. ISBN   978-1-56327-010-9.
  24. ↑ Kato, Isao; Smalley, Art (2011). Toyota kaizen methods: six steps to improvement. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN   9781439838532.
  25. ↑ Sekine, Kenichi; Talbot, Bruce (2005) [1995]. One-Piece Flow: Cell Design for Transforming the Production Process. Cambridge, MA: Productivity Press. ISBN   9781563273254.
  26. ↑ Shingo, Shigeo; Dillon, Andrew (1989). A study of the Toyota production system from an industrial engineering viewpoint. Portland, OR: Productivity Press. ISBN   0-915299-17-8. OCLC   19740349.
  27. ↑ Liker, Jeffrey (1997). Becoming Lean: Inside Stories of U.S. Manufacturers. New York, NY: Productivity Press. ISBN   9781563271731.
  28. 1 2 Bodek, Norman (2004). Kaikaku: The Power and Magic of Lean. New York, NY: PCS. ISBN   0971243662.
  29. ↑ Shingo, Shigeo; McLoughlin, Collin; Bodek, Norman; Epley, Tracy; Shiwram, Ken (2009). Fundamental Principles of Lean Manufacturing. PCS. ISBN   978-1926537078.
  30. ↑ Maskell, Brian; Baggaley, Bruce (2004). Practical lean accounting: a proven system for measuring and managing the lean enterprise. New York, NY: Productivity Press.
  31. ↑ Maskell, Brian; Baggaley, Bruce; Grasso, Lawrence (2011). Practical lean accounting: a proven system for measuring and managing the lean enterprise. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. ISBN   9781439817162.
  32. ↑ Hirano, Hiroyuki (1989). JIT Factory Revolution: A Pictorial Guide to Factory Design of the Future. Portland, OR: Productivity Press. ISBN   0915299445.
  33. ↑ Hirano, Hiroyuki; Bruce, Talbot (1997). 5s for Operators Learning Package. Portland, OR: Productivity Press. ISBN   9781563271243.
  34. ↑ Hirano, Hiroyuki (2006). JIT is Flow. Vancouver, WA: PCS. ISBN   0971243611.
  35. ↑ Hal (21 November 2005). "The godfather of lean". Reforming Project Management blog. Retrieved 14 May 2011.
  36. 1 2 3 4 "Takashi Harada". Biography. PCS Press. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  37. ↑ "StackPath".
  38. ↑ Oh, Christina (23 November 2011). "From personal goals to business success". SMa News. Singapore Manufacturers' Federation. Retrieved 2 June 2012.
  39. ↑ "Portland State School of Business Administration | Norman Bodek". pdx.edu. Archived from the original on 2010-05-28.
  40. ↑ Tozawa, Bunji; Bodek, Norman; Tame, Kevin; Hubbard, David; Hatch, Steven (2009). How to do kaizen: a new path to innovation, empowering everyone to be a problem solver. Vancouver, WA: PCS. ISBN   978-0971243675.
  41. ↑ 'Hirano's Eight Conditions for Flow Production', Superfactory, 2005
  42. ↑ '2010: The Dream Team', Manufacturing Hall of Fame
  43. ↑ 'AME Hall of Fame'
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.