I asked Collin to be our mentor.  He agreed only on the basis that we renew our commitment, and on the basis that it was limited to a year.  He was confident that if we were committed it would be enough – it was.  Cost reduction is approximately 30%, reduction of lead time in half overall, quality is up too because the employees are proud of their achievements and we have developed better processes.

I’ve learned to look at myself and make personal change so I can help lead my people and empower them so they know they are the leaders of the company… They are learning on their own to get better—to make the company better.

We learned a lot of valuable lessons and key learnings during our time in Japan. And what the really cool part about this whole experience has been is actually applying these lessons here in the workplace.