The Challenge
Marmon Holdings (a Berkshire Hathaway company) runs 100+ decentralized manufacturing businesses, each with its own leadership, culture, and level of Lean maturity. There was no shared operational language across the portfolio, and results varied widely from business to business.
Marmon needed a scalable continuous improvement system, simple enough to deploy across every business without overriding the local leadership and culture that made each one successful.
Our Approach
I designed a Lean House framework prioritizing core fundamentals - 5S, KPI-based management, safety - while leaving room for each business to pursue its own strategic improvements.
We built an enterprise training program upskilling 1,000+ employees annually, and coached presidents, CI leaders, and plant managers directly through on-site kaizens.
Before
14 Practitioners
Inconsistent Lean Maturity
After
Standardized Lean House Framework
The Outcome
The Lean House framework delivered lasting, portfolio-wide impact - not just a one-time improvement push.
$40M+ EBITDA
Recurring EBITDA improvement within two years
12 Leadership Hires
Plus two annual CEO showcases
500+ Practitioners
Certified lean practitioners across the portfolio
