Wednesday, October 2, 2024    Conference Day 2

Transforming Innovation for Enterprise Excellence

Welcome back and reflection

Geoff Neiley, Co-chair of the conference, LPPDE

Geoff Neiley opens the second day with reflections on the learnings from the first day. As always on a Lean Project and Process Development Exchange event the learning and knowledge exchange is central. Geoff will share his learnings and let the knowledge sink in through a reflection before presenting the first speaker.

Continuing the Learning Experience

Geoff Neiley, Co-chair of the conference, LPPDE

Keynote:  – Embarking on A.O. Smith’s Lean Product and Process Development Transformation Journey

Neil Rolph, Vice President Of Engineering and Product Management at A. O. Smith Corporation

In this presentation, Neil will discuss how A.O. Smith knew it was time to modify the product development process and why LPPD was the path to pursue. He will share lessons learned to share with organizations facing these same circumstances.

Neil Rolph serves as the Vice President Product Engineering and Management at A.O. Smith, a global leader in water heating for residential and commercial applications. With a robust background in engineering and product management, Neil plays a pivotal role in advancing the company's commitment to product development and innovation.

Neil's journey with A.O. Smith began over two decades ago, during which he has held various leadership positions within the Engineering area. His expertise in integrating cutting-edge technologies has been instrumental in driving the company's mission to provide efficient water heating solutions.

Drawing from his background in Engineering and several decades of Product Development, Neil has spearheaded initiatives that prioritize energy efficiency and reducing carbon footprints across A.O. Smith's product lines. His strategic vision aligns closely with global trends towards eco-friendly practices, ensuring that A.O. Smith remains at the forefront of environmental stewardship in the water heating sector.

Beyond his technical contributions, Neil is known for his collaborative approach and commitment to fostering a culture of innovation within the company. He actively engages with industry partners, regulatory bodies, and research institutions to explore emerging technologies and regulatory landscapes that shape A.O. Smith's future offerings.

Neil was also at the forefront of changing A.O. Smith’s product development process from that of a stage-gate method to a lean product and process development method.  He has been instrumental in driving this transformation within the company, supporting the training efforts and providing guidance to stay true to what A.O. Smith was trying to accomplish.

Keynote: - GE HealthCare’s Lean Organizational Transformation as a $20 Billion Revenue Start-Up

Matt Zayko, Global Head of Lean Office, GE HealthCare; Co-Author of "The Power of Process"

The discussion will touch on the leadership’s commitment to Lean as one of our core operating principles, creating an organizational vision, change management, innovation in hardware / software (including influences of AI and ML on our products / services), and more.

It has been a busy 5+ years at GE overall since Larry Culp took over as CEO when it was a struggling, unfocused, 125+ years old conglomerate with $90+ Billion in revenue and a balance sheet heavily loaded with debt.  We have now transformed into three separate, independent companies (GE Aerospace, GE HealthCare, and GE Vernova) with clear focus on customer value, healthy balance sheets, innovative products, and emerging business systems. (GE HealthCare officially spun off of “Big GE” in January 2023)

Matt Zayko has served as VP / Global Head of Lean Office at GE HealthCare since mid-2023.  The Lean Office guides the Lean transformation across GE HealthCare resulting in step-changes in people capability and operational business performance, during a critical and unique time in GE’s overall 130+ years of history.  GE HealthCare is now an independently operating company since January 2023 that serves over 1 billion patients annually with over $20 Billion of revenue. 

Prior to joining GE HealthCare, Matt spent 2.5 years as SVP / Executive Lean Leader for GE’s rapidly growing Nuclear business, where he partnered with the leadership team on growing their Lean thinking and practice capabilities across the enterprise during a period of doubling the size of the organization. 

Matt has been applying Lean principles and helping others on this continuous improvement journey for over thirty years.

Before joining GE Nuclear, Matt was president of his own management consultancy and a long-time senior coach with the Lean Enterprise Institute, working alongside Jim Womack, John Shook, Jim Morgan, and other leading lean practitioners at organizations around the world. Prior to that, Matt worked for 15 years in industry in a variety of leadership roles under the guidance of former Toyota mentors for Pall Corporation (part of Danaher Corporation), Delphi Corporation, Gelman Sciences, and Chrysler.  Matt holds a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Michigan, where he was fortunate to study under John Shook, Jeff Liker, Al Ward, Mike Rother, Walton Hancock, and other leading Lean thinkers.  

Matt has deep, hands-on experience leading enterprise improvements in numerous industries by helping to transform research and development, engineering, manufacturing, service processes, and other areas. He has supported organizations as a globally recognized expert in product development, process design, operations management, and people development. Matt has authored numerous articles and a book based on successful transformation.

Matt is the co-author of "The Power of Process".

Networking Break

Lessons Learned from Leading Several Lean Transformations, Ranging from a Start-up to Large Multinational Corporations

Christer Lundh, Founder and President at AUFERO

An inspiring and insightful sharing by a seasoned expert who has successfully led four Lean transformations over the past 15 years. Will share key learnings and essential do’s and don’ts from these experiences, and provide practical recommendations to enhance your own Lean initiatives. Whether you're a novice or a seasoned practitioner, this is packed with valuable takeaways to drive efficiency and continuous improvement in your organization. Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from a true leader in Lean transformation!

Christer Lundh has extensive experience from leading Lean Transformations. He has a deep understanding of Lean product development. During the last fifteen years, in various leadership positions, he has effectively implemented and applied product development processes based on Flow and Knowledge Based Development (KBD) at several companies.

To empower people, Christer has successfully organized development teams around "Product Functions/ Value" perceived by customers. Small cross-functional teams making their continuous flow visible. All teams real-time prioritize based on customer value.

Christer trains and mentors managers and engineers, to do on-the-job-training to their problems, using robust rapid problem solving / gap closing processes.

Christer has personal practical multi-years’ experience as Entrepreneurial System Designer, where he led a start-up. With speed and focus, quick and valuable customer feedback, and with a great sense of urgency, the development teams rapidly improved every new prototype. It enables teams to learn about real customer needs.

Christer puts great value in a present leadership, challenging goals and empowering people, where teams quantify and close gaps. Seeing – transparency – increases motivation. By applying "homing", with multiple quantified countermeasures, teams integrate closing their gaps, and the best part – they own the solutions.

Networking Break

My Story

Geoff Neiley, Director Continuous Product Improvement and CM at Rapiscan

Transformation takes leadership. Transformation takes patience and optimism and perseverance. But most of all, transformation takes courage. We must face the fear of resistance and failure. The change will be difficult, but it is worth it.

Ten years ago, AS&E was mired in a slow, failing product development system. All the cliche road blocks were in place; huge design reviews, micro management, ultra detailed project plans required days of review. Engineers spent as much time creating presentations of the work they had done as the work they had done. Only to have projects change direction or cancelled after months or years of work. How did we get there? Why didn’t anyone stop it or even recognize it?

Finally, three VPs had enough and embarked on a search for a new way. Anything had to be better than what we had. Operation, Quality and Engineering began a search for a better way. The landed on Lean Product and Process Development (The Toyota Way). Hence began our journey out of the swamp of despair.

In 2014, the VP of Engineering attended LPPDE in North Carolina. At the first day workshops he learned about a Rapid Learning Cycles from Katherine Radeka, a system based on lean product development principles. These principles seemed so simple yet so powerful that he felt the team would eagerly embrace them. And he was right. The spirit of eliminating waste was inspiring. And with the encouragement of their boss, it was possible.

Join me to learn about some of these principles and how we enacted them at AS&E. Learn how we failed and, in-turn, succeeded in transforming from a slow, sad engineering team to an invigorated, cross-functional, fast product development team.

Geoff Neiley has been in the mechanical engineering field for 30 years. After graduating from the University of Maine, Orono, he learned much about the custom equipment business at NESLAB Instruments designing water chilling systems. Following this he spent 15 years working for BTU International where he designed and lead projects for conveyorized furnaces using in the electronics and solar industry. During this time, he earned his master’s in mechanical engineering at the University of Massachusetts, Lowell. It was at BTU where Geoff began to see the value of concurrent engineering. Geoff joined AS&E in 2011 where he led the mechanical team to introduce state-or-the-art x-ray products for the security market.

Three years after joining AS&E (now Rapiscan Systems) in 2011, the leadership team introduced the concept of Lean Product Development. Geoff joined the leadership team reading many Lean PD books, inviting Lead PD practitioners to AS&E and attending LPPDE for several consecutive years. AS&E has roundly embraced the concurrent engineering aspects of Lean PD focusing greatly of Set-Base Innovation and cross-functional collaboration with our supply chain and manufacturing team. In 2022, Geoff took the role of Director of Continuous Product Improvement and Configuration Management. In his new role, he continues to leverage his learning from 8-years for practicing LPPD.

Geoff has been a member of the board of Lean Product and Process Development Exchange since 2019. Today he is still learning and experimenting with lean processes and enjoys the pride felt in enabling a cross-functional team to achieve challenging, rewarding goals.

Networking Lunch and Coaching Sessions

Transformation at Northrop Grumman

Suzette Johnson, NG Fellow, Lean-Agile at Northrop Grumman Corporation, Space Sector

Dr. Suzette Johnson works for Northrop Grumman Corporation. As an NG Fellow for Lean Agile and Digital integration, she works for Space Systems fostering operational and program excellence to achieve mission and business outcomes. Her experience with Lean Agile began over twenty years ago with experience across IT systems and software and systems engineering for cyber-physical systems.

She has led the adoption of Lean Agile across the enterprise and has supported over 100 internal projects and government programs on the Lean Agile journey.  She is a Scaled Agile Fellow and SPCT and holds several certifications including Certified Enterprise Coach, PMP, and PMI-ACP. She recently completed MIT’s Digital Transformation certificate program and has received a Doctorate of Management Technology at the University of Maryland with a dissertation focused on investigating the Impact of leadership styles on software project outcomes in traditional and agile environments.

Suzette Johnson, with Robin Yeman, has co-authored multiple papers on Industrial DevOps through IT Revolution and has recently published a book, Industrial DevOps: Build Better Systems Faster, which outlines how to expand Lean, Agile, DevOps, and Digital outside of software and into cyber-physical systems.

Improving Innovation Flow with Large Language Models

Steve Zielinski, Vice President of Systems and Software Engineering at Future Cardia

Large Language Models offer the opportunity to improve product development flow throughout the new product development lifecycle. This presentation will explore how LLMs can improve the workflow from Product Manager to Test Engineer. Our product example will be drawn from the medical device space and we will also explore integrating Model-based Systems Engineering (MBSE) tools into the workflow.

Steve Zielinski is currently Vice President of Systems and Software Engineering at Future Cardia. He was previously Vice President of Development for Bioelectronic Therapies at Orchestra Biomed and has held positions in systems and software engineering at Cirtec, Boston Scientific, and Medtronic. In each of these companies he was instrumental in introducing Agile new product development methodologies. He is the author of The Great Convergence: Merging Lean, Agile, and Knowledge-based New Product Development.

Networking Break

Building Enterprise Excellence for Innovation

Tony Wilcox, VP,  Front End Innovation at Milwaukee Tools

The presentation is about building enterprise excellence for innovation, building innovative value streams. It starts with understanding the customer’s needs, through commercialization all the way from idea to satisfied customer. Tony will share some of the thinking behind transforming innovation teams to deliver great products that succeed in the market.

Tony Wilcox is a global engineering and business leader with over 25 years of experience managing and innovating multi-billion worldwide businesses. He has a proven track record of transforming business, building high-performing teams and delivering unmatched customer outcomes that drive profitable growth.

 As VP Engineering for Milwaukee Tool, Tony leads the Front End Innovation teams in our hyper growth businesses in Safety, Storage, Layout, and Hand Tools. Together, they accelerate growth through deeply understanding their users and creating innovative solutions through applying design thinking, materials innovation, industry and university partnerships.

Networking Break

Learning Circles

30min Reflection + 45min teach back of key takeaways + 15min Summarize key learnings

The learning circles are guided by an experienced coach.

1. We start with a 30 minutes reflection in each team and summary of the learnings.
2. Then we gather the entire group to teach back of the key take aways
3. The conference chairs will then summarize the key learnings of the visit

Closing Address – How will you disseminate this at home

Carolyn Carter, Chair of the conference, LPPDE

What learnings and practices will you be taking back with you to apply on Monday morning?

Back to work:

• Share your learnings
• Run experience
• Learn fast
• Implement

Thursday, October 3, 2024

Post-Conference Workshop

What really happened with the Wright Bros

Andy Wagner + Carolyn Carter, Process Engineer, BCA Future Production at Boeing + Principle consultant at Carolyn Carter Consulting

The first half-day is dedicated to the Product Development system created by the Wright Brothers, from where and how they started until the first successful flight.

The Wright Brothers had their theoretical experience from their bicycle repair shop and very scarce resources, but they had a common vision: To fly!

This is the story of how they detected their critical knowledge gaps, used their ingenuity to define how to test and build knowledge to ultimately achieve their goal.

Lunch

How to Create Visible Knowledge

Andy Wagner + Carolyn Carter, Process Engineer, BCA Future Production at Boeing + Principle consultant at Carolyn Carter Consulting

After lunch the workshop continues and we will learn how to effectively document reusable project knowledge, with the documents generated through definition and execution of the learning plan.

Andy Wagner has been a student of aerospace production systems for his entire career, striving to understand their technical, business, and human aspects, and how the unique aerospace context influences their performance. A sponge for ideas in this domain, Andy is continually testing approaches against the lens of his current and past work to find novel and hybrid solutions to persistent problems.

• 8+ Years leading automation, producibility and process improvement teams and initiatives
• 12+ Years in manufacturing-technical functions, (process engineer, manufacturing engineer, and quality engineer)
• 17+ Years of collaborative Design-Build engineering experience in aerospace
• Lead, coach, and mentor continuous improvement and integration between engineering and manufacturing
• Focused on understanding problems and root causes to drive meaningful solutions

Carolyn Carter is Principal Consultant at Carolyn Carter Consulting after an extensive career at the Kimberly-Clark Corporation where she got her experience in Research Product Development with additional focus on Lean and LPPD in Development, and Engineering, Operations and Quality in Manufacturing.

Carolyn's experience include:

• Leader of Lean Product and Process Development launch across multiple Business Units
• Co-lead of Lean Product and Process Development launch into Research Teams
• Lean Coordinator for initial launch of Lean Culture into Research Team
• Product Developer in programs across multiple businesses
• Product Development Leader for commercialization of large Personal Care Program
• Leadership and development of Process Optimization Program Product Supply for North America and European Personal Care
• Lean Strategic and A3 Problem Solving applications as Quality Manager in Personal Care Manufacturing
• Quality Manager in multiple regulated and non-regulated Personal Care Manufacturing Plants