Conferences, Presentations, & Workshops

Lean Driven Innovation Workshops

Attending a Lean Driven Innovation workshop gives the practical knowledge needed to help implement lean principles in any organization.

Thinking Outside the Lean Box from Shingo Webinars
January 15, 2024

Discover the secrets to fostering innovation beyond conventional methodologies in this webinar. Learn from the experience of Goodyear, a company that transformed its innovation culture long before implementing Lean in the innovation center. The webinar will delve into universal and timeless principles that propelled Goodyear’s success, including the explicit goal of obsoleting products, promoting courage and prudent risk-taking, and fostering collaboration across functions.

Explore how Goodyear’s innovation culture, recognized with the AME Excellence award, not only facilitated a quick Lean transformation but also played a pivotal role in avoiding bankruptcy. The webinar will highlight crucial aspects such as the role of clear goals in creating alignment, the importance of crude prototypes in idea demonstration, and the understanding that not every innovation attempt succeeds, requiring patience and trust in people.

Join us for an enlightening session with industry veterans who spent 30 years at Goodyear, unraveling the principles that drove successful innovation. Gain insights into engaging leaders in the development of new ideas and discover the synergy between people skills crucial for Lean initiatives and those essential for thriving innovation. Don’t miss this opportunity to think outside the box and enhance your organization’s innovative potential.

Workshop: Building a Lean Innovation Culture Shingo Annual Conference in Provo, Utah
May 22, 2023

The two key drivers for business growth are 1) cost and speed leading to a cheaper product available faster than competition and 2) innovation – having something that nobody else has.

Respect and care for people; humble leadership; and empowered associates are important elements of a Lean culture. A Lean culture and Lean processes deliver speed. Cost savings and principles of innovation excellence build a culture of innovation. These two cultures can support each other with perfect synergy: i.e., innovation culture enhances ideation and creativity that is then efficiently developed into goods and services that deliver increased value to customers.

In this workshop, Norbert Majerus addresses the important elements of an innovation culture:

– Being comfortable with being uncomfortable
– Addressing fear and other impediments to innovation
– Allowing space and time for innovation to happen
– Engaging all associates (not just R&D) in the creative part
– Learning the processes of industrial creativity
– Identifying creativity principles and tools
– Seeing a pathway toward better innovation

The key principles of a Lean innovation culture are illustrated by examples and exercises and enhanced by many stories – real and fiction. Stories can best describe emotions and feelings that are an important part of lean culture and innovation culture. Stories and illustrations also help the understanding of the principles.

After attending this workshop participants are able to:
– Understand what a Lean innovation culture looks like
– Understand the benefits and the challenges to implementation
– Be prepared to implement a sustainable Lean innovation culture in their own organizations

Register for the workshop.

Creating a Lean Culture of Innovation
January 5, 2023

At the most recent Shingo Annual Conference, more than half of the keynote presenters stressed the need for more or better innovation, realizing that innovation excellence does not automatically come with Lean. Many publications have even wondered if Toyota lost out to Tesla on electric vehicles because of their focus on Lean and operational excellence.

There is perfect synergy between Lean and innovation. In this webinar the presenter, Norbert Majerus, Shingo Faculty Fellow, will share his experience of how he built a culture of innovation on top of a Lean culture and saw amazing results.

Lean-Driven Project Management Workshop from Shingo Institute
June 17th, 2021

– Are the people on the project team engaged and happy?
– Are all your projects delivering on time and on target?
– Do your projects get the support they deserve?

Lean principles do not obsolete good project management.
They transform a good management system into an excellent one.

Lean Drive Project Management Workshop from Shingo Institute
June 17, 2021

This workshop teaches how Lean principles can help project execution, and it describes Lean startup principles that help organizations transition new ideas into successful products. In addition to the process, the workshop also covers the appropriate way to manage people and lead project teams.

This workshop focuses on the following topics:
– The prerequisites for successful Lean project management
– The Lean principles to improve delivery, speed, and agility
– Visual management and visible resource allocation
– Managing people and leading a project team in a Lean environment
– Lean project management subjects, including managing projects in small increments, project management flow, resource allocation, late start, respect for people, agile management, visual project management, and daily stand-up meetings

By attending this workshop, what will attendees be able to do upon returning to work on Monday?
– Integrate Lean principles into current projects
– Become a much more effective project manager
– Engage people, up and down the organization, and become a better team leader
– Engage people, up and down the organization, and become a better team leader

Register for the workshop..

LPPDE Europe 2021 Virtual Conference
May 19 – 20, 2021

Why should we change? Why should we invest in a Lean Driven Innovation way of working? This is many times the question management asks before starting the journey towards a new way of working.

Norbert will teach us his way of thinking and share his vast experience of the subject. He goes through the way of thinking for Lean Driven Innovation in the different parts of Product Development like idea creation, technology creation, and product creation. During Norberts 40 years at Goodyear he had the possibility to start and lead this journey for the company. The change really made a difference with some staggering results: safety and quality are central, and the company reached an all time high and the company delivered! 1500 projects, on time and on budget!

Download presentation: Making the Case for Innovation Excellence (PDF)

Lean Ethics Webinar from Shingo Institute
May 5 and May 26, 2021

Lean thinking has created wealth for many companies and must set new standards for how Lean leaders and practitioners should look at ethics.

Ethical behaviors are crucial and the lack thereof can be detrimental – just look what happened to major companies such as VW and Boeing. But what we see in the press about ethics violations are just the tip of the iceberg. Most companies are not even aware that what is hidden under the surface can be equally or more detrimental to them.

Is the implementation of traditional Lean processes and behaviors sufficient to avoid the severe consequences of unethical behavior? How can good Lean thinking help?

These and many more questions are explored and illustrated with personal experiences in the two webinars by former Goodyear President Jean-Claude Kihn and by their former Lean Champion and current Shingo Faculty Fellow Norbert Majerus.

May 5: Grasping the Situation

May 26: Principles and Implementation

Read the articles at shingo.org:
Part 1: Grasping the Situation
Part 2: Principles and Implementation

Lean Project Management at LPPDE Virtual Summit 2021
April 16, 2021

View the Project Management presentation.

In his very practical way, Norbert describes the theory’s that make Lean Driven Project Management increase delivery, speed, and agility of all kinds of projects, and it helps motivate and engage people. Although the chief engineer (or project manager) and matrix organizations are staples of a lean organization, few companies have taken advantage of other lean principles and tools when managing their projects. At Goodyear and as described in the book Lean-Driven Innovation, lean thinking combined with a solid project management organization has led to large increases in on-time delivery, speed, and agility. Projects meet their business case (profitable products) and resource utilization has been tripled despite a flat budget.

Cappuccino Talk: Gemba Walk at Goodyear from Lean Analytics Association
March 10, 2021

During this #LAACappuccinoTalks​ session “Lean Driven Innovation and Gemba Walks at Goodyear”, Norbert Majerus former Lean Champion at Goodyear, Jean Claude Kihn, former Goodyear’s President of Europe, Middle East & Africa and Dany Assaker Operations and Lean Processes at Goodyear, shared their lessons learned implementing different lean practices to accelerate the development of new products at Goodyear. They also spoke about the benefits of empowering and engaging employees with Gemba Walks.

Webinar: Innovation in Uncertain Times
January 27, 2021

Managing the risk has always been a big challenge with innovation. And now that risk is greater than ever because the environment we live in has added another level of uncertainty. But lean innovation is addressing many more principles to let innovation thrive in any environment.

The problem with innovation is that you know very little about the new product or service that you are developing and you have to first develop at least a piece to find out. And the faster you get that done and the less you have to invest in that effort the more successful you will be.

Lean innovation thinking takes cues from lean start-up, agile development, innovation risk management and other revolutionary methods to manage the fuzzy front end of the innovation process. It follows up with knowledge based principles for the technology development and flow based factory like systems for the development of the product itself.

AME 2020: Energize Your Journey
October 27 – 29, 2020

Norbert Majerus presents a Lean Project Management Workshop. For some, lean project management means merely creating a Toyota-like chief engineering position. But lean project management takes a framework, skills, training, and often a different organization. It is the combination of lean thinking and good traditional project management practices—a powerful synergy that leads to amazing results for virtually any type of project: capital, engineering, software, continuous improvement, and more.

32nd Annual Shingo Conference via Zoom
October 12 – 13, 2020

A big part of shaping a culture that drives operational excellence is aligning the entire organization to its big goal—its Why. This year’s theme, Know Your Why, is about empowering with purpose. Join the Shingo Institute at the Virtual 32nd Annual Shingo Conference and learn how to make big transformations in your organization using the principles of the Shingo Model™.

– Discover what other process improvement practitioners have done to make notable improvements to their organizations.
– Learn from experienced industry leaders as they present their keynote speeches.
– Join discussion groups in break-out sessions and workshops.
– Network with leaders and managers who are striving to improve their organizations.

AME Interactive Webinar: Agile Thinking in Uncertain Times
May 21, 2020

In this interactive virtual session we will explore and illustrate (with examples) agile’s key principles. We will discuss how agile thinking and principles can be leveraged by manufacturers, service companies, health care organizations, and others. Agile can help organizations of all types to cope with the challenging situation today and, as important, get into the right position for a better tomorrow that will one day come, so you and your organization can hit the ground running when things change.

MetLife Huddle with Norbert Majerus
May 15, 2020

A huddle with the MetLife team on the topics of lean innovation and sustainability.

LPPDE Digital Conference
May 5 & 6, 2020

With our Finland conference rescheduled to September 8-10, 2020, please join us for this digital exchange. All speakers available will make a shorter presentation and open up for a couple of questions which will be answered live. The questions we do not have the time to answer will be sent to each speaker to allow the inclusion in the presentation or handled separately. There will also be a possibility to discuss the questions during the conference’s networking breaks. Find a new way of creating energy tap into the knowledge and insights gathered by lean practitioners and experts.

Lean and Six Sigma Conference from ASQ in Phoenix
February 23 – 25, 2020

In 2020 we focus on identifying ways to put those ideas and learning into action at all levels. Quality professionals are uniquely positioned to lead and help their organizations achieve business process excellence through insightful, high-level learning and idea sharing during this conference. Participants will leave with the ability to identify areas of focus within their organization for maximum financial impact.

Participant Ratings
Presenter: 9.3/10
Session: 9.1/10
Participant Count: 53
Participant Comments
Knowledgeable about subject matter.
Really enjoyed the specific examples.
A delightful session and highly valuable perspective.
Norbert is an excellent presenter with an interesting story to tell. Bring him back!
Engagement and Respect and cheap iterations.
Innovation must have a process! Lean drives innovation! Innovation requires developing knowledge before moving to technology!
Loved the stories and how they applied to Goodyear’s Lean journey.
New look at product development through Innovation.
There is a limit to the number of projects a company can get through at one time. Pushing for more means some won’t get done.
Thank you being here to present and share ideas , and the future evolution on these topics.
Excellent, please bring him back!

Lean-driven Innovation Webcast at PDMA
January 16, 2020

Norbert Majerus presents a PDMA Webcast: Lean-driven Innovation.

This webcast includes:
­- Why lean thinking is needed in an innovation creation process and what can be achieved.
­- How the lean process is introduced and sustained.

Register for the event at pdma.org.

Lean in Product Innovation and Development with Corporate College, A Division of Cuyahoga Community College
November 18, 2019

Are you using Lean in Product Innovation and Development? Enjoy this interview with our industry expert for a Lean in Product Development Facebook Live discussion. For more information about Corporate College and Lean visit Corporate College online.

Lean Project Management at AME International Conference in Chicago
November 4, 2019

Abstract lean thinking can increase delivery, speed and agility of all kinds of projects, and it helps motivate and engage people. Although the chief engineer (or project manager) and matrix organizations are staples of a lean organization, few companies have taken advantage of other lean principles and tools when managing their projects. Hear how at Goodyear, and as described in the book “Lean-Driven Innovation,” lean thinking combined with a solid project management organization has led to large increases in on-time delivery, speed and agility. Projects meet their business case (profitable products) and resource utilization has been tripled despite a flat budget. This workshop teaches how lean principles can help project execution, and describes lean startup principles that help organizations transition new ideas into successful products. In addition to the process, the appropriate way to manage people and lead project teams will be discussed.

LPPDE North America 2019 at Jekyll Island, Georgia
October 21 – 24, 2019

Join us for LPPDE North America 2019 on Jekyll Island, GA, October 21-24, 2019. The theme is “Increasing the Speed of Product Development.” An extremely important topic in today’s fierce competitive environment. The conference planning team has worked hard to get the best speakers and asked them to tailor their presentations around this theme. As is customary of an LPPDE conference, most speakers will be in attendance for the entire conference, providing you with unparalleled access for further discussions.

Lean Driven Innovation Twin Cities Continuous Improvement Consortium Workshop Event in White Bear Lake, Minnesota
October 2, 2019
Although lean has found widespread application in manufacturing and services, there have been very few sustained implementations in R&D — and even less in the innovation creation process. Lean startup thinking has energized some areas of application (e.g., software development), but manufacturing innovation has yet to fully embrace lean principles.

Goodyear and many other innovative companies have proven that the benefits of applying lean principles to innovation or R&D — even at the fuzzy front end of the innovation cycle — can be much higher than what has been accomplished in traditional applications, such as manufacturing and services. Benefits include greater agility, more successful new products, better delivery, and much faster speed to market.

This workshop is designed for leaders and practitioners seeking to work more innovatively. Building on the principles of Lean Product Development and Lean Startups, the program provides a comprehensive framework that helps leaders and organizations figure out what to do and how to do it every day. It will provide approaches to answer the following questions:
– How to quickly and efficiently execute a competitive Innovation Creation Process
– How to measure progress to be sure you are getting closer to your goals?
– How to maximize the talent you already have?
– How to discover the truth using simulations, interactions, and tangible experiments?

It applies to all businesses and services that want to become more innovative.

This workshop will focus on the following topics:
– Why innovation is important in all industries, services, and processes
– The lean principles that take an idea to a successful product
– Examples and case studies of successful implementations
– Key tools and features
– Quick learning cycles (agile, scrum)
– Minimum viable products
– Fail fast and often to succeed quickly
– How to engage people in a lean transformation
Innovation and product development subjects, including understanding customer value, collaboration, critical questions, quick learning cycles, minimum viable products, concurrent development, agile, and scrum
– Coaching participants through the creation of a virtual new product by using a sprint cycle

By attending this workshop, what will attendees be able to do upon returning to work on Monday?
– Apply lean thinking to their innovation creation process
– Develop a roadmap to allow everybody to be successful at efficiently creating innovative products, services and processes
– How to engage the people in the transformation and the new process

Who should attend this session:
– Leaders, managers and practitioners in R&D, Engineering and Manufacturing organizations.

Webinar: Lean Project Management at Lean Frontiers
August 29, 2019

In this webinar you will learn more about these concepts in Lean Project Management:
-How lean thinking creates a much more efficient and predictable project management process
-Traditional challenges of project management (on time delivery, speed, etc.) and how they can be addressed and improved
-Collaboration and people management

2019 Shingo Showcase at DENSO in Marysville, Tennessee
August 28, 2019

Shingo Showcases give access to the inner workings of a mature facility that exemplifies excellence. They are one-day events that include an exclusive tour and a choice of an interactive workshop.

– Refresh your training and mental picture of “great” all in one value-packed day.
– Take a two-and-a-half hour tour through a mature facility that exemplifies operational excellence.
– Talk with company leaders about their continuous improvement journey, missteps, and break-throughs.
– Choose from two excellent 4-hour workshops to round out your day of learning.

2019 Shingo Showcase at Goodyear in Akron, Ohio
August 27, 2019

The Shingo Showcase gives you access to the inner workings of a mature facility that exemplifies excellence. This one-day event includes an exclusive tour and a choice between two excellent workshops.

Webinar: Managing People in a Lean Transformation at Gemba Academy
July 31, 2019

Most companies focus on the process when they embark on a lean transformation. This is well illustrated by the process metrics they choose to track their progress. But lean experts and folks who let a lean transformation will agree that the process is the easy part – engaging the people in the transformation is far more difficult and important than to get the process part right.

View the webinar on gotostage.com.

Lean Project Management at Davey Tree Company in Kent, Ohio
July 25, 2019

Although the chief engineer (or project manager) and matrix organizations are staples of a lean organization, few companies have taken advantage of other lean principles and tools when managing their projects. At Goodyear and as described in the book Lean-Driven Innovation, lean thinking combined with a solid project management organization has led to large increases in on-time delivery, speed, and agility. Projects meet their business case (profitable products) and resource utilization has been tripled despite a flat budget.

Lean Innovation Seminar in Istanbul, Turkey
June 18, 2019

This seminar discusses the principles of lean innovation in 3 phases with various examples and simulations in the journey from the idea to a successful product or service:

– In understanding the need of the customer and creating a concept
– Developing technology and knowledge
– Product and service development

The seminar will be useful for all businesses that are trying to be innovative.

LPPDE Europe 2019 in Malmö, Sweden
June 11 – 13, 2019

Join your peers as we explore the theme “Success is Assured” through a combination of keynotes, breakout sessions, hands-on learning, optional workshops and networking.
– Workshops for beginners and experts
– Keynotes from industry leaders
– Lean practitioners sharing their success stories
– Hands-on workshops built into the agenda
– Extended times of networking at breaks, meals, and reception

Two fantastic workshops by Norbert Majerus at Chalmers Conference Centre in Gothenburg, Sweden
January 24 – 25, 2018

Two different workshops will be presented by the Shingo-award winning author of “Lean Driven Innovation”, Norbert Majerus.

Workshop 1: Lean-Driven Start-Up Innovation, January 24, 2019.

Workshop 2: New Products Every Year – On Time and On Target, January 25, 2019.

Register for these workshops at LLPDE.org.

Lean Driven Innovation Twin Cities Continuous Improvement Consortium Workshop Event in Eden Prairie, Minnesota
November 29, 2018

Although lean has found widespread application in manufacturing and services, there have been very few sustained implementations in R&D — and even less in the innovation creation process. Lean startup thinking has energized some areas of application (e.g., software development), but manufacturing innovation has yet to fully embrace lean principles.

Goodyear and many other innovative companies have proven that the benefits of applying lean principles to innovation or R&D — even at the fuzzy front end of the innovation cycle — can be much higher than what has been accomplished in traditional applications, such as manufacturing and services. Benefits include greater agility, more successful new products, better delivery, and much faster speed to market.

This workshop is designed for leaders and practitioners seeking to work more innovatively. Building on the principles of Lean Product Development and Lean Startups, the program provides a comprehensive framework that helps leaders and organizations figure out what to do and how to do it every day. It will provide approaches to answer the following questions:
– How to quickly and efficiently execute a competitive Innovation Creation Process
– How to measure progress to be sure you are getting closer to your goals?
– How to maximize the talent you already have?
– How to discover the truth using simulations, interactions, and tangible experiments?

It applies to all businesses and services that want to become more innovative.

This workshop will focus on the following topics:
– Why innovation is important in all industries, services, and processes
– The lean principles that take an idea to a successful product
– Examples and case studies of successful implementations
– Key tools and features
– Quick learning cycles (agile, scrum)
– Minimum viable products
– Fail fast and often to succeed quickly
– How to engage people in a lean transformation
Innovation and product development subjects, including understanding customer value, collaboration, critical questions, quick learning cycles, minimum viable products, concurrent development, agile, and scrum
– Coaching participants through the creation of a virtual new product by using a sprint cycle

By attending this workshop, what will attendees be able to do upon returning to work on Monday?
– Apply lean thinking to their innovation creation process
– Develop a roadmap to allow everybody to be successful at efficiently creating innovative products, services and processes
– How to engage the people in the transformation and the new process

Who should attend this session:
– Leaders, managers and practitioners in R&D, Engineering and Manufacturing organizations.

Lean Innovation Forum in London, United Kingdom
November 14 – 16, 2018

Since 2013, Lean Innovation Forum provides the environment for lean experts, practitioners and other innovation professionals and organizations from around the world to come together, share their experience, lessons learned and best practices.

This year’s Lean Innovation Forum will explore the topics of Digital, Lean and Innovation, and how they interlace to boost competitive advantage. LiF2018 UK is a three-day event divided into the pre-conference workshops and the main two-day conference.

Norbert Majerus will be presenting the opening keynote presentation, Lean Leadership, in addition to the pre-conference workshop, How to Start a Lean Product and Process Development Program.

Register for this event at leaninnovationforum.com.

Inside-Out Transformation & Managing People in a Lean Environment at Akron-Canton Regional Food Bank in Akron, Ohio
November 9, 2018

This full-day session is a combination of two workshops: Change Management and Managing People in a Lean Transformation

Abstract
A successful lean transformation requires the engagement of the people who do the actual work. This workshop teaches the basic principles of change management and shows how to engage people — in R&D and throughout processes and functions impacted by R&D — in a successful and sustainable transformation.

Summary
Bottoms-up and top-down are two popular modes for a lean transformation, but who has ever heard about an inside-out transformation? This is exactly what Goodyear did for its lean transformation of global R&D (described in the book Lean-Driven Innovation). Inside-out is about educating the people who do the work about lean principles and engaging them in an organized transformation and a well-managed change process. Leadership must also be engaged and willing to change their roles and behaviors. Respect for people is at the heart of the resulting cultural change.

This workshop is a combination of a half-day session on change management and a half-day session on engaging people in a lean transformation. (Both sessions are also taught as separate half-day events.)

The workshop focuses on the following topics:
– Organized change-management process
– How to engage people in the change
– How leadership must change
– The role of the change leader
– Lessons learned at Goodyear
– Change management and R&D project management subjects, including the 11 steps of change management, people engagement, respect for people, the role of the change leader, people-centric lean, motivation, and upside-down leadership
– Analysis and discussion of real people related cases

By attending this workshop, what will attendees be able to do upon returning to work on Monday?
– Change their behaviors to lead a more successful lean transformation
– Be a better influencer, manager, leader, and coach

Inside-Out Transformation at Kennametal Center for Operational Excellence Summit, Saint Vincent College in Latrobe, Pennsylvania
October 12, 2018

Kennametal Center’s mission is to place qualified students within organizations where they can learn, grow and contribute by applying their knowledge of operational excellence to daily processes. Our goal to set employers up for success by providing them with quality employees that are equipped with the skills necessary to excel in the complex business environment and strive for world-class success. We seek to strengthen the alignment between industry and academia in the community so that we can create a pipeline of talented people that funnel back into the community.

Lean Driven Innovation Workshop in San Diego, California
August 30, 2018

This workshop is designed for leaders and practitioners seeking to work more innovatively. Building on the principles of Lean Product Development and Lean Startups, the program provides a comprehensive framework that helps leaders and organizations figure out what to do and how to do it every day. It will provide approaches to answer the following questions:

How to quickly and efficiently execute a competitive Innovation Creation Process
How to measure progress to be sure you are getting closer to your goals?
How to maximize the talent you already have?
How to discover the truth using simulations, interactions, and tangible experiments?
It applies to all businesses and services that want to become more innovative.

Description

Although lean has found widespread application in manufacturing and services, there have been very few sustained implementations in R&D — and even less in the innovation creation process. Lean startup thinking has energized some areas of application (e.g., software development), but manufacturing innovation has yet to fully embrace lean principles.

Goodyear and many other innovative companies have proven that the benefits of applying lean principles to innovation or R&D — even at the fuzzy front end of the innovation cycle — can be much higher than what has been accomplished in traditional applications, such as manufacturing and services. Benefits include greater agility, more successful new products, better delivery, and much faster speed to market.

This workshop focuses on the following topics:

– Why innovation is important in all industries, services, and processes
– The lean principles that take an idea to a successful product
– Examples and case studies of successful implementations
– Key tools and features: Quick learning cycles (agile, scrum), Minimum viable products, Fail fast and often to succeed quickly
– How to engage people in a lean transformation
– Innovation and product development subjects, including understanding customer value, collaboration, critical questions, quick learning cycles, minimum viable products, concurrent development, agile, and scrum
– Coaching participants through the creation of a virtual new product by using a sprint cycle

By attending this workshop, what will attendees be able to do upon returning to work on Monday?

– Apply lean thinking to their innovation creation process
– Develop a roadmap to allow everybody to be successful at efficiently creating innovative products, services and processes
– How to engage the people in the transformation and the new process

Who should attend this session:

– Leaders, managers, and practitioners in R&D, Engineering and Manufacturing organizations.

Register for the workshop.

Conference Preview: Shingo Financial Services Summit at Jon M. Huntsman School of Business, Utah State University
October 22 – 25, 2018

Register for this Shingo Summit.

Lean Product and Process Development Exchange at Ohio State University
October 1 – 4, 2018

LPPDE North America 2018 takes place from October 1 to 4, 2018 in beautiful Columbus, OH, home of The Ohio State University. Since 2008, LPPDE has been THE gathering of lean product and process development practitioners, thought leaders, and educators. Join your peers where together we will focus on Lean Innovation: Aligning Purpose, Process and People.

Workshops for beginners and experts
Keynotes from industry leaders
Lean practitioners sharing their success stories
Tours & Workshops at recognized lean companies (Honda, Goodyear, and more)
Inspiring environment at Ohio State

Explore the Conference Program.

Lean Driven Innovation at The International Tire Exhibition & Conference in Akron, Ohio
September 11 – 13, 2018

Two years ago Norbert Majerus published a book, called “Lean-Driven Innovation; the book won the Shingo Prize last year. The book is the Goodyear story on implementing lean in the R&D and in the innovation creation process. The lean process made a huge difference in the Goodyear innovation centers, increasing on time delivery from 20% to over 90%. It also reduced the cycle time by 75% and tripled the throughput. Majerus is telling the story all over the world but only had one small opportunity to share it with the industry it was developed for: tire development.

Lean Product Development Webinar: Increase Speed and Accelerate Innovation
September 12, 2018

The new product lifecycles have drastically decreased in the last decade. On the other side, R&D efficiency can be measured by how fast new knowledge can be generated and transferred into profitable products. Due to those 2 facts, innovation speed is a tremendous competitive advantage. Lean can contribute a lot to making the innovation creation process faster, starting with the elimination of waste, quick learning cycles, concurrent development, and ending with lean project management.

In this session you will learn:

How lean principles can be applied to the innovation creation process to gain speed
What tools can be used in the different phases of the process
How people can be engaged in the process improvement

Register to view the webinar.

Webinar: Lean-Driven Project Management with Norbert Majerus
June 14, 2018

Although the chief engineer (or project manager) and matrix organizations are staples of a lean organization, few companies have taken advantage of other lean principles and tools when managing their projects. At Goodyear and as described in the book “Lean-Driven Innovation,” lean thinking combined with a solid project management organization has led to large increases in on-time delivery, speed, and agility. Projects meet their business case (profitable products) and resource utilization has been tripled despite a flat budget.

This workshop teaches how lean principles can help project execution, and it describes lean startup principles that help organizations transition new ideas into successful products. In addition to the process, the workshop also covers the appropriate way to manage people and lead project teams.

The workshop focuses on the following topics:

The prerequisites for successful lean project management

The lean principles to improve delivery, speed, and agility

Visual management and visible resource allocation

Managing people and leading a project team in a lean environment

Lean project management subjects, including managing projects in small increments, project management flow, resource allocation, late start, respect for people, agile management, visual project management, and daily stand-up meetings

Lean Driven Innovation Webinar with Norbert Majerus
May 29, 2018

In this webinar, Norbert Majerus takes us through the highlights and key learnings of the Goodyear transformation to being an innovative Lean Product Development organization.

When Lean Product Development emerged in the early years of the 21st Century, American based product development practitioners took a keen interest, studied the principles, and experimented by innovatively applying the principles. Over the next decade, at Goodyear in Akron Ohio, a relentless internal champion, Norbert Majerus, and a team of colleagues applied these principles, transformed Goodyear’s product development efficacy, and established Goodyear as an innovation center and a transformation model.

The transformation at Goodyear has been captured in the Shingo-Prize winning book, Lean-Driven Innovation, authored by Norbert Majerus. The success of the Goodyear transformation is capturing in a most startling (to product developers) quote in the book, from a business leader to the CTO at an important cross functional meeting: “I don’t know how you did it, but we seem to get what we need, we get it when we need it, and it shows in our financial numbers’.

How to Start an LPPD Program at LPPDE Europe in Paris
April 23 – 26, 2018

Join Norbert Majerus and Peter Palmer for this post-conference workshop. One of the most frequent questions asked at lean R&D conferences is “How should I get started”. Unfortunately it is also one of the most neglected subjects in lean publications. What makes it so hard to answer this question is the large diversity: different products/services, different industries, cultures etc. False starts are to blame for most unsuccessful and abandons transformations. Seasoned implementers are able to see the commonalities of the problems and challenges and in this case are willing to share them in a workshop.

Customer-Focused, Knowledge-Based and Faster at LPPDE Europe 2018, Paris, France.

The Goodyear Journey to Lean-Driven Innovation: 1500 New Products Every Year on Time and on Target at LPPDE Europe in Paris
April 23 – 26, 2018

This presentation imparts what Goodyear learned on its lean R&D journey as well as how the company implemented lean principles and achieved synergy between lean and creativity.

Shingo Conference: Optimize the Journey in Orlando, Florida
April 8 – 13, 2018

Join Norbert Majerus and other lean leaders for this special landmark celebration of 30 years of Shingo Conferences on operational excellence.

Experience the Shingo workshops and learn the Shingo Model™ to understand how to build your culture of excellence.

Gain cutting-edge knowledge from the latest research on Lean practices and related topics.

Learn from Shingo recipient leaders and hear about their journeys toward excellence.

Witness the bestowal of the Shingo Prize and other awards at the opening Awards Gala.

Choose from four specialty tracks. Mix and match sessions from each, if you choose.

Register for this event.

Goodyear: Great Innovation Leadership presented from The Society for Concurrent Product Development
March 15, 2018

When Lean Product Development emerged in the early years of the 21st Century, American based product development practitioners took a keen interest, studied the principles, and experimented by innovatively applying the principles. Over the next decade, at Goodyear in Akron Ohio, a relentless internal champion, Norbert Majerus, and a team of colleagues applied these principles, transformed Goodyear’s product development efficacy, and established Goodyear as an innovation center and a transformation model.

The transformation at Goodyear has been captured in the Shingo-Prize winning book, Lean-Driven Innovation, authored by Norbert Majerus. The success of the Goodyear transformation is captured in a most startling (to product developers) quote in the book, from a business leader to the CTO at an important cross functional meeting: “I don’t know how you did it, but we seem to get what we need, we get it when we need it, and it shows in our financial numbers’.

In this webinar, Norbert Majerus will take us through the highlights and key learnings of the Goodyear transformation into being an innovative Lean Product Development organization.

Lean Driven Innovation Keynote and Panel Sessions at the 2018 Business Transformation & Operational Excellence World Summit in Orlando
March 12 – 16, 2018

Join Norbert for a keynote on Lean Driven Innovation, in addition to panel sessions with industry experts.

2018 Engineer’s Day at the Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg-Kirchberg
February 3, 2018

Lean thinking has revolutionized the manufacturing industry. Since 2005 its principles have been applied to the innovation process by Norbert Majerus. Born in Luxembourg in 1952 and based in Akron since 1983 Goodyear’s lean champion in research and development. He is the author of the award winning book: “Lean driven Innovation”.

Transforming from the inside-out at Food and Beverage Manufacturing Summit in Las Vegas
November 16, 2017

Bottom-up and top-down are two popular modes for a lean transformation, but who has ever heard about an inside-out transformation? Inside-out is what Goodyear did for its transformation of global R&D. Inside-out includes helping the people who do the day-to-day work to lead a successful transformation by providing a sponsor, training, coaching and empowerment. Leadership support alone is not sufficient in an inside-out transformation: leadership must change as well, learn to help associates be successful and show respect for people, which is a very important concept that applies to all associates. The transformation leader plays a crucial role and must change first.

• Discover how a successful transformation is one where the people involved are convinced they did it all by themselves
• Understand why and how leadership must change in a lean environment
• Understand the importance of respect for people
• Learn how transformations, such as what occurred at Goodyear, are also much easier to sustain
• Find out how to become a successful transformation leader

Lean-Driven Innovation Workshop at Century College, Minnesota
November 6, 2017

Although lean has found widespread application in manufacturing and services, there have been very few sustained implementations in R&D or other organizations that focus on innovation. Lean-startup thinking has energized high-tech industries, but applications to the innovation creation processes in traditional manufacturing industries or services have been rare and very little has been published on the subject. In fact, many executives believe that applying lean to an innovation creation process can hurt creativity. The resistance to lean and innovation is unfortunate: the benefits of applying lean principles to innovation or R&D even at the fuzzy front end of the innovation cycle, can be much higher than what has been accomplished in traditional applications, such as manufacturing and services. Benefits include higher agility, more successful new products, better delivery and much higher speed to market. Goodyear has developed a highly successful lean R&D and innovation creation process, and the company willingly shares its findings with industry. This presentation imparts what Goodyear learned on its lean R&D journey as well as how Goodyear implemented lean principles and achieved synergy between lean and creativity.

Content:

• Learn why innovation is important in all industries, services and processes
• Understand how lean can be applied and how it can benefit all organizations
• Learn how to create value for the customer and the organization
• Understand the lean principles and how to apply them to your work or processes
• See examples and case studies of successful implementations
• Learn how to generate new ideas and efficiently develop them into successful products or processes
• Experience a new dimension of thinking that can be applied in many other areas
• Understand how to engage the people in the transformation
• Learn how to manage innovation projects using lean principles

Agenda:

• Why innovation is important
• Why it is important to use lean thinking in the innovation creation process and how the principles can be applied
• 10 Drivers of lean innovation with simulations and hands on exercises for
• Value stream collaboration
• Quick learning cycles
• Minimum viable products
• Managing innovation projects with lean thinking

Transforming from the Inside Out at AME Boston 2017
October 10, 2017

Bottom up and top down are two popular modes for a lean transformation, but who has ever heard about an inside-out transformation? Inside-out is what Goodyear did for its transformation of global R&D and it is about helping the people who do the work to lead a successful transformation with a sponsor, training, coaching and empowerment. Discover how a successful transformation is one where the people involved are convinced they did it all by themselves. Learn how transformations such as this are also much easier to sustain.

Leading People and Cross-Functional Teams in a Lean Innovation Environment at Lean Innovation Forum in Madrid, Spain
October 24, 2017

Many lean change agents cite “the people” as the biggest challenge in the transformation. This was certainly also an experience that Goodyear’s lean champion, Norbert Majerus had. He learned that people must be fully engaged in the transformation to produce sustainable results.

A lot has been published about how Toyota manages people – and all of that is very good – But many companies have experienced challenges to copy the Toyota model because they have a different culture and organization.
It is obvious to Goodyear now that they have a different organization and culture and that people must be managed differently. To get there, it helps to understand the principles, the specific needs and challenges.

Through the workshop, participants will learn what experience they had in Goodyear innovation centers during and after the lean transformation.

The workshop is based on the training Goodyear provides to its associates, and includes many industrial examples as well as hands-on exercises through which the participants will understand how to lead the transformation from the people perspective.

Lean-Driven Innovation Workshop at Goodyear in Akron, Ohio
July 27, 2017

Tour Goodyear, an AME Excellence Award recipient, and see how the company has developed its highly successful lean R&D and innovation creation process in this one-day workshop packed with simulations, examples, case studies and excitement. This presentation imparts what Goodyear learned on its lean R&D journey as well as how the company implemented lean principles and achieved synergy between lean and creativity.

Lean-Driven Project Management at Project Management Institute
July 18, 2017

Lean practices have revolutionized the manufacturing industry; the application of lean principles have also had a big impact in construction, IT, services and health care. At Goodyear we were also successful in applying lean thinking to research and development, including the creative part of innovation.

As most companies who deploy lean use an organized change management approach and rely on a good project management system, project managers intuitively pick up a lot of good practices along the way. After all, lean principles are used to drive improvements in on time delivery, quality, speed and resource efficiency – so why would lean principles not apply to good project management.

At Goodyear, the PMO (project management office) is integrated with the lean operations group and we have learned how lean principles and practices can be used to significantly improve how we manage all kinds of projects, from construction to IT and innovation.

View the Lean-Driven Project Management webinar at ProjectManagement.com.

LPPDE North America 2017 in San Jose
September 18 – 20, 2017

Norbert Majerus, Goodyear
Co-chair of LPPDE North America 2017

Development speed has never been more important than right now. Being faster than competitors is a big advantage to most companies, but what many companies do not know is that development efficiency improves as they get faster.

Development speed can be significantly improved by the application of lean principles to the development process. For example the correct application of waste elimination, single piece flow, concurrent development etc. had a huge effect at the Goodyear Innovation Centers where they have been used for more than 10 years now.

In this workshop, participants will learn what lean principles increase development speed and how to correctly apply them to achieve the desired effects. Many simulations, examples and illustrations make the workshop effective and fun.

To enrich your learning experience, you can sign up for pre-conference workshops on September 18, 2017. These sessions typically are in groups of 8-16 people and are highly interactive and tailored to the audience as much as possible.

Register for this workshop and other events at LPPDE North America 2017!

Learn more about this workshop (more…)

Lean-Driven Innovation Webinar
June 22, 2017

Learn how lean thinking and lean principles are applied in the innovation creation process. The same principles apply to becoming more innovative in any processes in industry and services, including finance, health care, etc.

16th Annual SCPD Conference in St. Paul, Minnesota
June 1 – 2, 2017
Join Norbert at the SCPD Conference for his presentation, Transforming From the Inside Out: People at the Center of Innovation and Concurrent Product Development.

Norbert Majerus – The Challenges of Being Lean from Industrial Research Institute Newsletter
May 5, 2017

As one who works hard to train young professionals rising through the ranks of an R&D organization, we asked Majerus what advice he gives them when they start. He said, “Never stop learning. Every day you should look for problems to solve and for better ways of working.” The part that is hard for engineers, he said, is to be open and communicative — both in seeking out advice and in a willingness to teach others.

On Friday, May 5, at noon Eastern IRI will be hosting a Brown Bag webinar with Majerus as he discusses his work and his recent RTM article, “Leveraging Lean Principles in R&D.”

Brown Bag – Leveraging Lean Principles in R&D Webinar with Norbert Majerus
May 5, 2017

The experience of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company shows how applying Lean principles to R&D can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of new product development. Author Norbert Majerus discusses his article published in the March-April 2017 issue of Research-Technology Management.

PEX Process Excellence Asia Week in Sentosa, Singapore
April 4 – 5, 2017

Join Norbert Majerus for the conference session, From Good to Great: Taking Process Excellence and Business Innovation to the Next Level. Additionally the post-conference masterclass, Leveraging Lean Innovation and Start-Up Thinking for Organizational Process Transformation, shows how embracing lean and innovation can result in higher agility, more successful new products, better delivery and much higher speed to market.

LPPDE Europe 2017 in Paris, France
April 24 – 27, 2017

The quest of LPPDE Europe 2017 is about how should we adapt our product development processes and ways of working to enable the development of such complex systems in which hardware, firmware and software components are combined.

Business Transformation & Operational Excellence World Summit in Orlando, Florida
March 21 – 24, 2017

This event brings together the best and brightest individuals & organizations from across key sectors to engage, network, benchmark and discuss the key challenges and future trends within operations excellence and its application & impact on Innovation Execution, Agility, Customer Experience, Leadership, Value Creation, Business Transformation, Strategy & Culture.

AME Conference 2017 in Melbourne, Australia
March 6 – 9, 2017

This conference brings together a select group of International and National speakers, who are leaders in their profession, have achieved significant results or have an innovative approach on how they are taking their Lean journey.

Lean-Driven Innovation Workshop at Cal-Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA
August 14, 2017

Although lean has found widespread application in manufacturing and services, there have been very few sustained implementations in R&D and even less in the innovation creation process. Lean start-up thinking has energized the area of computer applications but the manufacturing innovation lacks behind.

The resistance to lean and innovation is unfortunate: the benefits of applying lean principles to innovation or R&D even at the fuzzy front end of the innovation cycle, can be much higher than what has been accomplished in traditional applications, such as manufacturing and services. Benefits include higher agility, more successful new products, better delivery and much higher speed to market.

Congress 2016 in Nizni Novgorod, Russia
November 15 – 17, 2016

Norbert Majerus presented a keynote session, “Doubling Productivity: Walking the Talk”, and two day class in Lean Product Development.

View Norbert’s Interview at the Russian Congress on Productivity Improvement (link opens in external site).

Lean Innovation Forum 2016 in Lausanne, Switzerland
November 8 – 10, 2016

How applying lean principles in R&D, even at the fuzzy front-end of the innovation cycle can benefit you? Norbert Majerus explains at the Lean Innovation Forum 2016 what Goodyear learned on its lean R&D journey, as well as how Goodyear implemented lean principles and achieved synergy between lean and creativity.

Lean Driven Innovation at Century College in St. Paul, Minnesota
October 20, 2016

Norbert shared his knowledge with SCPD and PDMA members at this presentation, which included a tour of Century College’s Fab Lab.

Lean-Driven Innovation Presentation in St. Paul, Minnesota
October 20, 2016

Norbert Majerus gives an overview of how to unleash the power of lean principles in product development; engage employees in developing a successful lean product development system; hear examples and results from an effective system; change management, collaborative/cross-functional teams and coaching communication.

Lean-Driven Innovation Workshop in Chanhassen, Minnesota
October 19, 2016

This presentation imparts what Goodyear learned on its lean R&D journey as well as how Goodyear implemented lean principles and achieved synergy between lean and creativity. The workshop is packed with simulations, examples, case studies and fun.

2016 NORTHEAST L.E.A.N. CONFERENCE in Worcester, Massachusetts
October 4 – 5, 2016

“Bottom-up” and “top-down” are two popular ways to implement a lean transformation but have you heard to an “inside out” transformation? Watch the video presentation by Norbert Majerus from the 2016 Northeast Lean Conference to learn about this method, used by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., to transform their global R&D operations.

LPPDE North America 2016 in Philapelphia
September 27 – 28, 2016

Advanced Lean Product Development
Monday, September 27th

Norbert Majerus teams up with Peter Palmér to deliver an Advanced Lean Product Development workshop for somewhat experienced lean PD practitioners that promises to deliver an experience based and practical view, built onto a solid theoretical foundation!

2016 Shingo Manufacturing Summit in Knoxville
September 19 – 21, 2016

Manufacturing leaders teach how mid-level managers can make big transformations in their organizations using the principles of the Shingo Model. Join Norbert Majerus for a Lean-Driven Innovation workshop on Tuesday, September 20, 2016.

Transforming from the Inside Out at Lean Frontiers Conference in San Antonio
August 25 – 26, 2016

A presentation about managing the people through the transformation. In order to have a successful transformation, leaders must understand the change process and engage the people affected by the change.
View Session Summary

Lean-driven Innovation at 2016 Lean Systems Summit in Portland, Maine
June 4, 2016

One day workshop on lean-driven innovation, with subjects picked by the attendees.

Panel on Future of Tire Industry at Rubbertech Europe in Essen, Germany
May 25, 2016

Panel discussion on future of tire industry with focus on lean and automation.

Lean Driven Innovation at IndustryWeek Manufacturing & Technology Conference & Expo in Chicago
May 4, 2016

General Presentation on Lean-Driven Innovation.

Transforming from the Inside Out
Mar 23, 2016

Presented by Norbert Majerus, a presentation about managing the people through the transformation. In order to have a successful transformation, leaders must understand the change process and engage the people affected by the change.

American Manufacturing Excellence International Conference in Cincinnati
October 22, 2015

Presentation on innovation made together with Billy Taylor.
Download the Presentation

Norbert Majerus – Successful Innovation Based on Lean Product Development
March 12, 2015

This presentation explores the main requirements and characteristics of a good innovative product development engine and shows how some lean principles can be applied to improve the innovation creation process. It examines the development process from the idea creation to the launch of the product and dispel the idea that lean reduces creativity. Norbert explores different lean principles that apply more to the “fuzzier front end” of the process in addition to those that apply to the process closer to the launch. He shows examples how those principles were applied at Goodyear, including real results. Finally, Mr. Majerus will also show an implementation path that can help participants apply the same ideas at their companies.

Dozuki Webinar
February 26, 2015

Becoming lean is important for virtually all industries and disciplines. But when it comes to product development, applying lean fundamentals often fails. Learn more at http://dozuki.com.

American Lean Manufacturing 2015 in Atlanta
February 25, 2015

AME Innovation Summit Breakout Session in Jacksonville
10/13/2014

AME Innovation Summit in Jacksonville
October 12, 2014

Successful Innovation Based on Principles of Lean Product Development

AME 2014 in Irvine
March 13, 2014