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GembaTalk S1 E5 – “Just Start!” to overcome perfection and implement lean, with Brian Meyers

After a trip to Japan, Brian Meyers realized his factory needed a Lean overhaul - he just didn’t realize it was Lean he needed! Find out how they adopted SOPs, transformed efficiency and discover his no-nonsense approach to implementation.

Tom talks with Brian Meyers, founder of Fat American Manufacturing (FAM) and multiple off-road manufacturing brands to find out how traveling to Japan and Europe gave Brian a new perspective on Lean – and how his company has rapidly implemented standardized work to improve efficiency.

By embracing standard work, giving employees ownership, and integrating SOPs into daily operations, Fat American Manufacturing (FAM) has made incredible progress in just five months. If you’re struggling to get started with Lean, Brian’s advice is simple: “Just start.”

“When I got to Japan I saw everything and I was like this is crazy and then I came home and I was really frustrated and I was like we suck but I had no idea how to do it and I didn’t know what I was looking at […] And then all of a sudden everything was like click, click, click, click, click, and I was like, it’s lean, I saw lean!” – Brian Meyers

Watch now

“It’s important to make failures because you learn from it.” – Stephan Hilmer

Listen

“The SOP for checking the water level is to stick your finger in a hole and touch water. If your finger is wet, it is good. If not, fill more water. And they were like, ‘are we really making an SOP for this?’ And I was like, well, that’s how we do it. ‘You know, like, well, I’d like to make an improvement’. Make an improvement later, just get it documented”

– Brian Meyers

Key Topics

  • Brian discovered Lean backwards – by visiting Japan before knowing what it was
  • The culture shift needed to make standardization work
  • Why Brian gave every employee the power to create SOPs instead of restricting it to managers
  • The challenges of balancing production vs. documentation
  • How FAM integrates SOPs directly into their ERP system for real-time learning
  • Using QR codes to make SOPs accessible at the point of work

“Yesterday alone, we made 35 SOPs. If you have 10 people doing SOPs, you won’t get far. If you have 40, you’ll get there fast.”

– Brian Meyers

Takeaways

  • Exposure changes everything – Seeing Lean firsthand in Japan made Brian realize what was possible.
  • SOPs aren’t just for the shop floor – Documenting office processes helps eliminate waste in administration, too.
  • Ownership is key – When employees create their own SOPs, they buy in and continuously improve them.
  • Just start – Perfection isn’t the goal; documenting current processes leads to immediate improvements.

Links and Resources

Fat American Manufacturing
  • Find out more Fat American Manufacturing
  • Brian Meyer’s LinkedIn
  • Lean by Doing on YouTube 
GembaDocs
  • Explore GembaDocs for your training needs and process documentation.
  • Tom’s LinkedIn
  • GembaDocs on LinkedIn | YouTube | Instagram

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GembaTalk Episodes

Pankaj Malik

GembaTalk S1 E6: How “What’s in it for me” revolutionized IOTAFLOW’s culture with Pankaj Malik

From daily struggles to Lean success, find out how IOTAFLOW created 1,000 SOPs, boosted efficiency, and transformed employee engagement and

Read on..
Pablo Scarpatti

GembaTalk S1 E4 – How a bang on the head sparked a Lean business with Pablo Scarpatti

Pablo Scarpatti discusses how they’ve created a lean culture, grew their business rapidly, released fear from their team to learn,

Read on..

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