Joseph Niederstadt was born in Saginaw, Michigan, in the early 1950s. Saginaw depended heavily on the automotive industry, as did many towns during this time period. Industry was booming and mass production was well on the way. The automotive industry employed tens of thousands in the area, providing a standard of living for those working in the factories that few have ever seen or probably will ever see again. Like many others in the area, Niederstadt started work in a General Motors factory with the goal of making money and providing benefits for his family yet to come. He never realized that it was the beginning of a career in manufacturing that would span beyond 30 years. His experiences include furnace operator in a foundry, where one job was to rebuild the lining of an electric induction furnace 20 feet from the surface using a 90-pound jackhammer in over 100 F temperatures. Later, Niederstadt worked at the Chevrolet Motor Division and Delphi as an assembly line operator, as a water spider on an assembly line, then supervising machining, assembly, after market operations, quality control, production control and logistics, labor relations, Lean core team, supplier development, and international assignments. During this progression, he has never forgotten his roots as an operator and has always strived to make the work environment better for the operator. Niederstadt has lived through the transition from mass to Lean production, from the do as I tell you mentality to a team-managed work system, from massive inventories to Just in Time (JIT) philosophies, from run all you can every time you can thinking to PULL systems (characterized by smaller batches, quick responses, to customer demand, and smooth product flow), from dedicated equipment to flexible cells, from hangeovers that took days that now take minutes, and the list goes on and on. He has been taught by several Senseis from Toyota and some of the best Lean people at other globally
