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2017 Shingo Prize for Literature
Some things never change. Harley-Davidson is still the great, iconic American motorcycle. But like many storied companies, Harley has had to evolve to stay on top, even to stay in existence. From near-extinction in the early eighties, it has risen to worldwide recognition for management excellence and innovation. The Lean Machine is an inside look at how Harley-Davidson was able to adapt in an ever-changing world and accelerate product development. Rooted in Japanese productivity improvement techniques, Knowledge-Based Product Development helped fuel Harley's incredible period of sustained growth. Even after the company earned the PDMA Corporate Innovator Award in 2003, Dantar Oosterwal, a Harley-Davidson executive, took the improvement a quantum leap further. By implementing Lean Product Development techniques, Harley realized an unprecedented fourfold increase in throughput in half the time, powering annual growth of more than ten percent. In The Lean Machine, Oosterwal shows the day-to-day transformation at Harley and identifies universal change and improvement issues, so that companies in any industry can incorporate Knowledge-Based Innovation-with predictably excellent results.
About the author
DANTAR P. OOSTERWAL has led global innovation improvements as Vice President of Innovation at Sara Lee, as well as Director of Product Development at Harley-Davidson.
Summary
In this insider guide, former Harley-Davidson executive Dantar Oosterwal offers an exclusive look at how Harley-Davidson was able to adapt in an ever-changing world to stay on top and stay in existence.
From near-extinction in the early eighties, Harley-Davidson rose to worldwide recognition and is still today one of the great, iconic American motorcycle brands. In this insider guide, former Harley-Davidson executive Dantar Oosterwal offers an exclusive look at how Harley-Davidson was able to adapt in an ever-changing world to stay on top and stay in existence
In The Lean Machine, you will learn about their secret weapon and go-to formula for outstanding success as well as:
- the day-to-day transformation at Harley-Davidson
- their adapted Knowledge-Based Product Development
- identifies universal change and improvement issues so that any company can incorporate this
Rooted in Japanese productivity improvement techniques, the Knowledge-Based Product Development method helped Harley realize an unprecedented fourfold increase in throughput in half the time--powering annual growth of more than ten percent.
The Lean Machine is part business journal, part analysis, and part step-by-step toolkit that will help companies in all industries achieve predictably excellent results.
