State of Readiness – Dale Bayley – Lean Director of the Filtration Group at Parker Hannifin

I welcome Dale Bayley, the Lean Director of the Filtration Group of Parker Hannifin to this edition of State of Readiness. Parker Hannifin is a an publicly-traded American corporation (NYSE: PH) founded in 1917, revenues of $14.3B(2018), 58,000 employees globally, and specializing in motion and control technologies which Dale joined in 1978.
Dale grew-up in a blue-collar, hard-working family. And when Dale joined Parker, as an production assembler, he did not have a college degree. It wasn’t until 2008 with the support of Parker Hannifin that Dale earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from the University of Phoenix. During the time of his earning his degree and working full-time, Dale also selected this moment to earn his Lean Six-Sigma Black Belt from ASQ – he had a full plate.
Working as a maintenance mechanic in 1993, Parker Hannifin was launching a Best Practices program when he was asked to be core team member in the beginning of the initiative. Instead of going back to maintenance, Dale joined the Best Practices team full-time – a moment in his career with Parker Hannifin when the choice was made for him but not by him. The Best Practices program evolved into a Lean program and Dale incrementally gained greater and greater responsibilities – eventually becoming the Lean Director of the Filtration Group. He shares his thoughts Leadership and what he has learned over the years. And he shares his thoughts on Lean and how you can cut too much, or not in the right place saying; “If your objective is to lose weight, you can lose 20lbs immediately by cutting off your leg. But that’s not clarity of the objective. The objective is to be healthier and that’s why you want to lose weight.” Eliminate the waste, but remain toned.
Listen-in on Dale and his sharing his fascinating journey. He came from modest beginnings and grew to a position of leadership in one of the most respected companies in the world. And although he has grown in rank and title, he has remained true to his roots and a humble servant-leader.