About the Authors

Greg Swartz is director of business technology development for PING Inc. leading new product introductions and innovations. Before joining PING, he was director of manufacturing for Conn-Selmer and director of consulting for Competitive Action Inc. He has led or facilitated the successful redesign of more than 20 business and manufacturing systems and has developed multiple lean enterprise training initiatives. He holds a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from the University of Evansville, Evansville, Indiana.

Julie K. Thorpe is the president of Competitive Action, Inc., a consulting and training firm. She has more than 20 years of business and technical experience. She has held management positions at GTE and Cygnus Systems, Inc., and received her bachelor’s degree in computer science from Indiana State University.

James B. Swartz has 26 years of industry experience and has helped hundreds of organizations find great opportunities. He is the author of The Hunters and the Hunted, a widely acclaimed book on nonlinear process improvements for the workplace. He is a sought-after speaker, consultant, and workshop leader. He has an MS in Physics as a Bardeen Scholar from the University of Illinois.

Joseph E. Swartz is director of business transformation at St. Francis Hospital and Health Centers of Indianapolis, Indiana. He has facilitated improvement projects in large companies such as Eli Lilly, General Motors, and Honeywell as well as in numerous smaller companies. Swartz holds an MS in management from Purdue University, where he graduated as a Krannert Scholar.

Laura J. Louis has 13 years of manufacturing experience as an industrial engineer, business analyst, and project management professional with Micron Technology, Inc. She holds a BSEE and earned her MS in operations management from Purdue University, Krannert School of Management. Prior experience includes manufacturing consulting with Competitive Action, Inc. and manufacturing engineering for Delco Electronics.