Thank you for visiting my website!

My name is Bob Wallner, and I have dedicated the last three decades to manufacturing industries across New England. Shortly after graduating, barely, from Westfield State University in 1993, I began my career in Procurement, where I spent the next 11 years in Supply Chain Management within the aerospace and defense industries. While I didn’t dislike my job, I felt that something was missing.

In 2002, I attended a learning session where I met two people my age discussing a new scheduling method that the Japanese were using called “Kanban.” They were excited as they talked about how inventory levels were decreasing, fulfillment rates were at an all-time high, and how they could now produce a complex machine, specifically a helicopter, in 30% less time! As an added bonus, this method required no special tools and operated outside of their complicated MRP software. Though I didn’t fully understand what this “Kanban” method was, I was immediately intrigued, so I spent the next four years learning anything I could about “lean” and the “Toyota Production System”. Although books on the subject were just starting to become mass marketed, they were still very limited and, many times, confusing, or worse, conflicting. Eventually, a connection of mine “made me an offer I couldn’t refuse“.

“I’m going to offer you a Lean Facilitator role. You’ll earn less money, work longer hours, face a tougher environment due to union dynamics, and have no direct authority. Oh yeah, you’ll be working in a 150-year-old commodity shop with the average equipment age being circa World War 2. However, you’ll have the opportunity to learn “lean manufacturing” from a newly formed team of individuals who were recruited directly from Toyota!“

Less money and more stress…..How could I say no?!

And as they say, the rest is history.

From that decision in 2006 to today, I have dedicated my career to working with companies to help improve their processes. Along the way, I have gained hands-on training and exposure to the Theory of Constraints, Six Sigma, and Lean methodologies.

In 2011, I met my first mentor, a practical Six Sigma Black Belt, who encouraged me to experiment with improvement. He also taught me the value of pausing to question what happened. Rather than giving me the answers, I was asked “why” I thought that was the answer, a lesson I carry to this day.

Additionally, around this time, I started capturing the books I was reading and what I thought about them on the website Goodreads.

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/13308925-bob-wallner

These ramblings were, and still are, reminders to myself, thoughts about the book, what I learned, how I can apply the lessons, and would I want to reread it. Suddenly, and without warning, I started hearing from from people saying my reviews helped them decide if they were or were not going to read the book.

In 2014, made a big step forward when I began applying several of the improvement skills from my work life to my personal life. The biggest application was replacing my traditional “New Year’s Resolution” with a year-long method I call “Personal Hoshin Planning.” I still use Personal Hoshin Planning to this day and it has helped guide some good decisions, and helped me analyze and understand many bad decisions.

One good decision that my Personal Hoshin guided me to, was when I decide to return to school in 2017. At 46-years old, I returned to school where over the next two years I earned my Master’s in Lean Manufacturing from Kettering University where I achieved a 3.98 GPA. Although many practices were already familiar to me, I continued to learn the power of reflection and critical thinking.

As I move into the future, I continue to use reflection and critical thinking skills, as well as my Personal Hoshin. I recognize there is still much for me to learn. Books, audiobooks, and podcasts continue to be my primary learning sources; however, I am no longer intimidated to reach out, introduce myself to new people to learn from them directly.

This shift in strategic thinking has helped me understand where my true passions lie. Now in my 50s, I don’t aspire to be the next Jack Welch, Warren Buffet, or Mary Barra. My passion lies in helping current leaders succeed and guiding the next generation of leaders on their path to success.

I appreciate you taking the time to get to know me a little bit. I would love to connect with you as I truly look forward to both guiding and learning from my connections.