Jeffrey Liker

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.
Influences
- Taiichi Ohno
- Fujio Cho
- Gary Convis
- Toshiaki Taguchi
- John Shook
- Freddy Balle
Influenced
Links
Books
- The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World’s Greatest Manufacturer
- The Toyota Way Fieldbook: A Practical Guide for Implementing Toyota’s 4Ps
- Toyota Talent: Developing Your People the Toyota Way
- Developing Lean Leaders at All Levels: A Practical Guide
- Toyota Culture: The Heart and Soul of the Toyota Way
- The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvement: Linking Strategy and Operational Excellence to Achieve Superior Performance
- The Toyota Way to Service Excellence: Lean Transformation in Service Organizations
- The Toyota Product Development System: Integrating People, Process And Technology
- Designing the Future: How Ford, Toyota, and Other World-Class Organizations Use Lean Product Development to Drive Innovation and Transform Their Business
Videos
Additional Resources
- Talking Kaizen and Lean with Mark Hamel– blog.creativesafetysupply.com
- Jim Womack’s Top Misconceptions of the Lean Movement– kaizen-news.com
- Lean Manufacturing– lean-news.com
- What is Lean manufacturing?– iecieeechallenge.org