HON Industries / Simpler Consulting George Koenigsaecker was President of Jake Brake, then CEO of HON Industries before joining Simpler, a lean consulting firm based in Ottumwa, Iowa. He discusses the inherent conflicts and counter-intuitive strategies that managers face in implementing a lean system. Here are some of the questions he answered: What are some of the difficulties in starting a conversion away from batch and queue to flow manufacturing? What compelled you to adopt a lean system of production in the late 1980s at Jake Brake when it was a concept that was hardly known in the United States? What are some of the key lessons you learned from the ex-Toyota experts? What are some of the common problems companies must anticipate? Companies adopting lean take two steps backwards to go one step forward. Is that disconcerting? What is the most difficult aspect of managing a conversion? What advice do you have for a company that is considering implementing a lean system? With the manufacturing sector in a downturn, do you think companies are running out of time to start the process? Why isn't there much pressure from Wall Street to adopt lean? Do you need hard-ass managers to make it happen? Do you think it is inevitable that manufacturing will evolve to a lean system? If U.S. manufacturers start adopting lean, do you think it will lead to a revival of U.S. manufacturing? To view questions from other interviews in Lean Machines, Click Here. Click Here to order a copy of Lean Machines.