Episode 108: Lean Operations with John Carrier

Augmented reveals the stories behind the new era of industrial operations, where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. In this episode of the podcast, the topic is "Lean Operations." Our guest is John Carrier, Senior Lecturer of Systems Dynamics at MIT. In this conversation, we talk about the people dynamics that block efficiency in industrial organizations. If you like this show, subscribe at augmentedpodcast.co (https://www.augmentedpodcast.co/). Augmented is a podcast for industry leaders, process engineers, and shop floor operators, hosted by futurist Trond Arne Undheim (https://trondundheim.com/) and presented by Tulip (https://tulip.co/). Follow the podcast on Twitter (https://twitter.com/AugmentedPod) or LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/75424477/). Trond's Takeaway: The core innovative potential in most organizations remains its people. The people dynamics that block efficiency can be addressed once you know what they are. But there is a hidden factory underneath the factory, which you cannot observe unless you spend time on the floor. And only with this understanding will tech investment and implementation really work. Stabilizing a factory is about simplifying things. That's not always what technology does, although it has the potential if implemented the right way. Transcript: TROND: Welcome to another episode of the Augmented Podcast. Augmented brings industrial conversations that matter, serving up the most relevant conversations on industrial tech. And our vision is a world where technology will restore the agility of frontline workers. In this episode of the podcast, the topic is Lean Operations. Our guest is John Carrier, Senior Lecturer of Systems Dynamics at MIT. In this conversation, we talk about the people dynamics that block efficiency in industrial organizations. Augmented is a podcast for industrial leaders, process engineers, and shop floor operators, hosted by futurist Trond Arne Undheim and presented by Tulip. John, welcome to the show. How are you? JOHN: Trond, I'm great. And thank you for having me today. TROND: So we're going to talk about lean operations, which is very different from a lot of things that people imagine around factories. John, you're an engineer, right? JOHN: I am an engineer, a control engineer by training. TROND: I saw Michigan in there, your way to MIT and chemical engineering, especially focused on systems dynamics and control. And you also got yourself an MBA. So you have a dual, if not a three-part, perspective on this problem. But tell me a little bit about your background. I've encountered several people here on this podcast, and they talk about growing up in Michigan. I don't think that's a coincidence. JOHN: Okay, it's not. So I was born and raised in the city of Detroit. We moved out of the city, the deal of oil embargo in 1973. I've had a lot of relatives who grow up and work in the auto industry. So if you grew up in that area, you're just immersed in that culture. And you're also aware of the massive quote, unquote, "business cycles" that companies go through. What I learned after coming to MIT and having the chance to meet the great Jay Forrester a lot of those business cycles are self-inflicted. What I do is I see a lot of the things that went right and went wrong for the auto industry, and I can help bring that perspective to other companies. [laughs] TROND: And people have a bunch of assumptions about, I guess, assembly lines in factories. One thing is if you grew up in Michigan, it would seem to me, from previous guests, that you actually have a pretty clear idea of what did go on when you grew up in assembly lines because a lot of people, their parents, were working in manufacturing. They had this conception. Could we start just there? What's going on at assembly lines? JOHN: I'm going to actually go back to 1975 to a Carrier family picnic. My cousin, who's ten years older than I, his summer job he worked at basically Ford Way