FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

We are pleased to announce the merger of Lean Advisors, Inc. and Kaizen Institute.

Ottawa, ON - January 1, 2009 - The merger and the formation of a new business entity, Kaizen Institute Lean Advisors, is an immensely exciting development, which will significantly expand the expert Lean resources and programs available to support both existing and future clients. The range of services now offered includes Lean culture transformation support, Lean tools implementation, 6 Sigma accreditation and courses through the KAIZEN® College. Clients will be served from all sectors and industries including manufacturing, public (local & federal governments), and various service sectors. Kaizen Institute (also known as Kaizen Institute Consulting Group- KICG) operates business units in over 30 countries around the globe and will provide a truly international scope of knowledge and talent.

Lean Advisors, Inc. has an enviable reputation for supporting sustainable Lean Transformations to organizations from all sectors and of all sizes. For the last ten years, Lean Advisors, under the leadership of Larry Coté, its founder and president, and his group of Senior Advisors, has pioneered Lean Transformations in non-traditional sectors such as Healthcare, Education and Governmental Departments as well as providing the manufacturing sector throughout North America and Asia with a higher level of competitive thinking. The goal of Lean Advisors, Inc. will always be to support sustainable continuous improvement driven by the client’s staff to be able to continually provide services/products better, faster and at less cost whilst anticipating the ever-changing needs of their clients.

Joint statement
“The merger between two well-established and successful Lean Consulting groups could not have come at a better time in the global economy.  The economic downturn has created a crisis in all countries around the world and the enlightened leaders of organizations, in both manufacturing and service, realize it is critical for them to change the thinking, and the way they run their businesses and or services, if they are to have any hope of surviving these tough times. 

With any crisis comes opportunity, and it is obvious leaders must recognize the importance of change.  As Einstein said, ‘we must not use the same thinking that established the present to tackle the challenges of the future.’  The Lean transformation methods, created and perfected by Kaizen Institute and Lean Advisors, Inc., are key to establishing a new and better way of thinking – resulting in clients being able to do more with less and do it better and faster. 

This merger brings together expertise and talents from around the world to support those organizations who want to not only survive, but want to thrive as leaders in their sectors and to truly be the model for all others to follow and emulate.”

Larry Coté CEO Lean Advisors, Inc. &
Bud H Cox President of Kaizen Institute Consulting Group

KAIZEN® INSTITUTE was founded by Masaaki Imai:
Known as the “Lean Guru” and the father of Continuous Improvement, Masaaki Imai has been a pioneer and leader in spreading the KAIZEN® Lean philosophy all over the world. Mr. Imai’s ground-breaking book, “KAIZEN: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success” published by McGraw-Hill in 1986, has been translated into more than 20 languages and has sold more than 300,000 copies. As a result of the book’s widespread readership, innumerable companies and top executives have used the KAIZEN philosophy to attain world-class success. In 1997, Mr. Imai’s book, “Gemba KAIZEN: A Commonsense, Low-cost Approach to Management,” was published by McGraw-Hill, which has also been widely translated. He is currently writing his third book on KAIZEN, to be published in the near future.

Masaaki Imai founded KAIZEN Institute (KI) in 1985. As KI’s active and lead KAIZEN® ambassador, he continues to play a significant role in the organization. Mr. Imai is frequently invited to be the keynote speaker at industry conferences world-wide to talk about the KAIZEN® Lean philosophy. He also educates top executives how to implement Lean concepts, and tools as a total systems solution in their organizations, which is fully integrated within their corporate strategies.

Masaaki Imai has spoken extensively throughout the world, advocating his Lean philosophies, KAIZEN® principles and methodologies. More recently, he has been featured as a keynote at International conferences around the world in India, Hong Kong, Australia, Egypt, Russia, Poland, USA, Canada, Brazil, Mexico, Germany, Kenya and Dubai. He conducts GEMBA® Tours at selected companies and personally leads the International Benchmark Tours in Japan, sponsored by KAIZEN Institute.

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