Womack first became widely known as an author in 1990 with publication of the book The Machine That Changed the World, which made the term lean production known worldwide.
His Ph.D in political science was received from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1982 for a dissertation on the comparison of industrial policy in the United States, Germany and Japan.
The study of the automotive industry (the International Motor Vehicle Program - IMVP), funded with more than US$5 million, was the most important.
Womack left MIT shortly after the publication of his book and founded the Lean Enterprise Institute (LEI)[1] in 1997.
The umbrella organization wants to ensure uniform standards when implementing learning concepts and to encourage the exchange among its members.