The Oaklea Press Inc.
Publishing Books Since 1995
A Sampling of Oaklea Press Publishing Success Stories
A new CEO took over a business that manufactured original equipment sub assemblies. The company was in decline because it had been turning out an unacceptably high percentage of components that failed. The CEO set out to turn things around by transforming the manufacturing process into the system employed by Toyota, known in industry as "Lean Manufacturing," a goal of which is to turn out Six Sigma quality. This was a radical departure from the mass manufacturing techniques in use at that time by most American companies. We helped write and edit this book that documented how the transformation took place and how others could do the same. It not only got the word out and put the spotlight on the company, which led to a huge turnaround, it helped create high demand for the CEO's services, who went on to lead bigger companies. In addition, the book became an international best seller and helped lean manufacturing become the standard way of operating across the globe.
A product development engineer took early retirement and spent a good deal of time studying Toyota's product development process. In the West, most product developers took a linear approach on a design from start to finish, whereas Toyota took a holistic approach by concentrating on developing subsystems that could then be mixed and matched to create new products. The development engineer determined the Toyota process to be four times more productive than that used by Western companies and wrote this book explaining how and why. We helped him with editing, publishing, and promotion. The book has now been translated into a half a dozen languages, is a best seller in its field, and the development engineer now has a successful business consulting with companies across the globe.
"Color Is Everything" explains how accomplished artists consistently choose perfect colors. More importantly, author/artist Dan Bartges explains what great artists know about color that most painters don't. "Color Is Everything" provides a clear, reliable methodology for creating "paintings with irresistible color, paintings that pull people from across the room." The author sums it up this way, "This book will show you how to master color. As a result, you will paint better pictures, and you will have more fun painting." The author practices what he preaches. His landscapes and still lifes have been acquired by private collectors across the country and by a number of Fortune 500 companies including Marriott, Capital One, Markel, Lockheed Martin, Performance Food Group, and Media General. His artwork has appeared in international and national exhibitions, in various publications, and in national retail catalogs and stores from Smith & Hawken to Walmart.
Because of the lean enterprise revolution brought about in part by the book we published displayed above, i.e., Lean Transformation, leaders of businesses and organizations today are expected to do more with less in that whole layers of management have been eliminated. Those who remain have no choice but to take up the slack, and many feel "buried alive." But that does not have to be. The authors’ consulting firm has put the process explained in this book in place and it is working like clockwork in a number of Fortune 500 companies as well as the Department of Defense, several big city governments, and a number of large airports. It is a system comprised of a few simple rules involving scorecards, action registers, and interlocking teams that will get a business or organization moving forward at light speed. A primary reason is that everyone quickly knows what he or she must do to succeed personally, as well as what needs to be done for the organization to reach its goals and succeed.