Podcast #98 brings us Pat Bergin, President of Aerofil Technology, a manufacturer based in Missouri with 400 employees. Aerofil has been on its Lean journey since 2007 under Pat’s leadership – first as a consultant and now as President. With more than 30 years of operations, finance, sales and marketing experience, Pat has brought both a broad and deep understanding of continuous improvement to Aerofil as President. His mission is the relentless pursuit of excellence through the total elimination of waste. His bio can be downloaded here (word doc). Pat was previously at Esselte, under the direction of Art Byrne (formerly of Wiremold), that Pat learned and developed his Lean (kaizen) management skills under the coaching of Shingijutsu Co LTD (Chihiro Nakao) of Japan, an original architect of the Toyota Production System.  In this podcast, we talk about how he drives Lean as the company President, how Lean fits into their overall strategy, and what challenges they have worked through. To point others to this, use the simple URL: www.leanblog.org/98. For earlier episodes, visit the main Podcast page at www.leanpodcast.ort, which includes information on how to subscribe via RSS or via Apple iTunes. If you have feedback on the podcast, or any questions for me or my guests, you can email me at leanpodcast@gmail.com or you can call and leave a voicemail by calling the “Lean Line” at (817) 776-LEAN (817-776-5326) or contact me via Skype id “mgraban”. Please give your location and your first name. Any comments (email or voicemail) might be used in follow ups to the podcast.