About

Betty Gratopp

Lead production manager at Zingerman’s Mail Order

Email: bgratopp@zingermans.com

Betty oversees a crew of 100 and a part-time seasonal crew of 400. Betty has been the lead implementer and developer of Zingerman’s Mail Order’s lean transformation, now in its 19th year. She runs several kata storyboards, creates and steers all long-term planning, and teaches regular classes to her crew and outside organizations. Betty periodically hosts Toyota Kata tours and events at Zingerman’s Mail Order.

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Gargi Mirle

Sales, Marketing and Business Executive

Email: gargi.mirle@gmail.com

Hello Kata explorers!

Have you ever experienced the excitement of attending conferences/training/retreats on your topic of interest and you get back with full intention to change and apply what you have learned but, in few weeks, things fizzle out? Do you go back to your old patterns, behaviors?

I help you capture your inspiration and frame your personal challenges by creating story boards, helping you progress through micro learnings and taking that first small step.

The power of Kata is in its application and the learnings you internalize. Reading more books, blogs, listening to more podcasts, and hoarding more information doesn’t bring about change in itself. So, if you want to try Kata on yourself, I promise you, applying Kata to your personal goals can be fun and fulfilling.

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Prof. Jeffrey Liker

Jeffrey K. Liker is Professor Emeritus, Industrial and Operations Engineering at The University of Michigan and President of Liker Lean Advisors, LLC. He is the author of the bestselling book, The Toyota Way, Second Edition, and has coauthored nine other books about Toyota

Jeff’s graphic novel with Eduardo Lander and Tom Root tells the story of lean transformation at Zingerman’s Mail Order: Lean in a High-Variability Business. A shorter, comic-book version focuses on Toyota Kata: Engaging the Team at Zingerman’s Mail Order.

Giving Wings to Her Team is a business novel written with Tilo Schwarz about learning to coach the Toyota Kata way.

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Prof. Joi Mondisa

Joi Mondisa is an Associate Professor in the Industrial and Operations Engineering Department and an Engineering Education faculty member at The University of Michigan. In her research she examines mentoring underrepresented populations in STEM, mentoring experiential and intervention programs in higher education, and providing learning experiences in engineering education.

Dr. Mondisa utilizes Improvement Kata / Coaching Kata in her IOE 525 Lean Principles and Scientific Thinking in Organizations class, where students focus on application of lean concepts and practice scientific-thinking patterns, hands-on, at local business organizations.

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