Karl Wadensten

Karl Wadensten is a passionate, memorable personality with big ideas, big success stories, and a take-no-prisoners attitude. He is the president and CEO of VIBCO Vibrators, a manufacturer of construction and industrial vibration products in Wyoming, Rhode Island that serves 360,000 customers globally with over 1,800 products. He is a firm believer in the power of leadership and Lean to transform and VIBCO’s story is truly inspirational.

At VIBCO Vibrators, Karl has developed a Lean culture where continuous improvement is the norm and the pursuit of excellence is fully embraced by the VIBCO team. Throughout its Lean journey, VIBCO has gained and sustained dramatic improvements in inventory, lead times, SMED, quality, and has implemented literally thousands of employee ideas. Today, Karl and VIBCO Vibrators are developing the VIBCO Production System to attain the highest level of producing to customer pull. Karl also obtained his diploma as a Clifton Strength’s Coach and enjoys sharing his expertise on strengths, culture change, and leading a Strengths Based Organization. VIBCO has been the feature of two Lean training videos and the subject of a Harvard Business School case study.

Karl shares Practicing Lean from the Heart, his personal and professional journey to becoming a Lean leader of a globally recognized company.

Practicing Lean from the Heart

(Keynote) Karl Wadensten shares his personal and professional journey to becoming a Lean Center & South leader of a globally recognized company. You will learn about his commitment to business growth and superior customer satisfaction through sustainability, U.S.-based supply chain excellence, Lean culture, and strengths-based organizational design. Karl offers his insight into overcoming leadership and organizational challenges to build a culture of improvement. He challenges attendees to think deeply about what transformation actually entails, and to remember that the driving force for any improvement effort MUST be aligned to a True North focused on adding value to the customer. He also shares his philosophy that leaders need to understand their individual strengths before they we can assemble the energy and compassion to help others.

Enhancing CI by Playing to Your Strengths

Karl Wadensten, VIBCO Vibrators, and John Compton, Compton & Associates
(Leadership & Culture) Gallup’s CliftonStrengths Assessment (formerly StrengthsFinder) excels at revealing the top strengths of individuals (over 8,000 take the assessment daily). It is valuable for individuals to know their strengths, but equally valuable for companies to know and leverage different individual strengths. Hear how companies are benefitting from understanding the strengths of their employees and how you can do the same.