ABSTRACT
Goodyear successfully implemented lean in R&D, and if that were the whole story, it would not be a complete continuous-improvement storytransformations are not finished with the implementation. In this chapter, I describe our evolution to a lean R&D operation, one with alignment of dayto-day operations to corporate strategy, and how we manage the process and people to sustain and continuously improve. It took Toyota many decades before it looked back and codified the “Toyota way,” describing the management beliefs that guide the global automaker. This chapter is a look at the nascent “Goodyear way.” We have a long way to go and much yet to learn, but I hope that one day many will look to Goodyear for lean inspiration and principles, as so many have looked to Toyota. Even today, though, we have one huge success factor in common with Toyota, without which lean sustainability would not be possible-leadership, especially that of Chairman, CEO, and President Richard Kramer, has consistently held our focus on lean and the objectives it allows our company to achieve. There has not been a new flavor of improvement to emerge in Goodyear for more than a decade, and I credit Goodyear leadership for allowing our lean R&D to begin, grow, and flourish.
