Consultants

Our consulting team has a broad range of experience and knowledge about Lean Production as represented by the following consultants.

John Black, President John Black and Associates, LLC

John Black is one of the nation’s leading authorities on Lean Operations and his consulting team is currently working with healthcare and manufacturing organizations throughout the world.

John has broad experience helping healthcare organizations implement Lean Operations, based on the Toyota Production System. Beginning with Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, WA in 2001, Black is now bringing the benefits of Lean Operations to Park Nicollet Health Systems in St. Louis Park, MN and Premera Blue Shield of Lynwood, WA. Black has led Virginia Mason and Park Nicollet on trips to Japan to gain hands-on knowledge of Lean Operations.

Prior to starting his own consulting firm, Black was a pioneer of Lean Operations at The Boeing Company. He was the first to introduce the ideas of quality gurus Deming and Juran to the company and he went on to gain management's commitment to the Toyota Production System (TPS). In 1980 Black was instrumental in persuading Boeing top management to commit to Lean Operations in the production of the Boeing 757 airliner. His ideas also paved the way for the Boeing 737 moving assembly line – the world's first for a jet aircraft.

Bill Creel, Executive Consultant

Bill Creel joined John Black and Associates in 2002. Since then, he has acted as an independent consultant, providing lean enterprise training and consulting services to national and international manufacturing companies and healthcare organizations.

Prior to joining JBA, Bill worked for Commercial Airlines division of The Boeing Company, where he developed the lean production system strategy, directed all capital expenditures, and implemented manufacturing process improvements for the Commercial Airplane Wing Center.

Bill received his degree in Electrical Engineering from Louisiana Tech University.

Bill Sandras, Executive Consultant

Bill Sandras joined JBA in 2007.

Prior to joining JBA, Bill founded Productivity Centers International (PCI) in 1985, where he provided his expertise to a wide-variety of manufacturing, engineering, software, health care, natural resource, transportation, distribution, administrative, and service organizations throughout the world.

He passed the American Production and Inventory Control Society's certification exams at the highest level and was on their JIT certification test committee. He is on the Association for Manufacturing Excellence editorial board for their “Target” magazine, and is on the joint Lean certification development committee for the Society for Manufacturing Engineers, the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, and the Shingo Prize Committee. He wrote the how-to book titled Just-in-Time: Making it Happen -- required reading for Lean certification. He served as an Industry Week best plant reviewer, has written many articles, and given numerous speeches throughout the world.

Bill holds a Bachelor of Science degree with dual majors in Production Management and Statistics, and a Master of Business Administration degree in Management Science (Operations Research) from the University of Colorado.

Richard Abercrombie, Senior Consultant

Richard joined JBA in 2007.

Prior to joining JBA, Richard has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing, much of it with The Boeing Company, where he became involved in Boeing’s Lean Manufacturing initiative as a member of the Boeing Supplier Support Center where he led key Boeing suppliers, both domestic and international, in the implementation of Toyota Production System principles.

Since retiring from The Boeing Company in 2001, Richard has continued to consult independently with companies implementing the Toyota Production System. His clients include businesses in manufacturing, aerospace, steel, food industry, banking, health care and construction. In addition to his independent work, he is presently working with John Black and Associates as a senior consultant.

Richard is also one of only three Master Trainers in North America that deliver Institute Sessions of the Training Within Industry programs. Considered by some to be the “missing link” in sustaining a Lean transformation, Richard is part of an unbroken line of Master Trainers that traces back through Japan to the original WWII TWI Institute in the United States.

Takeshi Iwata, Executive Consultant - Shingijutsu Global Consulting USA Inc., and special assignments for JBA LLC

Mr. Iwata joined Shingijutsu in 1999, and joined SGC in 2003.

Prior to working for Shingijutsu, Mr. Iwata engaged in promotion of the Kanban system in the production and distribution departments at Rinnai Corp. His expertise is in the areas of materials and information flow. He received his B.S. degree from the Commercial Science Business Administration Department of Aichi Gakuin University.

Katsuya Koide, Executive Consultant - Shingijutsu Global Consulting USA Inc., and special assignments for JBA LLC

Mr. Koide joined Shingijutsu in 1994 as a consultant with primary responsibility for the automotive industry. He supported the formation of SGC and later joined SGC's Board of Directors in 2003, and also serves as a Senior Consultant.

Prior to working for Shingijutsu, Mr. Koide served Toyota Auto Body Co., Ltd., for 31 years in the Quality Control and Production Management departments. He was a group leader in Toyota's Autonomous Study Group, where he vigorously implemented the Kaizen and JIT systems in the Toyota group's member companies. Mr. Koide received his B.S. degree from the Engineering Department of Iwate University, majoring in metal engineering.