The nonprofit Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI), a global leader in lean management thinking and practice, today announced that James Morgan, PhD, has joined its team in the newly created post of senior advisor for product and process development.
“Jim Morgan is a leader not only in lean product development thinking but also in practice,” said LEI Chairman and CEO John Shook. “Jim introduced lean product development concepts to Ford where he was a key player in the product-led revitalization under CEO Alan Mulally. I’m excited that he has agreed to help LEI take lean product development ideas to the forefront of management thinking where they belong.”
“I’m honored to be at LEI,” said Morgan, who wrote two case studies for the recently published Lean Product and Process Development, second edition(LEI, 2014).
“I’m looking forward to working with product developers to help them understand and apply powerful lean development ideas to improve their product and process development systems and with LEI to advance our understanding of lean product and process development.”
Major Contributions in Product Development at LEI
Morganwill organize and advise a unique learning partnership of companies implementing lean product development practices in a variety of industries. Other responsibilities include creating a community of lean product developers and leading LEI’s research in the area. He also will spearhead related initiatives in training, publishing, and web based communications.
Morgan brings to LEI more than 30 years of experience in product development and manufacturing.
He retired last year as Ford’s global director of Body Exterior, Safety, and Stamping Engineering. His significant contributions at Ford included the introduction and application of lean product development concepts that helped transform the automaker’s product development, tooling, and engineering operations. He was also credited with leading an effort to achieve world-class craftsmanship in Ford products, and strengthening the body, safety and stamping engineering team worldwide.
Before joining Ford, Morgan was vice president at TDM, a tier one, global automotive supplier of engineering, prototypes and tooling.
Morgan was one of the original lean product and process development researchers. He holds a masters and PhD in engineering from the University of Michigan, where his research on product development won a 2005 Shingo Research Award. He is co-author with Jeffrey Liker, PhD, of The Toyota Product Development System, (Productivity Press, 2006), which won a 2007 Shingo award. Morgan has developed and taught graduate courses on both lean manufacturing and product development.
About the Lean Enterprise Institute
Lean Enterprise Institute Inc., a 501(c)(3) nonprofit based in Cambridge, MA, makes things better through lean research, education, publishing, and conferences. Founded in 1997 by management expert James P. Womack, PhD, LEI supports other lean initiatives such as the Lean Global Network, the Lean Education Academic Network, and the Healthcare Value Network. Visit LEI at https://www.lean.org for more information.