Presenters Bios
Robert “Doc” Hall, Chairman, is Professor Emeritus, Kelley School of Business, Indiana University (USA). Having worked in engineering and manufacturing, in 1985 he became a founding member of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence, and for 22 years edited its publication, Target. In 1982, he wrote Zero Inventories, the first of many “lean” books and articles. Before that, his interest was in R&D and innovation, so he gravitated to “next-generation” technology, operations, and business practices. In 1992, he wrote The Soul of the Enterprise, a critique of the system that led to an “unending book,” Compression. He contends that we need a major shift in business and economic practices to meet our challenges of the 21st century, and proposes a general pathway – Compression Thinking. To that end, he now is chairman of the newly formed Compression Institute.
David Veech, Director of Finance, is Executive Director of the Institute for Lean Systems (ILS). He helps companies design more satisfying work systems and develops and teaches workshops in problem solving, team building and other topics related to human performance. Retired from the U.S. Army in 2001, Mr. Veech serves on the boards of the Kentucky World Trade Center and IdeasAmerica and is Director of Finance and a senior advisor to the Compression Institute. He has a B.A. in international relations, an M.S. in industrial management, and has completed post-graduate studies in educational and industrial/organizational psychology.
John Ward, Director of Development, is a member of the Board of Governors of Ramapo College for 30 years, with a long business career including Railway Express and the Melville Corporation. He led turnarounds of European companies or divisions with operations in the United States, and was Executive Director of the Association for Manufacturing Excellence.
Jason McVay, Director of Operations, is a person who thrives on learning, synthesizing, and teaching and has a goal to continually find ways to contribute to the necessary changes that all organizations (public, private, non-profit) face. His work experience has come from academia, corporate (automotive, industrial, and software), consulting (product design), and non-profit (recycling, sustainability), holding titles such as design engineer, education consultant, engineer & design researcher, senior consultant, and business development manager. While holding each of these titles he have learned a tremendous amount about the realities behind how things come into being.