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Member biographies
Michel Baudin has 29 years of industrial experience, including 23 years of consulting in lean implementation Since 1987, Michel has consulted in industries ranging from automotive, aerospace, and electronics to food and personal products, for European, American, and Japanese companies.
Michel has a long, multicultural experience of providing solutions that work in both technology and management, while coaching implementation projects to success. Starting from the principles behind automotive lean practices, Michel redeploys these principles in appropriate tools and methods to support the ambitions of clients in other industries and markets.
Since 1995, he has taught short courses on the details of lean manufacturing, the management of lean manufacturing implementation, the lean approach to quality, and information technology for lean, as well as customized in-house seminars for clients. These courses have been offered to the public through UC Berkeley Extension, the University of Dayton, and the Hong Kong Productivity Center.
Michel has written four books on manufacturing and many articles and papers in various journals. His academic background includes a Master’s Degree in Engineering from the Ecole des Mines de Paris, and research at the Hahn-Meitner Institute of Berlin and the University of Tokyo. He is a senior fellow of the University of Dayton, and was a member of the IMSE External Advisory Board of OHIO UNIVERSITY. He is a member of the AME, SME, IIE, and IEEE. He is fluent in French, English, Japanese and German, and is learning Spanish.
Over the years, he has:
Introduced the cell concept to a large aerospace machine shop
Designed assembly lines for laser printers, military radios, and motorcycle engines
Set up a consolidation center for automotive parts
Developed a simple heijunka algorithm for sequencing electronics assembly
Adapted the wage system to lean at a German manufacturer practicing piecework
Reduced the time to implement software upgrades at thousands of user sites
Taught lean to hundreds of engineers and managers in the US, Europe, and China
Led a successful application-driven R+D project for the European Union’s ESPRIT program
Designed a production scheduling system for semiconductors
Contributed to the technology of Manufacturing Execution Systems
Jim Ayers has extensive industry and consulting experience in operations improvement including, government agencies, utilities, and private industry. Environments include field crew support and all phases of capital project planning and construction. Jim specializes in process improvement in technical and professional environments including many paperwork intensive workflows with requirements for participant decision-making.
Jim has developed a two-day course called “Supply Chain Project Management” that is certified fully compliant with the Project Management Institutes Body of Knowledge (PMBOK®). The course is part of PMI’s R.E.P. ® program (Registered Educational Provider). He conducts supply chain management workshops and courses in Hong Kong and Mainland China, including an Executive MBA supply chain management course to Chinese executives under contract to UCLA Extension. This program includes a seminar developed for the Purchasing Management Association of Canada in 2007. Jim is also co-author of the supply chain management course offered by Sinclair Community College in Dayton under the sponsorship of the AIM Center (Advanced Integrated Manufacturing) funded by the National Science Foundation.
Jim is also the author or co-author of many books and articles on this website. He hold an MS in Industrial Engineering and an MBA from Stanford University,an a BS in Engineering (with distinction) for the US Naval Academy. He is a member of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals (CSCMP), the Project Management Institute, and the Institute of Management Consultants (IMC). He is a Certified Management Consultant (CMC) by IMC, and serves on the national certification committee and as regional vice president for certification in Southern California. And he is a former nuclear submariner.
Over the years, he has:
Kevin Hop has 28 years of industrial experience, including 13 in training and consulting in Lean implementation for over 200 companies in US, Mexico, Hong Kong, China, and Germany. As an engineer and technical manager at Honda of America for 11 years, Kevin learned Lean in Japan and in the US. His experience ranged from Supplier Development, Quality Control, Engine and Transmission Assembly and Test, Casting and Machining, Motorcycle Assembly and Test. Since 1997, he has taught courses in Lean Implementation, Lean Quality Systems, New Product Introduction, A3 Root Cause Analysis and Problem Solving, Hoshin Planning, Mistake Proofing, and Supplier Development
He is a recognized expert in on-site implementation in these areas, and in developing TPM/5S systems, designing materials flow systems using VSM, and implementing Training Within Industry (TWI) programs. He has a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering, has various certifications in areas of Lean, Quality Control, 6 Sigma and experience in processes such as assembly, machining, molding, casting, coatings, sewing, stamping, and testing.
Over the years, he has:
Since
1990, Hormoz has been driving Lean implementation and management at a Tier 1
supplier to a Toyota-GM joint venture (NUMMI), as well as consulting for major
corporations and speaking at institutions like Stanford University or Cal Poly, and conferences
organized by APICS and SME. He has directly run assembly and injection molding
operations, organized and personally conducted the Lean manufacturing training
of a multicultural work force, and taken charge of maintenance and environmental
issues. He has developed and delivered courses on Lean tools such as kanbans,
poka-yoke, analytical problem solving and Kaizen project implementation, as well
as general management issues like communication, time management, leadership,
or team building.
Hormoz acquired his unique mix of technical and managerial skills through
training by the Toyota Supplier Support Center (TSSC) in Kentucky, NUMMI in
California, and Toyota in Japan. By education, Hormoz is both a Mechanical
Engineer and an MBA.
Over the past 20 years, he has:
Successfully conducted tens of Lean projects with a UAW workforce from over 15 nationalities under one roof, reducing setup times, lead times, equipment downtime, floor-space requirements, quality problems, work in process and finished goods inventory, and safety incidents/accidents, while tripling productivity.
Started a Training corner to try Production concepts with legos and implementing them if and only if all the Team Members were fully trained and convinced of their benefits.
Developed Team Members from within for supervisory positions.
Developed female Team Members for many technical positions for the first time in history of the company.
Planned a major Model Change for implementation in 17 minutes.
Achieved 11 consecutive month of ZD (Zero Defect) in a high volume, high mix environment. This was presented to the upper management of Toyota in Kentucky.
Achieved <15 Defective Parts Per Million for 2 consecutive years. Received 4 awards from Toyota for Quality, Delivery, Cost and Customer Satisfaction
Preston Smith began specializing in rapid product development in 1984 as an internal consultant, became an independent management consultant concentrating on time to market issues in 1986, and earned Certified Management Consultant (CMC) standing in 1990. Preston has consulted on highly effective new product development techniques and time to market over a wide variety of industries in many countries. He is known for adapting techniques that have proved valuable in one industry to another industry.
Prior to 1986, Preston gained broad engineering and technology management experience over a period of twenty years through employment with North American Aviation (now part of Boeing), Pratt & Whitney Aircraft, IBM, Bell Laboratories (now Lucent Technologies), General Motors Research Laboratories, Ensco (a government transportation safety contractor), Institute for Defense Analyses, and Emhart (since merged into Black & Decker).
Although Preston may be best known for his many publications, his daily activity centers on onsite consultation and training in new product development using a results-oriented approach that he has honed over the years. Consider how his consulting capabilities can benefit your organization. For professional development, Preston participates in one industry or professional conference per month, on average. He develops his consulting skills by participating regularly in meetings and conferences of the Institute of Management Consultants.
Some product development techniques Preston is best known for include
Preston Smith contributes to the product development profession while keeping up to date on its literature by serving as book review editor of the Journal of Product Innovation Management. He is a founder of the Agile Project Leadership Network (APLN).
Preston Smith holds a Ph.D. in engineering from Stanford University, and is a member of the Product Development and Management Association (PDMA) and the Agile Project Leadership Network. In off hours, Preston pursues his penchant for speed through alpine skiing and windsurfing.
Crispin
Vincenti-Brown has been a driving force in the Bourton Group's international
activities since 1975, and managed French and Italian offices for 10 years
before moving to the US in 1989. From the start of 1998 Crispin has been
based in Europe where the focus of his activities is on a high-technology
international manufacturing clientele. Crispin's industrial skills are
in the strategic and operational management of complex, high technology
manufacturing businesses, in commercial aerospace, automotive, and electronics.
He is well known for his work in developing strategies for the Agile Enterprise®,
and service chain management. Much of his work with clients focuses on
improving the responsiveness and robustness of product/service delivery.
Crispin utilizes a "make it happen" approach, taking an assignment from
conceptualization through implementation. Examples of success for Crispin’s
pragmatic approach to rapid operational breakthroughs include the following:
Crispin is a fellow of the Institute of Electrical Engineers and an active member of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. In addition, he serves on the board of directors of the Operations Management Association and on the advisory board of the American Product Excellence Award. He is widely published in many languages on subjects ranging from energy conservation in manufacturing plants to bank financing of industrial projects. Crispin is a regular speaker and lecturer at international conferences, business schools, and universities.
Following an apprenticeship with a French aerospace machine tool company, Crispin graduated from the University of Birmingham, UK, with an honors degree in engineering production and is a chartered engineer. Prior to joining Ingersoll Engineers, he managed a machine tool manufacturing facility. His US clients include Boeing, BP, Caterpillar, Cessna, Ingersoll-Dresser, Loral, Martin Marietta, Sundstrand, Taylor Made, Textron, and Westinghouse. In Europe, Crispin has worked with Airbus Industries, Alenia, Alfa Romeo, Arianespace, British Aerospace, Bull, Cummins, Fiat, Fokker, MBB, Philips, Rolls Royce, and Unilever, among others.
The takt times group, 396 Shasta Drive, Palo Alto, CA 94306-4541, Tel: (650) 856-8928, FAX: (650)858-1873, e-mail: Michel.Baudin@takttimes.com