Interview: Innovator helps Goodyear streamline operation

Akron, Ohio – Lean methods long have been applied to manufacturing processes in the rubber industry. That is not the case with research and development.

Certainly it is not commonplace. That is what made Goodyear’s quest to apply lean principles to its R&D processes an interesting journey.

“Lean-Driven Innovation,” a recently released book written by innovator Norbert Majerus and published by CRC Press, describes in detail the long quest to make the successful transformation to lean product development at Goodyear.

Majerus should know. He is the master black…