La-Z-Boy Portland wins Shingo Prize - TWI part of the solution

See permalink to this story. The article highlights how TWI was used in within the sales force. Incidentally, Lowell Mellen, who carried on the TWI torch after the war, was primarily in rubber sales and marketing for most of his career until he joined the TWI Cleveland district during the war. Within his files at the library of the Western Reserve Historical Society and museum, there is heavy evidence of the integration of customer needs (through sales and marketing) and meeting those needs through the solving of production problems. Perhaps La-Z-Boy Portland found this sweet spot?