Mike Brewer

Mike Brewer is a Senior Advisor with FTE Performance Consulting and a charter member of the FTE Advisory Board.  Mike has 57 years of career experience in manufacturing and been involved in Lean and Agile Manufacturing deployment and transformation for the last 39 years of his career. Mike is an accomplished subject matter expert in: Value Stream Mapping and process flow mapping, productivity and efficiency optimization, throughput improvement, factory flow and shop floor optimization (process layout, standardization work and material flow), lean assessments, and Simulated Work Environment (SWE) training (manufacturing and transactional).

Notable experience and accomplishments:

  • General Motors NUMMI Alumni (1985 to 1988) (2005 to 2007)
  • Adapted Toyota Production System (TPS) practices to GM Vehicle Assembly Plants across North America
  • Authored the original Lean Deployment Playbook for General Motors
  • Received GM President’s Council Award for excellence in deployment of Lean practices
  • Provided transformational expertise and coaching at CAMI Automotive, Lear Corporation, Caterpillar, Harley Davidson, Mercedes Benz, Hyundai/Kia, Volkswagen, Navistar, Newport News Naval Shipyards and Boeing.
  • Launched and mentored the Simulated Work Environment (SWE) training at GM, NUMMI, Caterpillar, Navistar and Boeing
  • Taught Industrial Engineering/Lean Manufacturing as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Prior to consulting, Mike worked at General Motors (GM) for 35 years.  Mike was the Group Director of Industrial Engineering and Lean Manufacturing for the GM Car Division when he reached his retirement.  During his tenure at GM, Mike was one of the founding Managers at New United Motors Manufacturing, Inc.(NUMMI) from 1985 to 1988. Following his assignment at NUMMI, he was assigned to a group that was directly involved in Lean transformation at GM plant facilities across North America and is credited as the author of the Lean Deployment Playbook for GM’s Global Manufacturing System (GMS).  Since beginning consulting in 2002, Mike has been involved in Lean deployment and transformation in multiple manufacturing sectors, including automotive, motorcycles, commercial vehicles, ship building, aerospace and aviation.

Mike holds a Bachelor of Science Business Administration from Fairleigh Dickenson University, in Madison, NJ and a Master of Arts in Industrial Management from Central Michigan University.

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