Thursday, August 6, 2026 Virtual Conference

Peter Palmér, LPPDE and Juha Tammi, Lean Association of Finland - Welcome and Instructions

Peter and Juha represent the two organization who organize these virtual online events and will moderate the Virtual Summit.

Barry McCarthy, Chief Virtual Officer and Business Owner at AME and Explicador Development Studio / PrototypoNous – Title 

This presentation 

Barry McCarthy has a wealth of knowledge in the field of operational excellence. Barry is a recent graduate of the Toyota Production System, but will always be a student. Experiencing the rhythmic production lines of Australia, Thailand, Indonesia, Kentucky, and of course Japan at its heart, has been meaningful work. Barry specializes in the implementation of integrated systems and routines; always respecting human resource development.

He has implemented company-wide: Hoshin Kanri, Toyota Business Practices, On-job development, Leadership Development, and the Toyota Way. At the shop floor level: Management, Engineering, and Logistics Development Systems, Jishuken, Standardized work, A3, and PDCA. He worked in the Toyota Institute, Manufacturing Organizational Planning and Development, and the TPS office within Toyota. 

With a grounded engineering background Barry has also implemented continuous improvement in food processing, manufacturing, packaging, printing, and front of house food service and management.

Russ Field, Retired Business Process Analyst at Boeing – Shadow of the Engineer on Society & Sustainability 

This is a taste of the workshop Russ will have at the LPPDE NA 2026 conference in Seattle later this year. Have you ever witnessed a “perfect” design go horribly wrong? Not because the design was faulty, but because of the use environment? Or “imaginative” end-users? 

We often get so focused on the aspects of a design, plan, or product that we find most interesting, challenging, or productive that we don’t take time to think ahead outside that box. But at a time when many sources feel we’re in a “Critical Thinking crisis”, we don’t always deliver what people need to consistently and successfully navigate uncertainty in the world around us. 

Russ Field is a former Business Process Analyst for Boeing Commercial Airplanes. During his time with Boeing, he served as a Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) facilitator and team leader, Statistical Process Control analyst, and instructor on integrating ERP/MRP systems with Lean Manufacturing techniques. He also taught classes on Critical Thinking, including Complexity (via the Cynefin Framework), Mental Models, and Cognitive Bias as they affect our interpersonal relationships, personal perspectives, and decision-making. 

Russ is experienced with facilitating cross-functional technical teams, helping them achieve focus and alignment in pursuing consensus-based solutions. He has taught, lectured, and consulted internationally, and has been a featured speaker at various North American functions including APICS chapter meetings, Project World, IIE Conferences, The Ed Wells Initiative, and the Project Mgmt. Community of Excellence (PjMCoE).

Yu-Hsiu Hung, Center for Lean Product Development at National Cheng Kung University – LPPD in Taiwan 

Developing Lean Product and Process Development (LPPD) Capability: Collaboration Between Academia and Industry. This presentation explores how a university-based design studio, built on the principles of Lean Product and Process Development (LPPD), serves as a catalyst for talent development and innovation, while creating meaningful and value-generating collaboration between academia and industry. 

Yu-Hsiu Hung is a Professor of Industrial Design at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) in Taiwan, Director of the Lean Product Development (LPPD) Center, and President of the Taiwan Lean Enterprise Association. He has more than ten years of experience in teaching, research, and the practical application of LPPD, and has worked closely with manufacturing and technology companies as a collaborator and advisor to bridge the fields of engineering, design, and management. Dr. Hung is an active member of the global Lean community and is dedicated to advancing the application of LPPD principles in product innovation, capability development, and organizational learning

Final reflections and remarks

End

By Juha Tammi & Peter Palmér

End