The Masco Mapmakers [the broken link was removed] by Bill Waddell
Guys from Brasscraft or Morgantown Plastics might go to a Delta faucet plant for the event – and note that these are executives, not factory level folks – that spend the week working on the kaizens. Of course, the Grand Kaizens are not the only ones. Individual plants hold their own kaizens by the hundreds. The primary purpose of the Grand Kaizen is to spread the lean message throughout the company. They learned that having the top people work hands-on in a kaizen was a lot more effective than sitting them down in a big room and subjecting them to a Power Point description of lean.
Getting executives to participate is a great way to have them learn a new way of thinking.
Masco Companies Learn Lean Manufacturing and Improvement Methods [the broken link was removed].