{"id":34675,"date":"2023-11-16T05:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-11-16T10:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/?p=34675"},"modified":"2023-11-15T10:20:28","modified_gmt":"2023-11-15T15:20:28","slug":"remembering-freddy-balle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/","title":{"rendered":"Remembering Freddy Ball\u00e9"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>In recognition of the significant contributions of Freddy Ball\u00e9 to the Lean Movement and his recent passing, we are reposting an article from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.planet-lean.com\/\">Planet Lean.<\/a> This tribute, penned by Dan Jones, reflects on Ball\u00e9&#8217;s profound impact not just on the lean movement, but on industry as a whole<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>We all stand on the shoulders of those who have gone before. One of those giants was Freddy Ball\u00e9, who passed away on the 31st of October. He was one of the first people in Europe to understand the significance of the Toyota Production System while he was working at Renault in the 1970s. He went to Japan on annual pilgrimages to seek answers to his questions about TPS from leading senseis at Toyota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>He used this learning to build the Valeo Production System. Early on, Toyota told me that only two suppliers in Europe really understood TPS &#8211; Freddy Ball\u00e9 at Valeo and Peter Marks at Robert Bosch. Freddy went on to develop similar Production and Product Development systems at Sommer Allibert and Faurecia.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the best things I have done was to convince Jim Womack to publish the first lean novels by Freddy and his son Michael.&nbsp;<em>The Gold Mine<\/em>,&nbsp;<em>The Lean Manager<\/em>, and&nbsp;<em>Lead with Respect<\/em>&nbsp;showed a global audience the thinking and behaviors that made a lean system work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I first met Freddy at a supply chain workshop organized by McKinsey in Paris, and every time I met him after that I came away with new insights into lean. This learning continued as his wisdom infected the articles and books that Michael and I worked on exploring the learning processes behind Lean Thinking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I can still hear his voice saying, \u201cKeep your focus on the detail of the work and understand its significance for the customer and the system as a whole.\u201d Thank you, Freddy, for your example and your inspiration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>These wise words are more relevant than ever, as Toyota not only develops solid state batteries but is leading the way to scale up production of one of the most important building blocks of the post-carbon era, alongside its pioneering work on hydrogen fuel cells.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On October 31st, the Lean Movement lost one of its pioneers. In this piece, Dan Jones reflects on Freddy Ball\u00e9\u2019s legacy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":34676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"10317,4829,6656,7012,3712,5336","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Remembering Freddy Ball\u00e9 - Lean Enterprise Institute<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Remembering Freddy Ball\u00e9 - Lean Enterprise Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"On October 31st, the Lean Movement lost one of its pioneers. In this piece, Dan Jones reflects on Freddy Ball\u00e9\u2019s legacy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lean Enterprise Institute\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-16T10:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-15T15:20:28+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/freddy-balle-remembrance.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"930\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"340\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Lory Moniz\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lory Moniz\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Lory Moniz\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#\/schema\/person\/3dd57e0d71def8e0da5f601d59fe88f7\"},\"headline\":\"Remembering Freddy Ball\u00e9\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-16T10:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T15:20:28+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/\"},\"wordCount\":367,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/freddy-balle-remembrance.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Article\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/\",\"name\":\"Remembering Freddy Ball\u00e9 - Lean Enterprise Institute\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/freddy-balle-remembrance.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-16T10:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-15T15:20:28+00:00\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/freddy-balle-remembrance.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/freddy-balle-remembrance.jpg\",\"width\":930,\"height\":340,\"caption\":\"Remembering Freddy Balle\"},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/\",\"name\":\"Lean Enterprise Institute\",\"description\":\"Lean Production | Lean Manufacturing | LEI | Lean Services\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Lean Enterprise Institute\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lei_logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lei_logo.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":450,\"caption\":\"Lean Enterprise Institute\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#\/schema\/person\/3dd57e0d71def8e0da5f601d59fe88f7\",\"name\":\"Lory Moniz\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Remembering Freddy Ball\u00e9 - Lean Enterprise Institute","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Remembering Freddy Ball\u00e9 - Lean Enterprise Institute","og_description":"On October 31st, the Lean Movement lost one of its pioneers. In this piece, Dan Jones reflects on Freddy Ball\u00e9\u2019s legacy.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/","og_site_name":"Lean Enterprise Institute","article_published_time":"2023-11-16T10:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-15T15:20:28+00:00","og_image":[{"width":930,"height":340,"url":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/freddy-balle-remembrance.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Lory Moniz","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Lory Moniz","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/"},"author":{"name":"Lory Moniz","@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#\/schema\/person\/3dd57e0d71def8e0da5f601d59fe88f7"},"headline":"Remembering Freddy Ball\u00e9","datePublished":"2023-11-16T10:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T15:20:28+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/"},"wordCount":367,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/freddy-balle-remembrance.jpg","articleSection":["Article"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/","name":"Remembering Freddy Ball\u00e9 - Lean Enterprise Institute","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/freddy-balle-remembrance.jpg","datePublished":"2023-11-16T10:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-15T15:20:28+00:00","inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/the-lean-post\/articles\/remembering-freddy-balle\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/freddy-balle-remembrance.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/freddy-balle-remembrance.jpg","width":930,"height":340,"caption":"Remembering Freddy Balle"},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/","name":"Lean Enterprise Institute","description":"Lean Production | Lean Manufacturing | LEI | Lean Services","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#organization","name":"Lean Enterprise Institute","url":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lei_logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/lei_logo.jpg","width":1500,"height":450,"caption":"Lean Enterprise Institute"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/#\/schema\/person\/3dd57e0d71def8e0da5f601d59fe88f7","name":"Lory Moniz"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34675"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34675"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34675\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":34697,"href":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34675\/revisions\/34697"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34675"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34675"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lean.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34675"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}