Dr Nick Rich
Biography
Nick is a Director of Cardiff University's Innovative Manufacturing Research Centre. He was a founding member of the Lean Enterprise Research Centre (LERC) and worked with Professor Dan Jones for some 12 years in a variety of research roles (1993 - 2005).
His main research interest concerns the design and implementation of lean production and maintenance systems. During his time with Dan at the Cardiff Business School, Nick was involved with such projects as the Andersen World-wide Lean Enterprise Benchmarking Studies, Supply Chain Development Programmes, 3 Day Car Programme, Lean Processing Programme, Nuclear Industry Suply Chain Project, Learn2 industrial networks, and various other projects. These programmes have yielded many millions of pounds savings and Nick is far from the stereo-typical academic!
Nick was fortunate enough to hold one of the elite Toyota Motor Company Research Fellowships (Japan) and used this time to study Toyota and its family of suppliers in 1997 at the depth of Japanese econmic recession and witnessed some remarkable improvement and engineering achievements despite 50 years of kaizen.
Nick holds a degree in Economics, Masters in Corporate Finance and a PhD in the emulation of lean manufacturing systems. He has written numerous books, articles, and has contributed to various Government Reports including the DTI Automotive Innovation and Growth Team, and the Metals Industry Competitiveness Report MICE. He also sits on the board of several manufacturing businesses and institutions that promote Engineering and maintenance.