Work That Makes Sense (PDF)

Recognizing the fit between The Shingo Prize and workplace visuality, Robert Miller, former executive director of The Prize, put it this way: "The visual workplace, as taught by Gwendolyn Galsworth, is in perfect harmony with the model of Operational Excellence represented by The Shingo Prize. The concepts, tools, and methods of visuality are essential as we pursue other guiding principles of seeking perfection, quality at the source, and the continuous flow of value to customers."

Dr. Galsworth is a Teaching Fellow on the faculty of the Shingo Institute and author of seven books on workplace visuality and strategic improvement. Her ground-breaking book, Work That Makes Sense: Operator-Led Visuality, contains over 500 full-color visual solutions and provides a step-by-step process that operators follow to convert their work areas to visuality that is sustainable. Galsworth's book, Visual Workplace-Visual Thinking, provides a complete foundation in visual principles and practices and her 10- Doorways model. Both books are winners of the prestigious Shingo Prize.

Her book on the cost of complexity, Smart Simple Design/Reloaded, takes a hard look at the costs and challenges of product diversification. In it, she maps out the Variety Effectiveness Process (VEP), a proven method for de-complicating the organization by simplifying product architecture and dismantling layers of imbedded complication that choke a company's infrastructure and product design process. Once VEP is effectively applied, the need for both visual and lean is significantly less urgent. Galsworth's books are available globally from our website (visualworkplace.com) and on Amazon, in print and on Kindle.

Dr. Galsworth's career in operational excellence began as the head of training and development at Productivity Inc. in the early 1980s. There she worked closely with Dr. Ryuji Fukuda to adapt the CEDAC® method for western audiences-and with Dr. Shigeo Shingo to develop, among many things, poka-yoke as an implementation methodology for the West. While there, she was also principal developer and implementer of Visual Factory, TEIAN (operator-led suggestion systems), and Hoshin Kanri/X-Type Matrix Planning (policy deployment).

Gwendolyn holds a Ph.D. from Indiana University, has led study missions to some of the world's finest companies, including in Japan, and is a frequent keynote speaker. Podcasts from her weekly radio show, Visual Workplace Radio, and over 100 articles from The Visual Thinker newsletter can be found on her website, www.visualworkplace.com Dr. Galsworth now lives in New England where she happily works, hikes, and writes.

She can be reached at 503-233-1784 or through visualworkplace.com.