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
Unsung Hospital Heroes Clinicians and administrators dissatisfied with the status quo take a personal risk to heal their health care systems
Thu, 05/19/2011 - 09:13
About six years ago I was meeting with a clinical team to kick off an early improvement effort at their hospital. We began with a reflection on the problems with traditional business management practices. To break the ice, I played a short clip…
Practice Makes Permanent Unproductive daily habits can counteract the benefits of kaizen events
Wed, 05/04/2011 - 11:18
In my last blog post, “Everybody Everyday” I made the case for regular practice of new perspectives, behaviors, and practices. All new learners begin by just “going through the motions” and gradually become proficient through regular practice. I’…
Out of Sight, Out of Our Minds Product and services can be made lean in America.
Thu, 04/14/2011 - 05:30
Gary was a talented, creative welder with an idea that made perfect sense to him but was not supported by conventional measures. Gary was determined to implement his idea and pressed for a closer evaluation by his supervisor when the idea was not…
Rowers, Passengers, and Swimmers You’ll find three groups of respondents for most concepts
Wed, 03/23/2011 - 06:00
I was asked about 15 years ago to give a short presentation about poka-yoke to an association of engineering professors from different U.S. universities. I brought with me several devices that employees from my plant had developed,…
Rowers, Passengers, and Swimmers You’ll find three groups of respondents for most concepts
Wed, 03/23/2011 - 06:00
I was asked about 15 years ago to give a short presentation about poka-yoke to an association of engineering professors from different U.S. universities. I brought with me several devices that employees from my plant had developed,…
Optimize This The assumptions we make about constraints can kill us
Mon, 03/07/2011 - 05:00
Sometimes things that seem factual are not exactly true. Here are a few examples relating to inventory: • When I was a materials manager, the auditors would declare that we had taken a “good inventory” at year-end when the amount of positive…
Efficient in Theory, Not Practice PDCA for managers could prevent crazy metrics
Thu, 01/06/2011 - 04:30
A colleague, friend, and lean leader in health care related a story awhile back that I think is worth sharing. Joanne Marqusee, COO at Hallmark Healthcare System, was standing in line at a grocery store checkout. While she waited, Joanne recalls,…
Being There The virtue of nonvirtual reality
Wed, 12/15/2010 - 04:30
A couple years ago, I was consulting in a large rolling mill to help reduce late deliveries to its customers. After walking the floor for the first time with an enthusiastic 20-something engineer (let’s call him Mark), I asked for help with…