About the Book

Embarking on a lean journey is similar to hitchhiking – there are many roads on which to wander and no single one is right for all. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean: Lessons from the Road reveals the most critical lessons learned over the authors’ combined 30-plus years of exploring lean highways. The book shares concepts and stories based on real-world applications – not theory! The authors intentionally focus on the areas where most lean efforts fail to illustrate steps to take to re-energize, accelerate and sustain a lean transformation.

The book’s 10 chapters cover lean principles and thinking, lean leadership moves, the roadmap for lean transformation, common pitfalls of lean journeys, building an operating system, lean accounting, lean material management, lean in service organizations, and how individuals can apply lean to improve themselves. The book concludes with interviews of lean practitioners on the front lines of change at Chrysler, Ross Controls, DTE Energy, RSR Corporation, and Nemak.

Lean leaders add value by changing things, moving them forward, and producing different results than the day before. To lead, you must go beyond creating a vision – you must develop the vehicle that will deliver it. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean is the vehicle that will help you move beyond the tools and take lean to a self-sustaining and continuously improving level.

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Meet the Authors

Jamie Flinchbaugh

Jamie Flinchbaugh is co-founder and partner of the Lean Learning Center, bringing successful and varied experiences of lean transformation as both a practitioner and facilitator. Under the leadership of Jamie and co-founder Andy Carlino, the Lean Learning Center has become one of the most recognized and premier lean providers in the world.

Prior to founding the Center, he worked at DTE Energy, parent to Detroit Edison, as a lean thought leader to help transform the operations, leadership and thinking of the utility industry towards a philosophy of lean systems. Earlier in his career, Flinchbaugh was part of the development, training and implementation of the Chrysler Operating System, a widely-benchmarked lean change program. He also has a wide-range of operational experiences, including product development production, maintenance, quality, materials and manufacturing engineering, and has worked at every level from the board room to the shop floor. Flinchbaugh co-authored with Andy Carlino The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean: Lessons from the Road, a best-selling lean book.

Client assignments for the Lean Learning Center include worldwide projects for a variety of industries and include Intel, Intevac, Simmons Foods, Simmons Mattress, Numonyx, Freescale Semiconductor, Del Monte, Hallmark, M&M Mars, Amazon.com, Harley-Davidson, United Technologies, Trane, AVL North America, Detroit Medical Center, Takasago, Intermatic, Schwak, Dana, Universal Forest Products and ZF Industries.

Flinchbaugh is also the founder of the Old Dutch Group, LLC, an investment company, and a principal of Cobra Motorcycles. He also serves on the board of directors of S&S Cycle, Inc. and is an investor in Flinchbaugh Engineering, Inc.

In addition to his business activities, he chairs the Board of Advisors to Oakland University‘s Pawley Institute and is a member of the Lehigh Leadership Council at Lehigh University. In 2004, Flinchbaugh received Lehigh University‘s prestigious Alumni Award for outstanding service, and in 2006 was an Entrepreneur-in-Residence, and delivered the keynote address for the Honors Convocation.

Flinchbaugh is a graduate fellow of the highly-regarded Leaders for Manufacturing Program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where he received a Master of Business Administration degree from the Sloan School of Management, and a Master of Science degree in Engineering. He has also received a Master of Science degree in Engineering from the University of Michigan and holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Lehigh University.

Flinchbaugh resides in Riegelsville, Penn. with his wife, Jill, and children Emma, Jack and Ben.

You can also follow Jamie on his blog at www.jamieflinchbaugh.com.

Andy Carlino

A nationally recognized consultant, educator and speaker, Andy Carlino is founder of Achievement Dynamics which specializes in training, education and consulting in the areas of Toyota Production Systems, Lean Systems Development, Kaizen Implementation, Lean Learning Laboratories, Executive/Leadership Coaching and Development, Program Development, Shop Floor Management, Control Point Standardization, Value Stream Management, and Facilitator Development. He is also co-founder and partner of the Lean Learning Center. Over the past 19 years, the resources of these two companies have assisted organizations in transforming vision into performance and developing leaders and learners for lean transformation.

Carlino has over twenty years experience in real-world senior management, including president and COO, and is a nationally renowned lean expert. He has worked with thousands of individuals from the boardroom to the shop floor, in virtually all sectors of industry and is well known for the ability to help companies implement and sustain organizational change. His clients have included, BISSELL, Siemens, Deere & Co., Detroit Edison, BlueCross BlueShield, Visteon, Johnson & Johnson, Irish Rail, Land O’Lakes, Northeast Health, Foster Farms, Glanbia Foods, AGCO and Wise Foods. Additionally, he provides organizational assessments and due diligence for the private equity investment community and for food processing companies, heavy and light manufacturing, assembly, medical devices, foundries and more.

Carlino has presented programs at Harvard and Clemson University, is a frequent keynote speaker for a variety of professional organizations and conferences. He is co-author of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Lean: Lessons from the Road and also authored numerous industry publications specific to the Principles and Practices of Lean Systems Implementation.

Carlino holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and is a member of ASQ, AME, and other industry and professional associations.

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