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Lennart Sandholm Lennart Sandholm is a Swedish internationally well-known expert in business development with a focus on total quality. He has worked in this field for more than 50 years. Before founding the consulting and training institute Sandholm Associates in 1971, he was the Corporate Quality Director of the multinational appliances manufacturer Electrolux for a period of 10 years. Sandholm started 1973 an international career. This has taken him to more than 40 countries on all continents as a management consultant and lecturer.

Early life
Sandholm was born in Linköping, Sweden on August 13, 1932. He graduated from the Chalmers Institute of Technology, Gothenburg, in 1955 and took his doctorate in 1963 at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm. He studied business administration at the Stockholm University 1963-1965. As a Fellow of the Sweden-America Foundation, he studied quality management in the USA 1965-1966. The studies included courses at the Rutgers University, as well as study visits to more than 40 companies.

Professional life
He was employed by the Swedish household appliances manufacturer Elektrohelios in 1958 as a laboratory engineer and was appointed Quality Manager in 1961. Elektrohelios merged with Electrolux in 1963 and Sandholm then became the Corporate Quality Director of this company. With the support of the company’s CEO, Hans Werthén, he introduced an ambitious improvement program that strongly contributed to that Electrolux attained a world-leading position. The prevailing quality inspection culture was changed to a culture of improvement and prevention.

Sandholm went into consulting in 1971 and founded then Sandholm Associates. As consultant he assisted executives in many companies in introducing business strategies aiming at achieving sustained business success. His clients were manufacturing, as well as service enterprises. Sandholm was against an uncritical use of quality fads (Zero Defects, Quality Circles, ISO 9000, Seven Tools, SPC, etc.). According to him, the focus must be on effective improvement and cost reduction programs based on facts.

Sandholm Associates
Sandholm founded the management consulting company Sandholm Associates in 1971 and stayed as the CEO up to his retirement in 2004. The company provides consulting and training services in quality management, business process management, Six Sigma improvement, Lean manufacturing and related areas. The training offerings include public, as well as in-house programs. Among the clients are many well-known multinational companies. The company is based in Stockholm, Sweden.

International career
Sandholm started in 1973 an international career. This took him to more than 40 countries on all continents as a lecturer in quality related topics. Among the clients were international organizations such as UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization), ITC (International Trade Centre UNCTAD/WTO) and APO (Asian Productivity Organization), national organizations in many countries, and several business enterprises. His international lecturing attracted over 30,000 managers and other professionals from about 100 countries.

In 1981, Sandholm was invited as the first Western quality expert to lecture in China. In the 1980’s he visited China every year giving lectures and consultancy. His lectures were translated into Chinese and circulated among China’s quality professionals. By this involvement Sandholm became a respected person in the Chinese quality development. The new approach to quality in China became known as “Sandholm Control”.

Academic career
Sandholm served as Adjunct Professor of Quality Management at the Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden 1989-1995 and at the Kasetsart University, Bangkok, Thailand 1998-2007.

Publication
Sandholm has published many books and papers on quality management including contributions to J.M. Juran’s Quality Handbook, the international reference book on total quality. He has developed numerous educational and training programs. One of his books was published in nine languages.

Recognitions and awards
Among Sandholm’s recognitions and awards are: International Academy for Quality (IAQ) Academician, 1980 Founders Medal, 2008 Honorary Member, 2010 European Organization for Quality (EOQ) Award of Merit, 1990 Honorary Member, 2014 Asia Pacific Quality Organization (APQO) Harrington-Ishikawa Medal, 2002 China Association for Quality Honorary Advisor Shanghai Academy of Quality Management Honorary Professor, 2005 American Society for Quality (ASQ) Grant Medal, 1984 Lancaster Medal, 1994 Distinguished Service Medal, 2008 Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo, Uruguay Honorary Doctor, 2000 The Royal Swedish Academy of Engineering Sciences Gold Medal, 2006 Business Excellence Sweden The Swedish Team Excellence Award & Lennart Sandholm Prize, 2014 (Established in order to promote world-class improvement projects)