The Lean Management Systems Handbook

Richard M. Charron is the founder and president of The Lean Manufacturing Group, a South Florida company that provides a number of hands-on Employee Learning & Lean Implementation programs focused on waste elimination, productivity improvement, and profitability enhancement. He is a Certified Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma Excellence from the Harrington Institute. He has trained and coached over 100 teams in Lean manufacturing, Lean Six Sigma, and Kaizen events generating savings over $25MM. In conjunction with Strategy Associates, he completed a three-part DVD series on Lean concepts for the University of Central Florida. His expertise is in process performance excellence, Lean Six Sigma, Lean manufacturing, design for manufacturability, problem solving, product and process failure analysis, products development, and performance testing. Mr. Charron earned BS and MS degrees in plastics engineering from the University of Massachusetts. His MS Thesis "Product Liability in the Plastics Industry" is a survey of our legal system that spans the impacts of unsafe products and the ever-changing legal uncertainties. He is the author of a dozen technical publications on product quality, products performance testing, and products failure analysis.


In the book, Tech Trending, H. James Harrington was referred to as "the quintessential tech trender." The New York Times referred to him as having a "... knack for synthesis and an open mind about packaging his knowledge and experience in new ways-characteristics that may matter more as prerequisites for new economy success than technical wizardry...." Tom Peters, the author, stated, "I fervently hope that Harrington's readers will not only benefit from the thoroughness of his effort but will also 'smell' the fundamental nature of the challenge for change that he mounts." William Clinton, past president of the United States, appointed Dr. Harrington to serve as an Ambassador of Good Will. It has been said about him, "He writes the books that other consultants use." Harrington Institute was featured on a half-hour TV program, Heartbeat of America, which focuses on outstanding small businesses that make America strong. The host, William Shatner, stated: "You (Dr. Harrington) manage an entrepreneurial company that moves America forward. You are obviously successful."

Dr. Harrington now serves as the chief executive officer for the Harrington Institute. He also serves as the chairman of the board for a number of businesses. Dr. Harrington is recognized as one of the world leaders in applying performance improvement methodologies to business processes. He has an excellent record of coming into an organization, working as its CEO or COO, resulting in a major improvement in its financial and quality performance.

In February 2002, Dr. Harrington retired as the COO of Systemcorp A.L.G., the leading supplier of knowledge management and project management software solutions when Systemcorp was purchased by IBM. Before this, he served as a principal and one of the leaders in the Process Innovation Group at Ernst & Young; he retired from Ernst & Young when it was purchased by Cap Gemini. Dr. Harrington joined Ernst & Young when Ernst & Young purchased Harrington, Hurd & Rieker, a consulting firm that he started. Before that, he was with IBM for over 40 years as a senior engineer and project manager.

Dr. Harrington is the past chairman and past president of the prestigious International Academy for Quality and of the American Society for Quality Control (ASQC). He is also an active member of the Global Knowledge Economics Council.

H. James Harrington was elected to the honorary level of the International Academy for Quality, which is the highest level of recognition in the quality profession. Dr. Harrington is a government-registered quality engineer, a certified quality and reliability engineer by the ASQC, and a permanent certified professional manager by the Institute of Certified Professional Managers. He is a certified Master Six Sigma Black Belt and received the title of Six Sigma Grand Master. He earned an MBA and PhD. in engineering management and a BS in electrical engineering. In 2013, the Degree of Doctor of philosophy was conferred on him by the Sudan Academy of Sciences for his "immense contributions, remarkable achievements, and distinguished accomplishments in the field of quality management, business excellence, and innovation, covering wider range of geographical locations and countries.

His contributions to performance improvement around the world have brought him many honors. He was appointed the honorary advisor to the China Quality Control Association, and was elected to the Singapore Productivity Hall of Fame in 1990. He has been named lifetime honorary president of the Asia Pacific Quality Control Organization and honorary director of the Association Chilean de Control de Calidad. In 2006, Dr. Harrington accepted the honorary chairman position of Quality Technology Park of Iran.

H. James Harrington has been elected a fellow of the British Quality Control Organization and the ASQC. In 2008, he was elected to be an honorary fellow of the Iran Quality Association and Azerbaijan Quality Association. He was also elected an honorary member of the quality societies in Taiwan, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and Singapore. He is also listed in the "Who's-Who Worldwide" and "Men of Distinction Worldwide." He has presented hundreds of papers on performance improvement and organizational management structure at the local, state, national, and international levels.


Frank Voehl was certified as a Grand Master Black Belt in Lean Six Sigma and Organizational Excellence Senior Counselor in process and innovation performance excellence, Lean Six Sigma, design for Six Sigma, Lean manufacturing, problem solving, accelerated performance improvement, and policy deployment. He has 35 years of practical experience in leadership for process enhancement, change management, and program development and operations leadership at FPL's QualTec as COO, Strategy Associates CEO/ president, and COO/chancellor of the Harrington Institute. He is an expert in the application of the process enhancement, and innovation tools and methods. He trained and coached over 300 teams in Lean manufacturing, problem solving, rapid process improvement, and process management. These teams generated savings over $120MM annually. He is a noted author and series editor of over 30 books and hundreds of articles and technical papers in the field of business management and improvement. He provided input on the original design of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and facilitated its crossover to other nations and regions, including the Bahamas, South America, Europe, and the Czech Republic.


Hal Wiggin is a Certified Six Sigma Master Black Belt who has been involved in government and agency organizational development and process improvement activities for over 30 years. He was the director of Planning and Quality Improvement for the Broward Children's Services Council and regional manager of Performance and Planning for the Florida Department of Children and Families. He was a senior examiner for the Florida Sterling (Baldrige) Council. He started his career as a mental health counselor and school psychologist before completing a doctoral program in educational leadership. He is a planner, trainer, and quality improvement professional. Besides Lean Six Sigma, he has specific expertise in strategic planning, measurement systems, situational leadership, coaching, and group facilitation. He is currently helping Nova Southeastern University develop and implement a new Lean Six Sigma program. He is an adjunct assistant professor in the College of Osteopathic Medicine and he consults in health care, government, and other industries.