James K. Franz has over 24 years of manufacturing experience and learned Lean as a Toyota Production Engineer in Japan. He started at the NUMMI plant in California, moved to Motomachi in Japan, and then teamed up with six engineers in the launch of Toyota's $250 million paint facility in Kentucky. In 1993, Jim left Toyota to apply his Lean knowledge at Ford Motor Company, beginning in production engineering. In 2000, he accepted a 3-year assignment at Ford of Australia and led their Stamping, Assembly, Casting, and Powertrain facilities to global leadership in Lean for Ford. During this time he also worked with Tier 1 and Tier 2 supplier plants in their transformation efforts. Upon his repatriation he then became a Lean advisor in Powertrain for global alignment of Lean practices. Jim left Ford in 2004 to work with eight-time Shingo Prize-winning author Dr. Jeffrey Liker as a Senior Lean Consultant. In 2008 he partnered with Dr. Liker to co-found the Toyota Way Academy. His work has taken him to various companies around the globe including Bosch, the U.S. Air Force, Exxon Mobil, AMCOR, Android Industries, Applied Materials, Benteler Automotive, Case New Holland, Caterpillar, Dakkota, Fisher Coachworks, Grand Rapids Chair, Henry Ford Health System, Hertz, JLG, MENLO Logistics, Rio Tinto, SAF Holland, Continental VDO, Visteon, and WABCO. He also teaches for the University of Michigan's Center for Professional Development's Lean Certification course. With a Bachelor of Science in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from General Motors Institute in Flint, Michigan, Jim completed a Master of Science degree in Engineering Management at the University of Michigan. He has collaborated as co-author with Dr. Liker on the latest of the Toyota Way books: The Toyota Way to Continuous Improvement - Linking Strategy and Operational Excellence to Achieve Superior Performance published (April 2011) by McGraw Hill.