Chris is a co-author of the Shingo Prize Award winning book Making Materials Flow published by Jim Womack and the Lean Enterprise Institute. Chris has also co-authored 4 other books with Rick Harris. Chris has also written many articles on Lean Enterprise Systems.
Chris began his Lean training as a team member on the assembly line at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky (TMMK). While at TMMK Chris was taught by the professionals the proper use of TAKT time, standardized work, production status boards, and the utilization of Andon Boards and the Andon system. Chris continued his lean training at Toyota Tsusho America in Georgetown, KY. Chris gained valuable hands on experience in returnable containers, Kanban card systems, supermarkets, milk runs, and lean pricing. Chris realized the need to become knowledgeable in the implementation of lean in a unionized environment. Chris received this training as a front line supervisor at Delphi Alternator Division in Anderson, Indiana, a UAW environment. While in this position, Chris gained a keen understanding of what is required to implement lean in a unionized environment. Dr. Harris decided to take another avenue and went into Corporate Purchasing at a Tier one automotive company. In this position Chris learned the importance of Purchasing’s role in Lean Enterprise Systems, and the affect of “Global Purchasing” on the enterprise value stream
Chris has a Doctor of Business Administration from the Anderson University Falls School of Business in Anderson, Indiana. He is Vice President of Harris Lean Systems (www.harrisleansystems.com), and teaches workshops on various topics that assist companies on their Lean journey. Chris has spoken at the Lean Summit in Poland and has been a regular featured speaker for Jim Womack and the Lean Enterprise Institute.
DEGREES EARNED:
Year Degree Awarding Institution Major Field
2012 MS Clemson University Youth Development Leadership
2007 DBA Anderson University Management
2003 MBA Anderson University NA
1999 BS University of Pikeville History/Political Science
Books
Harris, C. & Harris R. (2014). Capitalizing on lean production systems to win new business. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press-Taylor and Francis Group.
Harris, C., Harris, R., & Streeter, C. (2011). Lean supplier development: Establishing partnerships and true costs throughout the supply chain. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press-Taylor and Francis Group.
Harris, C & Harris, R. (2008). Lean connections: Making information flow efficiently and effectively. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press-Taylor and Francis Group.
Harris, C. & Harris, R. (2007). Developing a lean workforce: A guide for human resources, plant managers, and lean coordinators. New York: Productivity Press.
Harris, R., Harris, C., & Wilson, E. (2003). Making materials flow: A lean material-handling guide for operations, production-control, and engineering professionals. Cambridge, MA: The Lean Enterprise Institute.
Articles
Harris, A. & Harris, C. (2019). Methods for improving materials management. Physician Leadership Journal, 6(4), pp. 55-60.
Harris, A., Preece, K, & Harris, C. (2016). Using a stop/go protocol in the preoperative area to increase patient safety. Journal of Perioperative Practice, 26(10), pp. 229-231.
Harris, C. (2016). An experiential learning example used to illustrate the lean manufacturing concept of waste elimination to non-operations graduate students. Journal of Higher Education Theory and Practice, 16(1) pp. 68-74.
Harris, C. & Harris, R. (2016). A very important, but flawed, question. Industrial Management, 58(3) pp. 27-30.
Harris C., & Harris, A. (2015). Using lean manufacturing to improve patient care in a rural urological practice. Physician Leadership Journal, 2(6), pp. 18-20.
Harris, C., Harris, A., & Harris R. (2015). The blessings of a level schedule. Industrial Management, 57(6) pp. 16-19.
Adams, J., Harris C., & Bohley-Martin, K. (2015). Explaining small-business development: A small-business development model combining the Maslow and the Hayes and Wheelwright Models. Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, 18.
Harris, C., Audimulan, N., & Gudgel, S. (2015). Small changes, big results- Reducing RPNs and lean work movements can lead to big improvements. Quality Progress, 48(5), pp 22-27.
Harris, C., & Harris R. (2015). Three pillars for building a lean supply base. Industrial Management, 57(2), pp.26-30.
Bohley-Martin, K., & Harris, C. (2014). An analysis of e-waste: When do electronics die? Journal of the Indiana Academy of the Social Sciences, 17.
Harris, C., Zimmer, T.E., & Bohley-Martin, K. (2014). Maslow’s hierarchy and the intertwined relationship between community and small business. Journal of System and Management Sciences, 4 (3), pp. 13-21
Harris C., & Bohley-Martin, K. (June, 2014). The reverse logistics of online retailing, its evolution and future directions. Journal of System and Management Sciences, 4 (2), pp. 001-014.
Harris, C., (2014) See if that new product flows, Industrial Management, 56 (3), pp. 15-20.
Harris, C., (2013). A metric to drive lean purchasing. Industrial Management, 55(6), pp. 10-14.
Harris, C., & Streeter, C. (2010). A new purchasing philosophy. Industrial Engineer, 42 (9), pp. 42-46.
Harris, C., & Harris, R. (2010). The work force transformation. Industrial Management, 52(2), pp. 16-20.
Harris, C., & Lucas, D. (2009). Which is more important for successful change: Commitment to the organization or the initiative? People and Strategy, 32(4).
Harris, C., & Harris, R. (2009). Lean decision making – Use an operator balance chart to make informed manpower decisions. Manufacturing Engineering Magazine, 143(3).
Harris, R., & Harris, C. (2008). Can automation be a lean tool? Manufacturing Engineering Magazine, 141(2).