Niklas Modig
Author, inspirational speaker & entrepreneur
Niklas Modig
Niklas Modig is a leading authority in Lean and Operational Excellence, recognized globally as a pioneer in Flow Thinking. During his career, he has trained hundreds of top management teams and delivered over 1,000 keynote speeches across 40 countries, inspiring organizations worldwide.
Niklas began his Lean journey as a researcher at the Center for Innovation and Operations Management at the Stockholm School of Economics, where he served from 2003 to 2018. Fluent in Japanese, he spent extended periods in Japan and was a visiting researcher at the University of Tokyo’s Manufacturing Management Research Center from 2006 to 2008. There, he worked closely with Professor Takahiro Fujimoto, an important Toyota scholar, gaining unique insights into Toyota’s high-performance service systems. Niklas is the first and only foreign researcher granted such in-depth access to Toyota’s operations, spending thousands of hours within the company to understand the essence of its philosophy.
As the author of This Is Lean: Resolving the Efficiency Paradox, Niklas introduced the groundbreaking concept of flow efficiency, distinguishing it from resource efficiency and advocating for streamlined, end-to-end processes. The book has sold over 350,000 copies in twenty languages, making it one of the best-selling Lean books of all time.
Currently, as Founder and CEO of Hups, Niklas continues to drive impactful transformations and mentor top management on Lean and Operational Excellence. He frequently speaks at global organizations such as Airbus, Holmen, H&M, and Volvo, sharing his vision for self-improving organizations capable of achieving sustainable excellence.
The lectures
Niklas main research focus was how the lean concept and Toyota Production System can be applied and integrated within the entire value chain of organisations. In parallel with his business research, Niklas is also researched about change management and competence development, Niklas latest concept is called Lean On Myself. Here is some of the concepts Niklas is speaking about.
Defining Lean and Operational Excellence
Lean is the most spread management concept in the world. It is applied within all types of functions in almost every industry. Recent research however shows that there are much more to learn. In this lecture, one of the leading lean speakers – Niklas Modig – will give you a deeper understanding of what operational excellence is really about. As the only foreign researcher in the world, Niklas has spent thousands of hours inside Toyota Japan decoding their philosophy and way of working. He will share his latest insights and help us explore how we can take our improvement initiatives to the next level and resolve the efficiency paradox.
Lean Change Management
Lean Change Management is a workshop aiming to help managers to understand the core features of lean management and change management. The workshop is applicable for all types of industries, directed to executives at all managerial levels and appeals to both novices and experts. The intention of the workshop is to cover all basic aspects that an executive needs to know in order to lead and drive a lean transformation program. What is a lean operations strategy? How is it implemented? How is a lean culture developed? What is the role of the management? Why do organizations fail and what are the main success factors?
Lean healthcare
Lean started to spread into the service industry for more than ten years ago. Today it is extensively used within healthcare. Almost every hospital in Scandinavia is utilizing lean – or similar “flow” oriented concepts – in order to improve the situation for their patients. The aim is to eliminate queues, waiting time, waste, inefficiencies and bureaucracy in order to improve quality, flexibility and process flow. There is unfortunately still a lot of misunderstandings regarding what lean is and especially how it can be adopted within healthcare. In this lecture Niklas Modig will share his latest insights regarding lean healthcare. He will share a variety of cases from both private and public hospitals in Sweden.
