Tony Hayes is a global operations and continuous improvement leader with more than 20 years of experience driving operational excellence across manufacturing, supply chain, sourcing, packaging, and distribution in industries including automotive, transportation, aerospace, and defense. He serves as Global Operations Director at ITW, where he builds high-performance teams to ensure safe, timely delivery of quality products at costs that support profitability and growth. Tony also serves on the Shingo Institute Executive Advisory Board, endorsing and advancing Shingo principles while providing insight and guidance on operational excellence and cultural transformation. Previously, he was Vice President of Global Manufacturing Excellence at Stanley Black & Decker, helping design and deploy the Stanley Production System and scale sustained improvements across the global manufacturing network and supply chain. He also led enterprise-wide continuous improvement and quality as Senior Director at Wabash National and held global lean leadership roles at GE Transportation/Wabtec, along with multiple operational leadership positions at Haworth, Ford Motor Company, Alcoa, Dana, and Bosch. Tony holds a B.S. in Project/Facilities Management from Michigan State University and multiple graduate degrees from Kettering University, is a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt, and has lean certifications from the University of Michigan.