Jeffrey Liker – Lean Manufacturing and Six Sigma Definitions

Dr. Jeffrey K. Liker is Professor of Industrial and Operations Engineering, and co-founder and director of the Japan Technology Management Program at the University of Michigan. He runs his own consulting firm, Liker Lean Advisors, LLC. He is a partner in The Toyota Way Academy, and partner in Lean Leadership Institute.

He is author of the international best-seller, The Toyota Way (2004) which speaks to the underlying philosophy and principles that drive Toyota’s quality and efficiency-obsessed culture. The companion (with David Meier) The Toyota Way Fieldbook (2005) details how companies can learn from the Toyota Way principles.

He has authored or co-authored over 75 articles and book chapters and eleven books, including some of the most popular and well-read books about Toyota. His articles and books have won eleven Shingo Prizes for Research Excellence and The Toyota Way also won the 2005 Institute of Industrial Engineers Book of the Year Award and 2007 Sloan Industry Studies Book of the Year.

In 2012 he was inducted into the Association of Manufacturing Excellence Hall of Fame. He is a frequent keynote speaker and consultant.

Recent clients include Caterpillar, Applied Materials, Siemens, Dover Industries, Kraft-Oscar Meyer, Alcatel-Lucent, Hertz, Solar Turbine, Art Van Furniture and Henry Ford Health Systems.

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