Bruce Hamilton

President, vice chair, teacher, change agent

Bruce Hamilton, president of the Greater Boston Manufacturing Partnership (GBMP), brings hands-on experience as a manager, teacher, and change agent. Prior to GBMP, Hamilton led efforts to transform United Electric Controls Co.’s production from a traditional batch factory to a single-piece-flow environment that has become an international showcase. Hamilton has spoken internationally on lean manufacturing, employee involvement, continuous improvement, and implementing change. Also, he has contributed to numerous texts ranging from visual control to variety reduction. Hamilton’s blog, Old Lean Dude, is an ongoing reflection on lean philosophy and practices, with an emphasis on keeping good jobs close to home.

Thu, 10/09/2025 - 12:02
Talking Turkey Reflections on American slang and change agents
Mon, 03/10/2014 - 15:11
Across a large swath of the United States, the winter has been especially cold, snowy, and dreary this year. So here’s a post with a link to a cheery video at the end, just to pick my spirits up—and maybe yours, too. The English language can be…
Knowledge Work Did Drucker’s prediction lead U.S. manufacturers down a knowledge-worker rathole?
Thu, 02/13/2014 - 12:48
An engineering manager who I worked with 25 years ago challenged me one day. “You know, Bruce, if all employees were engineers, you wouldn’t need mistake-proofing,” he said. At the time, I was too stunned by his comment to even respond. But happily…
Patience Sometimes, it isn’t a virtue
Mon, 01/27/2014 - 10:36
In 1966, a freshman at a college in Maine attended a speech given by Floyd McKissick, newly appointed head of the Congress of Racial Equality, better known as CORE. In the packed auditorium there were no more than a half-dozen African-Americans…
Stagnation Nation Can you imagine a flowing stream through your workplace?
Thu, 01/09/2014 - 11:33
Twenty years ago, I was introduced to a graphical method for, as it was put to me, “sharing what you see” with others. It was referred to as a material and information flow diagram, or M&I for short. Brian S., a consultant from TSSC who was…
Clearing the Bar Managers, when you say jump, show them how it’s done
Tue, 12/03/2013 - 08:49
When I was 50 years younger and 50 pounds lighter, I tried my hand at pole vaulting. It’s a peculiar track-and-field event that involves running at full speed with a heavy pole in hand toward a crossbar set high off the ground. At about three…
Half-Full or Half-Empty? When optimism is seen as complacency
Tue, 11/12/2013 - 16:16
I’ve always felt the need to accentuate the positive, something I think I picked up from my mother. In tense situations she would always interject, “Isn’t it a beautiful day?” This usually generated laughter and reduced tensions. Although this…
Innovation Centennial Are you building employees as well as products?
Tue, 10/15/2013 - 10:34
Last week marked the 100th anniversary of the introduction of a moving assembly line at Henry Ford’s Highland assembly plant, an innovation that inaugurated mass production. Ford was not the first to build cars in an assembly line. Ransom Olds did…
Rowers, Passengers, and Swimmers: Revisited Make sure everyone is pulling in the same direction
Thu, 09/19/2013 - 14:40
Many managers ask me, “How can I accelerate my company’s lean transformation?” My answer is twofold: First get the direction right, and then get everyone rowing in that direction. One of my columns on this topic from about three years ago (worth…
Cracked ‘Unavoidable’ is not an option when determining specific acceptance quality levels
Mon, 09/09/2013 - 16:26
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Egg-Grading Manual, “Checks [aka “cracks’”] are an unavoidable problem in the marketing of eggs because eggs cannot be assembled, graded, packed, transported, and merchandized without some breakage…
Is Lean the Dark Side of TPS? Many so-called lean transformations are bodies without souls
Mon, 08/12/2013 - 09:56
I opened a fortune cookie yesterday, which read “Understanding little is better than misunderstanding a lot.” Seems to me that we lean wannabes misunderstand a lot—maybe not everyone, but I regretfully include myself in that group. There is so…