Bodek Digital Library

It's quite early in the process, so we don't know what form a collaboration with Norman will take yet…but we want to give you an insight on what we have been talking to Norman about with regard to his digital library. We are really excited about the prospect of helping him to share some of this valuable knowledge with people. Please let us know by using the form below, whether you are interested in future news about the Bodek Digital Library.

The video is 2:25mins and he talks about the trove of documents that he scanned before his recent move from the US to Japan. As he mentions, this includes information from the likes of Dr. Shigeo Shingo, Dr. Ryuji Fukuda, Taiichi Ohno and more.

Important: please check your email inbox, as we will send you a confirmation with a link that you must click to receive further info.

If you don't know Norman, take a quick look at my previous post, and here's some other biographical info about him…

In 1979, after 18 years working with data processing companies, Norman started Productivity Press by publishing a newsletter called PRODUCTIVITY. At the time, he knew virtually nothing about the subject and had spent very little time in manufacturing facilities, but quickly became engrossed with the subject and went to Japan to discover the processes that were making them the world leaders in quality improvement and productivity growth.

He went on to visit Japan 85+ times, visiting over 250 plants (and leading study tours to them) and published over 100 Japanese management books in English.

He met many management masters in Japan and in America and discovered amazing tools, techniques and new thoughts that have revolutionized the world of manufacturing. He published the works of Dr. Shigeo Shingo, Dr. Joji Akao, Taiichi Ohno, Dr. Ryuji Fukuda, Seiichi Nakajima, Henry Ford, Shigeru Mizuno, Hiroyuki Hirano, and many other books on world-class manufacturing and total quality management.

Each person he met gave him a new perspective on continuous improvement. Through the books, he brought to America and the West, the Toyota Production System, SMED, CEDAC, quality control circles, 5S, visual factory, TPM, VSM, Kaizen Blitz, cell design, Poke-yoke, Lean accounting, Andon, Hoshin Kanri, Kanban, and Quick and Easy Kaizen.

He says his most powerful discovery was "finding how Toyota, Canon and other Japanese companies brought out the infinite creative potential lying dormant inside every worker"

In 2020, he moved to Kagoshima in Japan, from his previous home in near Portland, Oregon.

Hisano's Gold Vision Method

Norman is  also a big advocate of Kazuyoshi Hisano, who we have been having as part of the LAST Clubhouse. He believes that Hisano's "new generation" coaching is a very valuable way for people to set goals and achieve them.

The LAST Clubhouse has 3 x 2 hour Gold Vision sessions coming up in October with  Kazuyoshi Hisano leading the sessions and Norman Bodek assisting him. Anyone can join these sessions, whether you have previous attended or not…you'll get access to recordings of the previous material. If you have come before, you will be going into the in-depth elements of the Gold Vision Method.