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Lean Accounting Summit Presenters
The Lean Accounting Summit has a reputation of drawing the world's most recognized lean and lean accounting thought-leaders.


Karl Ackermann

Karl Ackermann is the Director of Global Product & Business Planning for Wahl Clipper Corporation where he heads up Global New Product Development as well as Lean Manufacturing. His experience in industry includes Business Development and International Lean Implementation. He has worked in many facets of the manufacturing industry in operations and as a consultant. Karl is in process of evaluating how to take Wahl Clipper to an Advanced State of Lean Implementation.

Karl has a BS in Industrial Engineering from Purdue University and an MBA in International Business from DePaul University.

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Anne Anderson

Anne Anderson is a first level manager leading the Business Decision Support team in Propulsion Systems Finance. Anderson leads the Lean Management Systems implementation, Propulsion Cost Estimating and the Business Kaizen Shop – a rotationally staffed process improvement team.  

Propulsion Systems is implementing LMS across all of the Propulsion Value Streams supporting the 737/747/767/777 Airplane Programs. The Cost Estimating team supports the deployment of LMS in addition to the development of engineering support estimates to both sustaining and new development programs. The Business Kaizen Shop is a process improvement team established to deploy rapid improvements in the office. 

Prior to this assignment, Anderson was lead Business and Planning Analyst in Supplier Management Finance, developing integrated business briefings for Supplier Management Executives in Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Anderson has held previous positions both internal and external to Boeing in Procurement Finance Support, Procurement, Supplier Quality, Manufacturing Production and Manufacturing Industrial Engineering.  

Anderson has a Bachelor's degree in Industrial Engineering from the University of Washington and a Master's degree in Business Administration from Seattle University.

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Bruce Baggaley

Bruce Baggaley, Senior Partner, BMA, Inc., specializes in the development and implementation of management processes that incorporate Lean Accounting and lean performance management systems. His functional expertise includes the development of management information for operational and financial planning and control, in implementing financial accounting control systems, and in applying activity-based management principles to reengineering operating processes. He has extensive experience in aerospace and defense, public utility, telecommunications, semiconductor manufacturing and service industries. Prior to forming his own firm Mr. Baggaley was a Accounting and Audit partner at KPMG responsible for strategic planning for the firm and a managing associate in the management controls consulting practice of Coopers & Lybrand in New York, and was a Professional Accounting Fellow at the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Mr. Baggaley received an AB in Economics from Dartmouth College and an MBA in Finance from Columbia University Graduate School of Business, where he was a member Beta Gamma Sigma honorary society and is a Certified Public Accountant. Mr. Baggaley is a frequent speaker on lean accounting and the management of lean companies and is co-author of the book Practical Lean Accounting about implementing Lean Accounting.

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Todd Banner

Todd graduated from Utah State University with a BA in Accounting, June 1997.  He has over 20 years of accounting experience in the manufacturing world.  Todd has extensive experience in management accounting, primarily focusing on cost and inventory processes. Todd has worked in various industries including, industrial explosives (Dyno Nobel), medical (Merit Medical), commercial video broadcast equipment (Dynatech), and automotive safety products (Autoliv).  Over the past 12 years Todd has been immersed in the lean culture at Autoliv, a Shingo Prize winning company and a recognized, world-wide leader in the implementation of lean concepts.  As a guest speaker with the Autoliv Lean Consulting Group, he has coached and taught several companies as they begin their lean journey.  Todd has learned, by experience, that lean tools have application everywhere and he is passionate about sharing that knowledge and experience with others.

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Norman Bodek

Norman Bodek is the president of PCS Inc., a publishing and consulting company in Vancouver, Washington. In 1979, he started Productivity Inc. Press and published hundreds of management books on productivity, quality, and Lean manufacturing. At Productivity, he also developed and published numerous management training programs, training videos, ran major national conferences on productivity and quality, over 200 seminars and workshops a year, 50 study missions to Japan, and published five monthly newsletters. From his 60 trips to Japan, he met and published the works of the Taiichi Ohno, Dr. Shigeo Shingo, the co-creators of the Toyota Production System (Lean manufacturing), and many other masters in manufacturing improvement. He even reprinted and republished the 1926 book of Henry Ford Today and Tomorrow. He introduced to the West important Lean tools and techniques discovered in Japan: JIT, Jidoka, 5S, Value Stream Mapping, SMED, QFD, CEDAC, Hoshin Kanri, Andon, Kanban, and Poka-Yoke. He started the Shingo Prize and is a Shingo Prize winner.

Norman introduced Technicolor Corporation and other companies to Quick and Easy Kaizen. At Technicolor in Detroit, prior to his workshops, the company received in 2001 only 250 suggestions with 113 implemented, while in the last twelve months the company received 24,000 suggestions with over 14,000 implemented, resulting in over $10,000,000 in cost savings. He is a consultant and frequent speaker on Kaizen, Kaikaku, and Lean manufacturing. In 2004 he was invited to keynote the IIE Lean conference in Los Angeles and the Quality System Conference in Detroit. In 2005 he will keynote for APICS, ASQ and others. He has written close to 100 published management articles and is the author of three recent books, The Idea Generator – Quick and Easy Kaizen", Kaikaku The Power and Magic of Lean, winner of the 2005 Shingo Prize and All You Gotta Do Is Ask.

Norman attended the University of Wisconsin, New York University, and New York University Graduate School of Business. Prior to starting Productivity Inc. he was president of Key Universal Ltd. a data processing company with offices in Greenwich, CT and Grenada, West Indies.


Michael Bremer

Michael Bremer is a managing partner of the Chicago office of The Cumberland Group, and an Adjunct Senior Project Manager for Motorola University and Oriel/Stata-Matrix.  He is a nationally recognized speaker on process improvement, lean manufacturing, leadership, and management team effectiveness.  He has thirty years experience including director of the information systems group for a Fortune 25 company, Chief Financial Officer for an international association and President of several new business start-ups.  

Michael has been a speaker for the American Quality & Productivity Center, the Association Manufacturing Excellence and spoke at the White House Conference on Productivity. He serves on the national board of the Association Manufacturing Excellence and is a past board member of the Strategic Management Association and Board President of Old Town School of Folk Music. 

Michael has a Bachelors of Science Degree in Business from the University of Missouri – St. Louis, he is a Six Sigma Master Black Belt, Lean Bronze level certified (SME), CPA, and CMC.  He has published a number of articles on process improvement, corporate strategy and performance metrics. He co-authored the “Six Sigma Black Belt Handbook,” was lead author for “Six Sigma Financial Tracking & Reporting” both published by McGraw-Hill; his new book (2007) is on Innovation.

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Jan Brosnahan

Jan Brosnahan began her career with KPMG Peat Marwick in Minneapolis, MN.  During her career at KPMG, she audited a number of leading companies in a variety of industries, including Norwest Bank, Tennant Company, General Signal and Cargill and was the recipient of a National Instructor Excellence Award while at KPMG.  Jan entered private industry in 1989, serving as the Director of Financial Reporting and Analysis for The Company Store, Inc. for four years, before joining Watlow Electric Manufacturing Company as the Controls Division Controller in 1993.   

At Watlow, Jan has been instrumental in the implementation of Value Based Management/Lean Accounting for the Controls Division and has served as a resource to Watlow’s other divisions as they have pursued Value Based Management and Lean Accounting.  Jan has also been intimately involved with strategic planning activities, a major computer system implementation, development of global profitability analyses, and evaluation of strategic alliance candidates during her tenure at Watlow. 

Jan has a BS in Business Administration from the University of North Dakota and holds both the CPA and CMA certifications.  Jan is quite active in her community, serving on several local boards of directors and committees.  She enjoys tennis, travel, music, and attending sporting events.  She and her husband, Paul, have two children. 

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Laurie Burney 

Dr. Laurie Burney is an Associate Professor at Mississippi State University in the Richard C. Adkerson School of Accountancy where she teaches managerial accounting.  Her experience in industry and public accounting has enhanced her teaching and complimented her research.  Dr. Burney’s research interests involve behavioral implications of lean accounting and strategic performance measurement systems.  Her research has been published in top accounting academic and practitioner journals and has been presented at numerous national and international conferences throughout the U.S., New Zealand, Australia, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Dr. Burney has received awards for outstanding teaching and research.  In 2008, she received the Excellence in Lean Accounting Professor Award from Lean Enterprises, Inc., recognizing her work promoting lean accounting. 

Dr. Burney earned her Ph.D. from the University of Kentucky in 2001, and was on the faculty at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte before moving to Mississippi State.  Prior to her academic career, Dr. Burney worked as a CPA and also holds the CMA certification.  She is a member of the American Accounting Association, the Institute of Management Accountants and the Association for Manufacturing Excellence.  In addition, Dr. Burney is currently on the Board of Trustees for the Educational Foundation for Women in Accounting.

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David Cochran, Ph.D.

Dr. David S. Cochran is the founder of System Design, LLC (2003). He was on the Mechanical Engineering faculty at MIT from (1995-2003). He established the Production System Design (PSD) Laboratory at MIT (1995) and his company (2003) to advance the science of system design and integrated performance measurement which provides a roadmap for advancement beyond the success of “lean” and the Toyota Production System. He is a two-time recipient of the prestigious Shingo Prize (2002 and 1989) for manufacturing excellence for his work in the design of “lean” systems. He received the Dudley Prize for best paper from the International Journal of Production Research in 2000 for his work to integrate system design theory. A special issue of the Journal of Manufacturing Systems (v. 20, No. 6 2001/2002) highlights his work in developing the MSDD (Manufacturing System Design Decomposition) and case study research with the Automotive and Aerospace industries.

Dr. Cochran has developed the Collective System Design (CSD) methodology for advancement beyond the results achieved with lean and six-sigma (while not replacing the fundamentals of lean or six-sigma). CSD codifies the leadership and technical principles that bring success to companies like Toyota, Honda, GE and Southwest airlines through a language for system design. It integrates change leadership through dialogue, a diagnosis to design process to identify and resolve problems, principles for designing effective systems, a language for system design and tools to take thinking from structure to action in many applications including government, industry, service and cross-sector systems in scope.

Dr. Cochran is facilitating system design change with major Aerospace, Automotive and Consumer Products companies. His work is presently focused on the Collective System Design of enterprise, and integrated product design and delivery systems with THAAD, Lockheed Martin, Visteon and Hewlett Packard.

Dr. Cochran has consulted Lockheed Martin (F-22, JSF, Space Systems, Missiles and Fire Control: PAC-3), NASA, Visteon Automotive (6 divisions including Electronics, Plastics, Climate Control, Glass, and Chassis components), Robert Bosch Corp.(2 divisions: AB and AP), Ford Motor Company, Dell Computer, and Kinetic Systems. Prior to joining MIT, he worked for Ford Motor Company (Electronics and Automotive Components Division), Lord Aerospace and the US Army Corps of Engineers, Systems Engineering Division.

Dr. Cochran is adjunct faculty at Meijo University in Nagoya, Japan in the Production Engineering - Management Program and is guest lecturer to the Production Engineering Institute (TUT), Tampere, Finland. He is a Board Member of the Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership and is affiliated with the Society of Organizational Learning founded at MIT. Dr. Cochran received his Ph.D. in Industrial and Systems Engineering from Auburn University and M.Sc. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering from The Pennsylvania State University.

For articles by Dr. Cochran and more information click here

Learn more about Dr. Cochran's Cost Management and Lean System Design Simulation bonus event on day 2 of the seminar

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Jean Cunningham

Jean Cunningham, founder of Jean Cunningham Consulting (JCC), is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the Lean Accounting field.  In addition to an extensive speaking schedule, Jean also currently serves as the CFO of the Association of Manufacturing Excellence as well as the CFO for Stiles Associates, an executive retain search firm focusing on Lean and Six Sigma.

Jean is the co-author of the acclaimed book, Real Numbers: Management Accounting in a Lean Organization, an essential text for learning Lean Accounting.  She has also recently co-authored another book, Easier, Simpler, Faster – a book about Lean and Information Systems.  Both books have been awarded the Shingo Prize, which Newsweek magazine referred to as the “Nobel Prize of Manufacturing.”

Jean was previously the former Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Company Services at Lantech, LLC and Marshfield Door Systems, Inc..  It was during these tenures that Jean launched her Lean career, driving Lean from the manufacturing floor into the backoffice functions to include Finance, Information Systems, Human Resources and Telecommunications.  

Prior to joining Lantech, LLC, Jean was a finance professional with Digital Equipment Corporation and Westinghouse Electric, holding a number of senior Controllership and Treasury positions.

Jean has a BS in Accounting from Indiana University and an MBA from Northeastern University’s Executive Program.  She and her family reside in the Chicago area.

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James Fitzmartin

James Fitzmartin in May 2006 was named director of Finance for Boeing Fabrication, a $3.5 billion aerospace parts manufacturing organization with operations in nine major sites, four states and three countries. In this assignment, Fitzmartin has responsibility for leading development, integration and implementation of finance business strategies and plans across the division, including accounting, estimating, cost management and financial planning. He is also responsible for leading Fabrication Finance Lean and cost reduction imperatives.

Previously, Fitzmartin for six years led Finance on the 717 Program where he was responsible for management and integration of financial and accounting activities in the program’s Long Beach and Toronto sites. He also led accounting and IWA administration for Commercial Aviation Services in Long Beach.

Since joining Boeing in 1983, Fitzmartin has held a series of accounting, finance, and project management positions focused on the integrated financial management system as well as merger activities between McDonnell Douglas Corporation and Boeing Commercial Airplanes.

Fitzmartin graduated from Ohio State University with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration majoring in accounting. He is both a Certified Public Accountant and Certified Management Accountant.

Jim currently resides in Sammamish, Washington with his three children. He enjoys spending time at his kids’ sporting events, thoroughbred racing and the boating.

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Orry Fiume

Orest (Orry) J. Fiume was vice president of Finance and Administration and a director of The Wiremold Company, West Hartford, CT, which gained international recognition as a leader in lean business management in “Lean Thinking,” by James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones. Orry was Wiremold’s senior financial officer from 1978 until his retirement in 2002. Before that, he was an audit manager with Coopers & Lybrand.

Orry led Wiremold’s conversion to lean accounting in 1991 and developed alternate accounting systems that supported the company’s entire lean business efforts. He went on to install lean accounting at more than 20 Wiremold acquisitions. Orry has studied lean production in both the U.S. and Japan and has been a guest speaker at many conferences throughout the U.S. In addition, he has taught courses on management accounting in a lean business at The TBM Institute, The University of Dayton Center for Competitive Change, The Center for Lean Business Management, MEP’s in five states, and numerous companies. He also was a member of the People to People Program’s Economic Management Delegation to China to discuss U.S. financial management practices. More recently, Orry has co-authored the 2004 Shingo Prize winning book, Real Numbers: Management Accounting in a Lean Organization and was inducted as a Life Member of the Shingo Prize Academy, which has been referred to by Business Week as the Nobel prize in manufacturing.

Orry has an MS in Management from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and a BBA in Accounting from Fairfield University. He is a certified public accountant, and a member of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and Financial Executives International, where he is a past president of the Connecticut Valley Chapter. He also serves on the Board of Directors of several companies.

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Janice Frampton

Janice Frampton is a Senior Lean Consultant with Jean Cunningham Consulting (JCC), a financial and process improvement consulting firm with clients throughout the United States. The firm specializes in “Lean Beyond Manufacturing” offering a full range of services that redesign business processes into a lean framework that sustains waste elimination and supports ongoing and long-term improvements.

Prior to joining JCC, Janice was the Director of Finance Excellence for Solectron Corporation, where she was responsible for designing and disseminating a Lean Six Sigma Program across Solectron’s worldwide Finance organization. Her focus was on the education and development of functional lean leaders around the globe while simultaneously driving and measuring the impact of lean events across a decentralized and diverse team of 800 professionals worldwide. Some of the major processes that were leanified across the organization included:

  • Monthly and Quarterly Close
  • Legal Entity Structure
  • VAT Tax Recoveries
  • Customer Profitability Statements
  • Rolling 12-Month Forecast Process
  • Business Metrics and Reporting Requirements

While at Solectron, Janice was also the General Manager of a New England based manufacturing operation with an expertise in new product introduction and high mix/low volume as well as Director of Finance, I/T, H/R and Administration for a self-contained subsidiary.

Prior to joining Solectron, Janice spent fifteen years with Digital Equipment Corporation/COMPAQ Computer Corporation in various financial roles, including OEM Divisional Controller, European and Asian Internal Audit Manager, International FP&A Manager as well as multiple positions in the Corporate Controller’s office.

Janice has a BS in Accounting from Rochester Institute of Technology and is a Certified Public Accountant. Janice resides with her family in the suburbs of Boston, Massachusetts.

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Rosemary Fullerton

Rosemary Fullerton is an associate professor in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University (USU) where she teaches undergraduate cost accounting and graduate advanced management accounting, focusing on lean principles and lean accounting. During her tenure at USU, she has been affiliated with the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence, serving as an applicant reviewer, site examiner, and team leader.  

Dr. Fullerton’s research is centered on the relationships among Lean manufacturing, cost accounting and performance measures, and firm profitability. Her current research interests include investigating the prevalence of Lean accounting and its impact on Lean manufacturing environments. Dr. Fullerton has published her research in some of the top academic accounting and operations management journals. She has also presented her research at numerous universities and conferences throughout the U.S. and in Canada, Belgium, Finland, the Netherlands, Italy, and Germany. Dr. Fullerton has received awards for outstanding teaching and research. She co-authored with Jerry Solomon the Shingo Prize winning book, Accounting for World Class Operations. Her manuscript, The Role of Performance Measures and Incentive Systems in Relation to the Degree of JIT Implementation, co-authored with Dr. Cheryl McWatters from the University of Alberta, also received a Shingo Research Prize in 2004.  

In 2007, Professor Fullerton completed a year-long sabbatical where she worked with leading Lean consultants at various U.S. manufacturing firms, helping managers transition their accounting systems to become more relevant in Lean environments. She has presented workshops on Lean accounting to both professional and academic audiences around the country.  

Dr. Fullerton has a Ph.D. from the University of Utah. She also earned a bachelor’s degree in English from Brigham Young University and bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting from Utah State University. In addition to USU, Professor Fullerton has taught at McGill University, University of Utah, and Weber State University. Prior to her academic career, she worked as a CPA. She is a member of the American Accounting Association, the Institute of Management Accountants, the American Institute of CPAs, and the Utah Association of CPAs, where she currently serves on the Business and Management Council.

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Rob Gilmore

Bio Pending

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Ed Grinde

Ed has been the Watlow-Hannibal Business Unit Controller for the past 11 years. Over the past 4+ years he has implemented Lean Accounting and been instrumental in implementing Value Stream Management at the Hannibal facility. He has also assisted other Watlow plants in their Lean journey, including their facility in China. Ed has been a key person in over 30 kaizen events, spanning the entire spectrum of manufacturing, including both office and shop events. Prior to Watlow, he worked for 7 years as Accounting/IS Manager for Heatube, Inc., a subsidiary of Maytag. He also played a key role in implementing World Class Manufacturing at Broadcast Electronics, Inc. in Quincy, Illinois. Additionally he has 9 years of experience as the Controller and IS Manager of Kuhlman Diecasting Company.

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Staci Gunnell

Staci Gunnell, brings over 20 years of experience in accounting.   Staci has extensive experience in management accounting, primarily focusing on cost and inventory processes as well as has directed ERP financial implementations at several Autoliv sites.   As a guest speaker with the Autoliv Lean Consulting Group, she has coached several companies, primarily support departments, on their lean journey.  Using APS as the method (input + method = output) allows support groups to see "data" as their inputs, which transforms to satisfied employees, customers, and shareholders as the outputs.  By using lean tools, support groups will catapult the efficiency of their teams.

Staci is a graduate of University of Nebraska and CMA.

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Kent Hansen

Bio Pending

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Nick Katko

Nick joined BMA in 2002 as a senior consultant after a career as a manufacturing CFO & controller. As CFO for E.D. Bullard Company, a privately held manufacturer of personal safety equipment, Nick led the company in the implementation of lean accounting techniques – this includes implementing performance measurements, value stream costing, lean decision making and the elimination of Bullard’s traditional standard cost system.

Nick is a featured speaker on lean accounting at the University of Kentucky’s Lean Manufacturing Leadership Institutes and the Lexington, KY APICS Chapter.

Nick has a BS in Accounting and MBA in Finance, both from the University of Kentucky

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Frances Kennedy

Dr. Frances Kennedy teaches managerial accounting at Clemson University in the School of Accountancy and Legal Studies. She earned her Phd in Accounting from the University of North Texas in 2001 and has been at Clemson ever since. Dr. Kennedy’s 13 years of experience in public accounting and at industry enriches her teaching as well as informs her research. Her experience at Rubbermaid includes plant financial and inventory management, corporate reporting and new product team analyst. 

Dr. Kennedy’s research focuses on performance measurements and control systems in lean enterprises and she has published in both academic and professional journals. Recent professional workshops and presentations include the 2007 Shingo Prize Conference, 2007 Lean Accounting Summit, and the 2008 International Lean and Six Sigma Conference. Dr. Kennedy was presented the Lean Accounting Summit’s 2007 award recognizing her efforts promoting lean accounting both in the classroom and in the profession.  She is also the 2006 recipient of the Silver Lybrand Medal awarded by the Institute of Management Accountants and the 2006 Award of Merit from the International Federation of Accountants for her contributions to the field of management accounting.

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George Koenigsaecker

At The Danaher Corporation, George Koenigsaecker led the lean transformations of both the automotive and tool groups. He also led The Hon Company’s successful lean conversion, which doubled productivity and tripled revenues, leading Industry Week to recognize HON on their list of the "World’s 100 Best Managed Firms." Written to help executives in determining right from wrong during a lean initiative, this enjoyable and accessible book shows that lean is more about an approach than it is about tools. Koenigsaecker presents the successful strategies and case histories of several key American leaders who have been instrumental in bringing lean to the forefront of various industries.

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Glenn Marshall

Glenn Marshall brings over 30 years of hands on experience in the development and deployment of a  Value Stream Management  approach to leading and sustaining a Continuous Improvement System (CIS). CIS integrates Lean and Six Sigma methodology, principles, with other CI tools to sustain ongoing continuous improvement cycles.

At Northrop Grumman Newport News, Glenn is the Sector Benchmarking Champion  and  works at all levels of the corporation to develop cross functional teams that take a value stream approach to identify and eliminate waste, defects, variation, and performance gaps from core business processes. Benchmarking is use as a key CI tool to identify “best practices” and then share knowledge to rapidly close gaps in value stream performance.

The goal of these teams is to use value stream mapping and management to identify key constraints and use Lean Six Sigma to drive continuous improvement results. In addition, he has help design and deploy CIS  to achieve higher efficiency and maturity levels across the enterprise. Glenn is both Lean and Six Sigma Certified.

Glenn was an Operations / Site Manager with Texas Instruments Defense Systems working at multiple sites including supporting international partnerships. In that role he championed continuous improvements initiatives, led the design and deployment of integrated factory systems. Glenn was one of the leaders in TI becoming the first defense company to win the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award.

Glenn is actively involved with professional and learning organizations:

  • Association for Manufacturing Excellence - National  Director at Larger

  • US Senate Productivity and Quality Award Examiner for Virginia 

  • Hampton Roads Quality Management Community Steering Council - Community of Practice

  • AME National Chair – Growth and Visibility Committee

  • Lean Accounting for Defense Industry - Community of Practice

  • Virginia Business Excellence Consortium – Steering Committee

  • Northrop Grumman Corporation - Process Excellence  Community of Practice

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Brian Maskell 

Brian H. Maskell, President of BMA Inc., has more than 25 years experience in manufacturing and distribution industry. He has held a variety of management positions from the shop-floor of an electronics company to Manager of European Inventories for the Xerox Corporation to Vice President of Product Development and Customer Service of the Unitronix Corporation. Over the past fifteen years Mr. Maskell's consulting practice has taken him to many manufacturing and distribution companies in the United States, England, Mexico, Australia, South Africa, and Europe. In recent years BMA Inc has specialized in the changes required to accounting, control, management, and measurement methods for companies pursuing lean transformation. Mr. Maskell is regarded by many as a leading expert in Lean Accounting.

A sought-after speaker, Brian Maskell is the author of six books including; Practical Lean Accounting (2003), Performance Measurement for World Class Manufacturing (1991), Software and the Agile Manufacturer (1993), New Performance Measures (1994), Making the Numbers Count; the accountant as an agent of change (1996), and Life's Little Lean Accounting Instruction Book (2006).  Mr. Maskell's works address the needs of manufacturers as they move into the increasingly competitive 21st century. Mr. Maskell conducts seminars and workshops around the world on such subjects as Lean Accounting, Performance Measurement for World Class Manufacturing, Value Stream Cost Management, Target Costing, and Lean Accounting Processes; Transaction Elimination.

Mr. Maskell has an engineering degree from the University of Sussex, England. He is certified with the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) in London, and the American Association of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). He is a Fellow of the American Production and Inventory Control Society (APICS). Mr. Maskell also teaches at the Wharton Business School at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA. He is the author of numerous articles and papers and regularly presents papers at national and international conferences.

For articles by Brian Maskell and more information, click here

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David Paino

Prior to joining BMA, Inc., David was the Vice President of Operations with an auto-parts remanufacturing company in Philadelphia.  David was the driving force behind the introduction of lean manufacturing and other lean methods that – according to the company’s President – saved the company in these increasingly competitive times.  David has also served as President of an industrial parts distribution company and is very experienced with warehousing, distribution, and inventory planning methods.  Prior to moving into production operations, David did his MBA work at Villanova University as a finance major and worked as a plant and corporate controller.

David is currently working on Lean Accounting projects with the Boeing Commercial Aircraft Company, a multi-national defense equipment manufacturer; a Maryland pre-fabricated building products company, and a division of the Ingersoll Rand Corporation.  David also specializes in quick & easy kaizen methods that are used to motivate and empower the entire workforce for lean improvement.

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Steve Player

Steve Player, CPA, serves as the North American Program Director for the Beyond Budgeting Round Table, an international network focused on improving planning and control, and Managing Director of The Player Group. He has over 20 years experience in implementing cost and performance management, strategic planning and process improvements. Some of Steve’s clients have included American Express, Colgate Palmolive, Hewlett-Packard, The Covey Leadership Center and World Vision. He is the co-author/editor of four books on Activity-Based Management including, Lessons from the ABM Battlefield. He founded and runs the Activity-Based Management Advanced Implementation Group, whose members include Bell South and Bell Canada. Steve has served on the Board of Directors of the Consortium for Advanced Manufacturing - International (CAM-I) and provided insight for the AICPA Industry and Management Accounting Executive Committee. Steve is a frequent speaker and media resource.

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Jerrold M. Solomon

Jerry Solomon has had a unique opportunity to implement Lean accounting and manufacturing techniques as he’s simultaneously held the positions of Chief Financial Officer and Vice President of Manufacturing at three middle market manufacturing companies.  In his dual role he was able to cast aside traditional departmental barriers and galvanize the accounting and manufacturing areas to develop timely and actionable information. 

While CFO and VP of Manufacturing at PACE, Inc., an electronics manufacturing firm providing equipment to the telecommunications, consumer electronics, automotive, computer and medical industries, Mr. Solomon led PACE’s Lean transformation resulting in customer lead-time reductions of 75%, productivity improvements of 64%, space reductions of 50%, quality improvements of 100%, and a doubling of inventory turns.  In addition to the improvements taking place in manufacturing, the cost accounting system was simplified and the use of MRP for executing the production plan was eliminated in favor of a pull system with electronic links to all suppliers.  As a result of these efforts, PACE, Inc. was certified as a World-Class company by the Maryland World Class Manufacturing Consortium, the first and only company to be awarded this distinction in the Consortium’s twelve year history. 

Currently Mr. Solomon is the Vice President of Operations – Hunt Valley, for MarquipWardUnited, the largest division of the Barry-Wehmiller Companies Inc., the Western Hemisphere’s leading packaging automation and converting group.   

Mr. Solomon has a B. S. degree from Clarkson University, an M. S. degree from Michigan Technological University and an M. B. A. degree from the University of Chicago.  He’s served on the Board of Directors of Vermont Castings Inc. as well as the Green Mountain Economic Development Corporation and currently is on the Board of Directors of the Maryland World Class Manufacturing Consortium.  

Mr. Solomon teaches Lean Accounting in association with a number of Universities and has delivered keynote addresses to a variety of companies and organizations.  He has also been featured on the Lean Accounting video published by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers and has presented Lean Accounting on a national web cast sponsored by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants. 

Mr. Solomon is the author of the Shingo Award winning book, Who’s Counting?, a highly acclaimed business novel focusing on the interaction of the manufacturing and accounting functions during a Lean transformation, and Leading Lean, a novel about a three day Lean event.  In collaboration with Professor Rosemary Fullerton, Mr. Solomon has also written, Accounting for World Class Operations, which has also won the Shingo prize.  

Mr. Solomon brings a truly unique perspective to the requirements of manufacturers in their quest to achieve World-Class performance.

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Cathy Taylor

Bio Pending

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Paul Thicke

Paul Thicke is a Value Stream Leader for Watlow-Winona Controls.  In the past three years in this role, the Value stream has transitioned to an informed business unit from bottom to top with the implementation of  Value Stream Analysis (VSA), lean accounting, capacity, and modeling tools. Paul has been involved in over 20 kaizen events throughout the Watlow organization. Prior to joining Watlow four years ago, he worked as a director of manufacturing engineering for a rapidly growing contract manufacturer. He also has over 20 years experience in the disk  drive media industry of which included management roles in development and manufacturing engineering, strategic planning and engineering roles in  development and manufacturing engineering.

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Ken Von Holten

Ken Von Holten is the Lean Facilitator for Wahl Clipper Corp. in Sterling, IL. Ken has over 30 years of experience manufacturing Recreational Vehicle accessories, commercial door hardware and personal care products. Ken spent 27 years in the Manufacturing Engineering Field and 4 years in Supply Chain Management before taking on full time responsibilities for Lean Manufacturing.

Ken has a wealth of practical experience using lean tools to improve manufacturing and support operations since the late 1980’s. He has a degree in Machine Design and certifications in Forecasting and Sourcing techniques.

Ken resides in Rock Falls, Il with his wife Evette and is co-owner of a Christian Coffee House called Beans, Books and Beliefs.

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Kris Welker

Kris Welker is currently a Value Stream Manager at Wahl Clipper Corp. in Sterling, IL. Kris has over 33 years of manufacturing experience, with more than 20 years as a supplier in the automotive industry and almost 13 years in the personal care products industry. As a former Quality Manager and Plant Manager, Kris has been involved with lean manufacturing since the late 80’s, long before it was referred to as “Lean Manufacturing”.

Wahl Clipper began its lean journey in May 2001, beginning with the creation of individual cells and evolving to an organization of Value Streams. On a never-ending journey to improve flow and reduce total cycle time, Wahl continues to upgrade the skills of the workforce and to tweak the organizational structure to allow for the best possible communication and decision-making. Wahl has also taken the use of lean thinking and techniques into the office and support areas.

Kris has a B.S in Business Administration and a M.B.A., and is a member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence. This is Kris’ second time as an attendee of the Lean Accounting Summit and first time as a presenter.

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