Jerry Bussell
Jerry Bussell is regarded as one of the top Lean practitioners and leaders in North America. Jerry is a committed servant leader with a strong track record of leading highly successful Lean transformations and advising organizations on how best to approach their implementations.
From 1999-2011, Jerry led the Operations Group for Medtronic Surgical Technologies, serving as VP of both Global Operations, and Operational Excellence. Under his leadership, Medtronic’s Jacksonville facility received several awards for achieving operational excellence. Industry Week recognized it as one of North America’s 10 best manufacturing plants (2002). The facility also received the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence (2003) and the Shingo Silver Medallion (2010).
Jerry received Medtronic’s Wallin Award (2003) for creating a national model for Lean manufacturing and was inducted into the Shingo Academy for outstanding contributions to operational excellence (2005).
Additionally, Jerry received the Shingo Research and Publication Award for his book, “Anatomy of a Lean Leader (2013),” and was inducted into the Association of Manufacturing Excellence’s Hall of Fame for his achievements in Lean Thinking throughout his career (2017).
Jerry continues to guide companies on their Lean journeys, serving as the chairman of the Jacksonville Lean Consortium and president of Bussell Lean Associates, which he runs with his son James. Through Bussell Lean, Jerry has advised and assisted organizations in a myriad of industries with implementing and accelerating successful Lean transformations. Jerry provides hands-on support that includes developing overall strategies, providing leadership coaching, facilitating improvement events, and teaching certification training for the next generation of Lean leaders.
James Bussell
Since 2015, James has served as Bussell Lean’s vice-president. He has extensive experience providing Lean transformation coaching and hands-on support for companies in a myriad of industries, including manufacturing, construction, law, government, financial services, logistics, higher education, and not-for-profit.
James is one Bussell Lean’s leadership coaches, our lead certification training instructor, and point person for our clients. His areas of expertise include strategy deployment, Lean leadership/culture coaching, guiding Lean steering committees, value stream mapping, A3 problem solving, and rapid improvement event facilitation. James is known for his commitment to our clients, as well as leading valuable (and entertaining!) Lean improvement events and training courses.
James received a BA from Florida State University (History) and a JD from Florida Coastal School of Law. In addition to his duties with Bussell Lean, James is the executive director for the Jacksonville Lean Consortium and a member of the Florida Bar.
Chuck Carlton
Charles “Chuck” Carlton has more than 20 years of experience as a Lean leader and coach. He currently serves as Sr. Director of Operations and Continuous Improvement for True Velocity.
Before joining True Velocity, Chuck served as the VP of Operations and Supply Chain for Orthofix Medical, Associate Director/Master Black Belt for Underwriters Laboratories consulting team, as well as various roles with Medtronic, including Lean Facilitator and Value Stream Manager for more than 16 years.
Chuck is a certified trainer in the Shingo methodology, DMAIC, Toyota 8D problem solving and value stream mapping. He has led thousands of kaizen events and trainings around the world, throughout several industries
