Indianapolis, IN -- (ReleaseWire) -- 03/14/2013 --Kaizen Institute and Lean Frontiers announced today a partnership centered on Lean Frontiers’ annual conferences. The first joint venture brings Masaaki Imai, Kaizen Institute founder, to the 7th Annual TWI Summit as featured keynote speaker. Future plans involve KIs participation in scheduled conferences in 2013 and beyond. The TWI Summit is being held May 14-15, 2013 in Savannah, GA. TWI Summit information may be found at http://www.twisummit.com.

Jim Huntzinger, founder and President of Lean Frontiers, described the partnership, “Kaizen Institute has provided pioneering kaizen thought-leadership for as long as any organization in existence. Their participation enhances the existing thought-leadership of our events in often-forgotten areas of the lean enterprise.”

KI USA Director, Mike Wroblewski, added, “We look forward to introducing our clients to Lean Frontiers’ events as well as contributing our extensive kaizen expertise to these same events. What a great start by introducing Masaaki Imai to the TWI audience.”

Huntzinger noted that Imai had a profound influence on the reemergence of TWI in the United States and abroad. Imai’s 1997 book titled Gemba Kaizen referenced TWI’s influence on the Toyota Production System. This book started several lean practitioners on a search for a deeper understanding of TWI’s influence, including Huntzinger, which eventually led to the launch of the annual TWI Summit in 2007.

About Kaizen Institute
Kaizen Institute (KI) is the longest-running consulting firm dedicated to kaizen and lean implementation. The company helps global and local organizations achieve optimum performance through kaizen strategies. KI was founded in 1985 by Masaaki Imai, one of the original pioneers who brought kaizen, lean thinking and an understanding of Japanese management practices to the West. His 1986 book, “KAIZEN: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success”, was a bestseller and THE milestone in the global spread of Lean practices. http://www.kaizen.com

About Lean Frontiers
Lean Frontiers builds lean learning communities through their annual conferences, including the Lean Accounting Summit, TWI Summit, Lean HR Summit, Lean Logistics Summit, Lean Product and Process Development Exchange, and Lean Coaching Summit. Each Lean Frontiers’ event is either focused on helping functional business units, like accounting and HR, understand their role in supporting the lean enterprise or addressing under-served gaps in lean with the TWI Summit and Lean Coaching Summit. http://www.leanfrontiers.com

About the TWI Summit
The annual TWI Summit is produced by Lean Frontiers and covers the Training Within Industry program. TWI was a World War II program designed to give supervisors skills in Job Instruction, Job Methods, and Job Relations. TWI was introduced to Japanese industry during post-war occupation and adopted by Toyota. Today companies seeking Toyota-like business model are turning to TWI because of its influence on Toyota's ability to achieve and sustain standard work, drive an improvement mentality to front-line workers, and foster a culture of respect-for-people. http://www.twisummit.com