TWI Institute Staff

Robert Trachtenberg TWI President and CEO Email \|	Patrick Graupp Senior Master Trainer (JI, JR, JM, JS, PS) Bio
Robert Wrona TWI Executive Director Email \| Bio	Richard Abercrombie Master Trainer (JI, JR, JM, JS) Bio
Dick Jackson TWI Program Specialist Email \| Bio	Mike Braml Master Trainer (JI, JR, JM, JS) Bio
Lynne Harding TWI Program Administrator Email \| Bio	Paul Johnson Master Trainer (JI) Bio
Susan Kuhns TWI Director of Marketing and Communications Email \|	David Palazzoli Master Trainer (JR) Bio
Clara Scherfner TWI Finance Administrator Email \|

Robert Trachtenberg

TWI President and CEO - rtrachtenberg@twi-institute.org

Robert Wrona

TWI Executive Director - rwrona@twi-institute.org

Bob began his manufacturing career at Chevrolet Motor Division in Buffalo, NY where he was promoted to supervisor after earning a BS Economics from Canisius College. He soon joined Kodak in Rochester, N.Y. where he earned an MBA from Rochester Institute of Technology. Bob joined a high volume retail drugstore chain in Syracuse, N.Y. with plans to expand. He standardized operating systems and procedures as a foundation for an in-store training program. As VP of Organizational Development he standardized store design and layout while reorganizing and managed central distribution as the company profitably grew from 12 stores into a regional chain of 140 stores in 10 years.

He returned to his manufacturing roots as a TQM consultant to help small and medium size companies engage their people to improve performance. The need to provide supervision with the skills needed to lead in the new world of Lean Manufacturing surfaced during his 15 years of hands-on implementation. Bob discovered TWI as the solution when studying Kaizen and then contacted SANYO TWI Trainer Patrick Graupp who shared his interest to reintroduce TWI in the U.S. That opportunity came in 2001 when Bob joined CNYTDO, Inc. in Syracuse, NY as detailed in their 2007 Shingo Prize winning book The TWI Workbook: Essential Skills for Supervisors. Their next book Implementing TWI: Creating and Managing a Skills Based Culture was published by Productivity Press in 2010 at which time the TWI Institute had established a rapidly expanding global network of TWI Institute certified trainers delivering TWI in the manufacturing, healthcare, construction, and service industries.

Dick Jackson

TWI Program Specialist - rjackson@twi-institute.org

Dick began his manufacturing career at Remington Arms Company in Ilion, NY as a machine operator. Since 1982 Dick was employed in various management positions at Remington that included Quality Engineer, Engineering Supervisor, Organization Development Resource, and as the Group Leader of the Continuous Improvement Group.

He left Remington in 1996 to become Vice President and eventually President of Revival Industries in Herkimer, NY where he directed all daily activities as the majority owner until 2007. Dick then looked to put his experience to work as a Lean consultant helping local manufacturers as they struggled to compete in the global market. This work led him to the discovery of the TWI Program and he became a TWI Institute Certified Trainer for JI, JR, and JM in 2008. Dick has since delivered numerous TWI training classes and implementation consulting at companies around the globe for the TWI Institute. His strong engineering and management experiences are now put to good use when introducing TWI to companies and when providing follow-on coaching for the implementation process.

Dick received an AS Engineering Science degree from Mohawk Valley Community College and then continued his education in night school at Syracuse University where he earned a BS Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Business Administration.

Lynne Harding

TWI Program Administrator - lharding@twi-institute.org

Lynne manages the inside operations for the TWI program, TWI Institute staff, and its trainers. She manages the website, program scheduling, training logistics, contracts, vendors, inventory management, documentation and translations.

Prior to joining the TWI Institute, Lynne was a Project Manager with Wells Fargo and a Senior Business Analyst and Lease Portfolio Manager with Telmark LLC. Her areas of expertise include training, documentation, project management, information technology and quality control.

Lynne attended SUNY Canton and is trained and proficient in MS Office products, Dreamweaver, and PhotoShop.

Susan Kuhns

TWI Director of Marketing and Communications - skuhns@twi-institute.org

Clara Scherfner

TWI Finance Administrator - cscherfner@twi-institute.org

Patrick Graupp

Senior Master Trainer
(JI, JR, JM, JS, PS)

Patrick began his training career at the SANYO Electric Corporate Training Center in Japan after graduating with Highest Honors from Drexel University in 1980. There he learned to deliver TWI and other training to prepare employees for assignment outside of Japan. He in turn was also transferred to a compact disc fabrication plant in Indiana where he obtained manufacturing experience before returning to Japan where he became SANYO’s TWI Programs Master Trainer, delivering TWI around the world. Patrick earned an MBA from Boston University during this time and was later promoted to the head of Human Resources for SANYO North America Corp. in San Diego, CA where he settled.

Patrick took vacation time to deliver a pilot project in 2001 to reintroduce TWI in the US. The results encouraged him to leave SANYO in 2002 to deliver the TWI program in the US as he was taught in Japan and which he described in his book The TWI Workbook: Essential Skills for Supervisors, a Shingo Research and Professional Publication Prize Recipient for 2007. Working with the TWI Institute of Syracuse, NY, Patrick developed standardized training manuals and materials to train and certify trainers on how to deliver the TWI modules as was done by the TWI Service during WWII. The TWI Institute has since trained hundreds of trainers across the U.S. and around the globe that led to his follow on book Implementing TWI: Creating and Managing a Skills Based Culture that was published in October 2010.

Richard Abercrombie

Master Trainer
(JI, JR, JM, JS)

Richard has over 20 years of experience in manufacturing, most of it with the Boeing Company in Washington State. There, Richard became involved in Boeing’s Lean Manufacturing initiative as a member of the Boeing Supplier Support Center which assisted key Boeing suppliers, both domestic and international, with beginning a continuous improvement program based on the Toyota Production System. To fulfill this role, Richard received training in TPS from the Shingijutsu Company both in Japan and at Boeing.

Since retiring from the Boeing Company in 2000, Richard has continued to consult independently as President of Lean Promotions. Recognizing that TWI is one of the fundamentals of daily work routine management that support the Toyota Production System, Richard was trained and certified by the TWI Institute and has since delivered the TWI supervisor programs to clients in manufacturing, aerospace, steel, food, banking, construction, and healthcare industries.

Richard has a contractual relationship with the TWI Institute and is collaborating with them as their TWI program expands. Now a Master Trainer, Richard conducts the 10-hour “J” training and train-the-trainer sessions for the TWI Institute in addition to being an independent lean consultant.

Mike Braml

Master Trainer
(JI, JR, JM)

Mike has more than 30 years of manufacturing and service industry experience. Significant background in manufacturing management and continuous improvement efforts has enabled Mike to help diverse enterprises gain competitive advantage and position themselves for robust futures.

His broad continuous improvement experience includes Lean, Six Sigma, and TOC implementations. Mike has been certified in Production and Inventory Management through APICS, and is a senior member in the society of Industrial Engineers. Mike is also a NIST MEP certified lean instructor for Lean 101, Value Stream Mapping, 5S, Setup Reduction, Plant Layout, Kaizen Events, Cell Design, Kanban Systems, and Standard Work with experience implemented lean for many small and medium sized companies.

Mike first became a TWI Institute Certified Instructor for JI in 2005 and then systematically was trained by the TWI Institute to deliver JI, JR, JM, JS and PS programs for Enterprise Minnesota. Mike delivered hundreds of the TWI “J” program sessions before becoming a TWI Institute Certified Master Trainer for JI, JR, JM and JS to invest his passion for the TWI program by training new trainers for the TWI Institute for companies around the globe.

Mike has a double major in Biology and Scientific Land Management, and has earned an MBA from Kennedy Western University.

Paul Johnson

Master Trainer
(JI)

Paul has 27 years in manufacturing with General Motors and Delco Remy America. While with General Motors, his positions included Supervisor, Quality Engineer and Supplier Development Engineer. He also worked in the Human Resource department with divisional responsibilities for coordinating the employee involvement program, Workers’ Compensation and Safety.

During his time at Delco Remy America, Paul worked as a Lead Supervisor, Quality Engineer, and Supplier Development Engineer auditing suppliers from around the world to the QS9000 quality standard. Paul left Delco to become the Director of Human Resources for the City of Anderson, IN before joining the Purdue University Technical Assistance Program in 2006. As an Advanced Manufacturing Specialist he now uses his years of experience to provide consulting and training services as needed by companies to implement the Lean Strategy.

Paul became a certified TWI Institute Certified Instructor in Job Relations, Job Instructions, and Job Methods in 2007. Job Safety was added when introduced in 2007. Since then he has trained over 1,200 people in TWI before becoming a TWI Institute Certified JI Master Trainer in 2011. Paul earned a BS degree in Business Administration from Butler University, and both a Master of Science in Management and an MBA from Indiana Wesleyan University.

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David Palazzoli

Master Trainer
(JR)

David has diversified industry experience having worked in the Healthcare Facilities Engineering Management, Laboratory Analysis, Manufacturing, Metal Finishing and Transportation for over 30 years. He works for the Mohawk Valley Applied Technology Center (MVATC) as a Process Engineer and Analyst for this NIST MEP Center in Utica, NY where he was responsible for large-scale savings programs in waste reduction, waste water treatment, recycling and energy management.

Dave’s interest in employee safety led him to expand his consulting into the Environment, Health, and Safety field including regulatory compliance issues and he is now trained as an “Authorized OSHA Outreach Trainer” to document, trains trainers and conduct OSHA related information programs. Dave became one of the first Job Safety (JS) trainers when this program was first introduced in 2008 because of this programs focus on safety incident prevention that he delivers in addition to the OSHA training.

Dave has been an active TWI Trainer for JI, JM, and JR since 2002. He has delivered numerous JR, JI and JM classes for a wide variety of manufacturers for MVATC and throughout the US for the TWI Institute before completed his training to become a TWI Institute Certified Master Trainer for Job Relations in 2008.

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