ABSTRACT
Herman Miller, Inc., is a global presence in the office furniture industry. Herman Miller’s products are sold internationally through wholly owned subsidiaries, through branches in various countries, through independent dealerships, and through independent retail operations. A typical order for Herman Miller includes chairs, cabinets, work surfaces, cubical walls, and support posts, all of which are shipped to the customer site for assembly. Herman Miller’s Lean thinking has been a journey of “learning by doing” and has evolved over the past decade and a half. While Herman Miller recognized the need to increase the pace of learning for its facilitators, work team leaders, and managers, they began experimenting with Training Within Industry’s job instruction approach to address a different need. Herman Miller leadership determined that enough experimentation had occurred to develop some understanding of job instruction and highlight specific gaps that needed to be closed.
