Hello! My name is Brad Schmidt and I am Managing Partner and a founding member of Gemba Research. As the son of missionaries I was born and raised in Sapporo, Japan. I am fluent in both English and Japanese. I am based in Japan and work out of Gemba's Tokyo office.

Before becoming a Lean consultant I spent many years interpreting for Japanese kaizen consultants. This taught me not just knowledge of Lean but also how to best implement it and sustain the effort. Since 1998 I have been a kaizen instructor in industries such as aerospace, custom manufacturing, small-lot job shops, high-volume electronic manufacturing, chemical processing, service businesses, healthcare, and office environments.

I enjoy visiting and learning from many excellent companies in Japan. This has allowed me to develop some great relationships with people who are doing Lean in Japan. The result is that Gemba now has relationships with over 80 companies as host sites for our kaikaku tours. Knowing both cultures as well as having experienced implementing kaizen and Lean in both cultures, I am confident that we will provide you with an unforgettable experience that will be sure to remain with you for the rest of your life.

Let me introduce you to a few of the team members who lead our kaikaku trips.

Kaikaku Experience Facilitators & Sensei from Gemba
Brad Schmidt Kaikaku Facilitator Isao Kato Sensei
Brad is the co-founder of Gemba and a global consultant and trainer. He specializes in kaizen and the Toyota Production System. Brad who was born and raised in Japan and is fluently bilingual. Brad has led over 60 Kaikaku trips and delivered lean training and coaching to hundreds of people in a dozen countries. Mr. Kato worked for 28 years at Toyota Motor Corporation. He worked with Taiichi Ohno to establish the Toyota Production System (TPS) through employee training systems, skill development and human resource development.  He has been an internal trainer for the Toyota Production System, responsible for teaching standardized work, Training Within Industry (TWI) and kaizen at Toyota sites worldwide.
March Ma Kaikaku Facilitator DJ Duarte Kaikaku Facilitator
March has a decade of experience working within a Toyota supplier in Japan and China . His responsibilities included sales, production planning and overseas business. He earned a Bachelor’s from Beijing International Studies University and a Masters in management from Aichi Gakuin University. March speaks Chinese, Japanese and English. D.J. has more than 15 years of experience in practical application, facilitation and implementation of lean initiatives in manufacturing, logistics, transactional and service industries. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Management and is a 2005 Graduate of the Department of Defense Executive Leadership Development Program. DJ is a veteran of the US Marine Corps.
Toshiko Narusawa Kaikaku Facilitator Jon Miller Kaikaku Facilitator
Toshiko is an accomplished instructor in the Toyota Production System and kaizen. She has clients both in Japan and abroad. She has written her numerous articles based on her research of the Toyota Production System and she is a published author of The Kaizen Express.   Jon the co-founder of Gemba and a global consultant. He was born and raised in Japan and is fluently bilingual.  Jon has 17 years of experience in designing, managing and leading lean enterprise transformations. He has taught lean thinking to thousands of people in 16 countries.