Freudenberg-NOK Joseph Day is Chairman and CEO of Freudenberg-NOK and is one of the most respected executives in the automobile industry. He discusses the six steps Freudenberg has taken to get to where it is today. Here are some of the questions he answered: Is the automobile industry in trouble if it doesn't adopt lean production techniques? Why can't all of the supply tiers in the U.S. auto industry make money at the height of the market? Does Freudenberg stand up to bullying from the OEMs to reduce prices? Why don't you think lean manufacturing has taken off in the automotive supply chain? What do you think of some of the lean training organizations, like Shingijutsu? What major roadblocks need to be overcome for a company to get on the lean journey? How far along is Freudenberg-NOK on the lean journey? If everyone gets to level six in the lean transformation process, will consumers be ordering cars off the Internet and having them delivered in 15 days? What do you do as a CEO on a day-to-day basis to make sure your company progresses down the lean path? Is lean an overriding focus in your daily routine? What is the biggest barrier that must be overcome? What's the important first step a company should take? How good are Shingijutsu and TBM Consulting? How different is lean from Six Sigma? Can you start with Six Sigma and get to lean or is it better to go the other way? To view questions from other interviews in Lean Machines, Click Here. Click Here to order a copy of Lean Machines.