News

News http://shingoprize.org/htm/news en-us Thu, 02 Sep 2010 09:15:21 MST http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 360 steven.vonniederhausern@usu.edu (Steve von Niederhausern) Shingo Award Recipients Announced http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=9329 Organizations from the US, Mexico, UK and India will receive honors Organizations from the US, Mexico, United Kingdom and India will receive honors for their achievements at the 22nd Annual Shingo Prize Awards Ceremony, May 20, 2010. World-class operational excellence is the hallmark for 13 award recipients of The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence business program. The Shingo Prize is recognized as the premier international award for operational excellence and serves as an organizational roadmap for vision and strategy alignment; employee empowerment; continuous improvement; innovation and development; quality and sustainable results. Award recipients will receive their honors at the international <a href="http://shingoprize.org/htm/conferences/annual-conference/overview">Shingo Prize conference</a> held in Salt Lake City, Utah May 17-21. Dr. Stephen R. Covey, internationally recognized authority on leadership and a best-selling author, will present the awards along with Ritsuo Shingo, son of the late Shigeo Shingo for whom The Shingo Prize was named. “We congratulate this year’s recipients for their broad application of lean principles across all of their core business processes,” said Bob Miller, Shingo Prize Executive Director. “They are clearly building cultures of continuous improvement and empowering every single individual to contribute to the success of the business.” “The award recipients have proven themselves as leaders in operational excellence and have challenged traditional paradigms to face competitive challenges in today’s global economy,” said Miller. “They’ve demonstrated a wide variety of best practices in their business processes and have achieved outstanding results in quality, cost and value for their customers.” Award recipients to be honored: The Shingo Prize: Guanajuato Manufacturing Complex North Plant, AAM - Silao, Mexico Interiores Aéreos S.A. De C.V. Gulfstream Aerospace - Mexicali, Mexico Shingo Silver Medallion: Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company - Lawton, Oklahoma HID Global - North Haven, Connecticut Hi-Tech Gears Limited - Manesar, Gurgaon, Haryana, India Valeo Sylvania Iluminación - Queretaro, Mexico Shingo Bronze Medallion: BAE Systems - Samlesbury - Blackburn, Lancashire, United Kingdom Baxter Healthcare - Los Angeles, California Fleet Readiness Center Southeast - TSRS Shop - Jacksonville, Florida Letterkenny Army Depot, Patriot Missile - Chambersburg, Pennsylvania Red River Army Depot, Up-Armored HMMWV/HEAT - Texarkana, Texas Ultraframe UK Ltd. - Clitheroe, Lancashire, United Kingdom Visteon Interamerican Plant - Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico For 22 years The Shingo Prize has educated, assessed and recognized operational excellence in outstanding companies around the world. The philosophy of The Shingo Prize is that a sustainable culture of continuous improvement is achieved by focusing on the principles of operational excellence, aligning management systems and implementing improvement techniques throughout an entire organization. The Shingo Prize is administered by The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University. More information can be found at <a href="http://www.shingoprize.org">www.shingoprize.org</a> and <a href="http://www.huntsman.usu.edu">www.huntsman.usu.edu</a>.   Tue, 20 Apr 2010 00:00:00 MST http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=9329 steven.vonniederhausern@usu.edu (Steve von Niederhausern) Industry Leaders in Lean and Quality Certification Programs Join Forces http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=8929 ASQ joins SME, AME and The Shingo Prize in Lean Certification alliance. In a move that aligns manufacturing professionals toward a single standard for Lean Certification and workforce development, ASQ (American Society for Quality) is joining with the triune of organizations that currently are responsible for the Lean Certification program. The <a href="http://www.sme.org/cgi-bin/getsmepg.pl?/cert/lean_certification.htm&&SME&">Lean Certification</a> program was launched in 2006 by the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, the Association for Manufacturing Excellence and The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence in response to the market need brought forward by their members and constituents. “ASQ joining this collaborative effort truly aligns leading organizations to a single standard for lean certification, providing manufacturers, their supply chains and employees with a roadmap for workforce development,” said Mark C. Tomlinson, SME’s executive director and general manager. ASQ had been contemplating how they could offer a lean certification program for their membership. In fact, it was members that served as the catalysts for ASQ joining the Lean Certification alliance. “Our members encouraged us to support the Lean Certification Alliance,” said Paul Borawski, ASQ executive director and chief strategic officer. “They wanted a common certification standard that was aligned to industry and had already gained acceptance within the manufacturing community. Additionally, the Lean Certification was developed to be portable between industries, and with ASQ’s growing interests in healthcare, service and other sectors, a portable credential met member needs.” Key to joining this alliance is that the SME-AME-The Shingo Prize-ASQ Lean Certification is the only true lean certification available. It is the only independent, third-party assessment of knowledge and experience. Other programs on the market frequently use the term certification, however, they are really certificate programs – programs that confer a certificate upon a candidate based upon proprietary criteria, curriculum and/or training. They lack the independence and credibility of meeting the standards for certification. The SME-AME-The Shingo Prize-ASQ Lean Certification is independent from any prescribed curriculum, is overseen by practitioners in the field, and follows standards for professional credentialing programs. It incorporates a rigorous investment in continuing education and practice of lean through a recertification process that occurs every 3 years. The Lean Certification has three levels: Bronze Certification emphasizes the tactical aspects of Lean; Silver is based on integration of Lean; and the Gold focuses on Lean’s strategic facets. Manufacturers who have adopted and/or recognize this Lean Certification program know the rigor that their employees must go through to complete all certification requirements and the continuing practice that must occur to recertify. Employers who invest in their personnel through this program are not only developing and growing their own workforce, but are reassured by the demand of continuing practice that certification holders must engage in for recertification – requiring the candidates to undertake and report out on projects to continue their own professional development. It’s a benefit both for employer and employee – each will improve as they invest in each other. Effective today, ASQ members will receive the member discount rate for the Lean Certification program. Additionally, ASQ is evaluating additional certification preparation offerings to support their members’ certification efforts. ASQ will also have member representatives on the Oversight Body for the certification program who will equally contribute to ensuring the overall integrity of the certification process. The first administration for ASQ is scheduled at their<a href="http://wcqi.asq.org"> World Conference on Quality and Improvement</a>, on May 23. The Society of Manufacturing Engineers remains the managing partner of this alliance and will continue handling the administrative aspects of the program. To learn about Lean Certification, the on-line study sessions and other training and testing opportunities, visit <a href="http://www.sme.org/leancert">http://www.sme.org/leancert</a>. SME News Feed: To receive the latest up-to-the-minute SME news, <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/sme">subscribe to RSS</a>. About SME: Founded in 1932, the <a href="http://www.sme.org">Society of Manufacturing Engineers</a> is the premier source for manufacturing knowledge, education and networking. Through its many programs, events and activities, SME connects manufacturing practitioners to each other, to the latest technology and the most up-to-date processes spanning all manufacturing industries and disciplines, plus the key areas of aerospace and defense, medical device, motor vehicles, including motorsports, oil and gas and alternative energy. A 501(c)3 organization, SME has members around the world and is supported by a network of technical communities and chapters worldwide. About AME: The Association for Manufacturing Excellence (AME) is the premier not-for-profit organization dedicated to the journey of continuous improvement and enterprise excellence. AME’s membership is composed of a trusted network of individuals who are committed to leveraging the practitioner-to-practitioner and company-to-company shared-learning experience. Through engaging workshops, seminars and plant tours, and industry-leading conferences, AME members are continually discovering and implementing new continuous improvement strategies and best practices. AME offers its members a multitude of valuable resources to help them stay abreast of current industry developments, and improve the skills, competitiveness, and overall success of their organizations. For more information, visit <a href="http://www.ame.org">www.ame.org</a> or e-mail <a href="mailto:info@ame.org">info@ame.org</a>. About The Shingo Prize: The Shingo Prize was established in 1988 to educate, assess and recognize world-class organizations for creating a culture of continuous improvement through employee-empowerment and effective leadership. The philosophy of The Shingo Prize is that a culture of continuous improvement is achieved by focusing on principles of operational excellence, aligning management systems and implementing improvement techniques throughout an entire organization. More information on The Shingo Prize and the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business may be found at <a href="http://www.shingoprize.org">www.shingoprize.org</a> and <a href="http://www.huntsman.usu.edu">www.huntsman.usu.edu</a>. About ASQ: ASQ, (<a href="http://www.asq.org">The American Society for Quality</a>), has been the world’s leading authority on quality for more than 60 years. With more than 85,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange to improve business results and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As a champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., ASQ is a founding sponsor of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.   Fri, 26 Mar 2010 00:00:00 MST http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=8929 steven.vonniederhausern@usu.edu (Steve von Niederhausern) Covey Joins Faculty, Collaborates with Shingo Prize http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=8669 The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business announced that Stephen R. Covey <img height="217" width="195" vspace="5" align="left" alt="Dr. Stephen R. Covey" src="/admin/images/uploads/ShingoPrize/photos/news/DrCovey.jpg" />The Jon M. Huntsman School of Business announced that Stephen R. Covey, an internationally recognized authority on leadership and a best-selling author, has agreed to join its faculty as a tenured, full professor at Utah State University and the first incumbent of the Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair in Leadership. Dean Douglas D. Anderson called this great news for students at the Huntsman School of Business and predicted it will give the school added momentum as it continues to emphasize the importance of innovative, ethical leadership. Covey is best known for his book, “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” His books have sold more than 20 million copies in 38 languages and “Forbes” named the 7 Habits book one of the top 10 most influential management books ever written. Covey said he has been impressed with work being done by <a href="http://shingoprize.org">The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence</a>, an organization in the Huntsman School of Business that helps companies and organizations focus on principles that create a culture of continuous improvement through employee-empowerment and effective leadership to become more competitive and efficient. “I have great respect and interest in what <a href="http://shingoprize.org">The Shingo Prize</a> has been doing and in the transformational work underway at the Huntsman School of Business,” Covey said. “Companies that have implemented principles taught by The Shingo Prize have made dramatic and measurable progress in achieving operational excellence.” Covey was inducted into the <a href="http://www.shingoprize.org/htm/about-us/shingo-academy">Shingo Academy</a> in 2002. His relationship with the Huntsman School of Business was further strengthened with his participation in the May 2009 Shingo Prize Conference in Nashville, Tennessee, resulting in the alliance between Covey and Huntsman School of Business. Covey will play a prominent role in the <a href="http://www.shingoprize.org/htm/conferences/annual-conference/overview">22nd Annual Shingo Prize Conference</a> and Awards Gala, May 17-21 in Salt Lake City, Utah where he will conduct interactive learning sessions and honor Shingo award recipients. “Dr. Covey’s life’s work has been to teach principle-centered leadership and that is a key part of what we do here at the Huntsman School of Business,” Anderson said. “We know the work we will do with him will leave a legacy in the lives of our students.” The announcement, made in Salt Lake City by Utah State University President Stan L. Albrecht and Jon M. Huntsman, included news that the Huntsman School of Business is launching a drive to develop funding for a Stephen R. Covey Center for Leadership. “Professor Covey will give occasional lectures at our main campus in Logan, work with faculty and collaborate with <a href="http://shingoprize.org">The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence</a>, while he helps us establish the Covey Center for Leadership,” Anderson said. Anderson said the Stephen R. Covey Center for Leadership will house Covey’s works on principle-based leadership and “will leverage the impact and extend the influence of Dr. Covey’s life-long work and his writings.” “The center will be created to bring together students, scholars and practitioners of leadership around the world,” Anderson said. “It will serve a vital role in preparing the next generation of principled leaders.” Covey said, “Because of its deep commitment to the long-term promotion of universal, timeless principles of success in life and business-principles such as integrity, trust and service - I’m absolutely thrilled to associate myself with the Huntsman School. The leaders and faculty just seem to ‘get it.’ They understand that by instilling in today’s students a principled, new mindset and skill-set - one equal to the complex demands and challenges of today’s new global, economic, societal reality - they will produce generations of leaders who will not only serve and lead their families and communities with greatness; they will attract to the organizations and teams they lead, the world’s most talented, innovative, trustworthy people. Together they will solve the world’s toughest problems and will create true value. They will lead lives of extraordinary contribution.” In 2007, Jon M. Huntsman donated $25 million to the Huntsman School of Business and pledged to support its ongoing efforts to become a top-tier business school. In May of 2009, he said he would help fund two presidential chairs, offering the Huntsman School of Business the opportunity to draft top professors who will become key players in transforming the school. Presidential chairs are faculty positions that are either partially or entirely funded by private donations to the university. “Stephen R. Covey is the ideal individual to help lift the school of business to a position of leadership among America’s premier institutions,” Huntsman said. “The insights he will impart to our students will generate a wave of leaders educated specifically to manage ethics-based organizations which practice trust and exemplify integrity. Dr. Covey is uniquely qualified to help bring to fruition the strategic vision for the school and to fulfill the promise of greatness which Dean Douglas Anderson and his gifted faculty truly represent.” Anderson said Covey will be a “research scholar” and the school will benefit from the work he will continue to do worldwide. Covey is co-founder and vice chairman of FranklinCovey, a firm with offices in 123 countries. Covey will continue to travel the world working directly with leaders and organizations that seek guidance implementing the principles he teaches. He has written or co-written more than a dozen books and has seven more in the works. Covey was recognized in 1996 as one of “Time” magazine’s 25 most influential Americans and one of “Sales and Marketing Management’s” top 25 power brokers. “Dr. Covey believes in living his life in crescendo,” Anderson said. “This means his best years and our best years are ahead. It’s clear he’s not slowing down. We look forward to the amazing and innovative things we’ll be able to do together.” The Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Chair in Leadership is partially funded by Huntsman in support of furthering the mission, vision and purposes of the Huntsman School of Business. Funds allocated to support presidential chairs may be used to support faculty salary, instructional activities, research, or other creative activities of the incumbent chair holder. The Shingo Prize was established in 1988 to educate, assess and recognize world-class organizations for creating a culture of continuous improvement through employee-empowerment and effective leadership. The philosophy of The Shingo Prize is that a culture of continuous improvement is achieved by focusing on principles of operational excellence, aligning management systems and implementing improvement techniques throughout an entire organization. More information on The Shingo Prize and the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business may be found at <a href="http://www.shingoprize.org">www.shingoprize.org</a> and <a href="http://www.huntsman.usu.edu">www.huntsman.usu.edu</a>.   Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:00:00 MST http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=8669 steven.vonniederhausern@usu.edu (Steve von Niederhausern) Dr. Shingo's Last Visit - Part 2 http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=8325 Bruce Hamilton - GBMP President & Administrator of the Northeast Region Shingo Prize Before continuing with Part 2 of Dr. Shingo’s visit to United Electric Controls Company in the summer of 1989, I will relate short meeting I had in May, 2009 with Dr. Shingo’s son, Ritsuo Shingo: At the 2009 Shingo Prize Conference in Nashville, I had the pleasure of describing Dr. Shingo’s visit to United Electric to his son, Ritsuo Shingo, a speaker at the conference and an innovator in his own rite. As I told the story of employees greeting Dr. Shingo with applause, a smile came to Ritsuo’s face. He replied, “Yes, I know that story very well as my parents told me about the visit. They were surprised and gratified by that greeting, and felt very good about it.” Now, part 2: <img hspace="10" height="225" align="right" width="272" vspace="10" alt="Dr. Shigeo Shingo" src="/admin/images/uploads/ShingoPrize/photos/blog/ShingoUEShopfloor.jpg" />In the summer of 1989, Shigeo Shingo visited a small American factory that had vied for the Shingo Prize in that year. In Part 1 of this series I described the spontaneous ovation that Dr. Shingo received from shop floor and office employees as he entered the factory corridor accompanied by his wife, interpreter and several handlers. It was a proud moment for the employees of United Electric to have the ‘master’ present for a review of our improvements. We entered the factory as an entourage, following Dr. Shingo, who at 88 years of age was mostly confined to a wheel chair. Our shop foreman, Harvey Chambers, waited in the assembly department to demonstrate a few examples of TPS countermeasures. Dr. Shingo watched Harvey demonstrated an arbor press that had been retrofitted for single touch die exchange, a reduction from about 20 minutes to just seconds. Nodding approval to Harvey, Shingo said “Very good” in English and then turned to his interpreter to comment further. There was a dramatic pause as everyone waited for the translation. His interpreter continued Dr. Shingo’s thoughts: “. . . but there is room for improvement. If a rotating base is placed on the bed of the press, then the internal time to swap fixtures may be further reduced.” Shingo’s message: There is always room for further improvement. Now, Dr. Shingo, seated in front of an assembly bench, turned his attention to an arrangement of small parts adjacent to the press. He reached to the bench, retrieving from material bins two small disc-shaped parts each marked on one side with a colored dot. As Shingo began to examine them, Harvey offered an explanation that the “dots are a visual aide to indicate the proper orientation to the assembler before the parts are staked together.” The color coding of the discs had been a previous improvement to reduce defects arising from mistakes. Again we waited for Dr. Shingo’s response as he spoke to his interpreter while flipping the parts in his hand. The interpreter translated Dr. Shingo’s observation: “We would put these parts in a magazine, pre-aligned for the operator who could dispense them hands-free with a kick pedal.” Then Dr. Shingo spoke again to the interpreter to be sure he made a particular point. The interpreter listened, and then continued with the interpretation. He waved his finger and said: “Punching is the function here, not trying to figure out which end of the part is up.” Shingo’s message: First understand the essence of the work and then remove any activity that is not essential. We followed Dr. Shingo to another production bench covered with a large assemblage of small parts surrounding an assembly fixture. The assembler described to Dr. Shingo how parts had been arranged close to the fixture to reduce motion required to pick. . After thanking her for the explanation, Shingo once again went through a “very-good-but-there-is-a-further-improvement” routine as he described for everyone a lazy-Susan type parts holder with parts arranged in assembly sequence. He recommended once more that a kick pedal be employed, this time to rotate the lazy-Susan so that the next parts needed would be moved in front of the assembler. As Dr. Shingo put it “The parts should say, ‘Here I am Mr.or Mrs. Operator, ready for you to pull.’” Shingo’s message: Make the job easier. The review process continued through several other departments until Dr. Shingo announced through his interpreter that it was time for lunch. Shingo’s lessons in the plant were over – almost. As we accompanied Dr. Shingo back to his waiting limousine we passed through an area that had once held a high bay automated storage and retrieval system. It had recently been removed leaving behind a residual of purchased parts stored on pallets. I related to Dr. Shingo how the ASRS had been emptied and tossed, and must have sounded a bit too proud of the accomplishment. Pointing to my knees, Dr. Shingo responded to me, “Mr. Materials Manager, your job is incomplete. There should be no material piled above your knees.” “Very good,” he said, “but keep making improvements “ With that Shingo and his party departed for lunch. Several UE employees were invited to join him, but first we wished him farewell in our parking lot. We waved (as we’d been advised was polite) until his limo was out of sight. As the limo slowly departed from the parking lot, a passenger window rolled down and out leaned Dr. Shingo waving back, shouting “Goodbye, Goodbye.” This short visit, it turned out would be his last to an American factory -- a final farewell from the improvement master. For those of us privileged to have lunch with Dr. Shingo, the story was not quite over as I will relate in Part 3 of this blog. Bruce Hamilton, GBMP President & Administrator of the <a href="http://www.neshingoprize.org/">Northeast Region Shingo Prize</a>     Fri, 11 Dec 2009 00:00:00 MST http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=8325 steven.vonniederhausern@usu.edu (Steve von Niederhausern) Dr. Shingo's Last Visit - Part 1 of a Series http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=5011 Bruce Hamilton - GBMP President & Administrator of the Northeast Region Shingo Prize In the summer of 1989 <a href="http://www.shingoprize.org/htm/about-us/dr-shigeo-shingo">Shigeo Shingo</a> made a visit to what was to become the last American factory he would ever visit. A then relatively obscure author and consultant, Dr. Shingo had just received an honorary doctorate from <a href="http://huntsman.usu.edu">Utah State University</a>, and had bestowed his name on a fledgling manufacturing prize established at USU to recognize operational excellence. Shingo is credited along with Taiichi Ohno, VP of Manufacturing at Toyota, with developing the remarkably potent improvement system which today we call “lean.” <img hspace="10" height="225" align="right" width="275" vspace="10" alt="Dr. Shigeo Shingo" src="/admin/images/uploads/ShingoPrize/photos/blog/ShingoUEWheelchair.jpg" />But on this day, accompanied by his wife, he would be making a courtesy call to a Massachusetts manufacturer that had vied unsuccessfully in the first year of the Shingo Prize. Unbeknownst to Dr. Shingo, this small company, United Electric Controls Company (UE), had many admirers waiting to greet him. UE was utilizing many of Shingo’s tools like SMED and Poka-Yoke. For all its short-comings UE was an early adopter who provided a working model for many years to come to other would-be lean implementers. For UE employees, identification and elimination of waste was an everyday event. In a factory where six different languages were routinely spoken, everybody spoke some Japanese: kanban, Jidoka, Muda and kaizen to name a few words. More importantly, employees understood not only the “know-how” of lean but also, as Dr. Shingo put it, the “know-why.” There was a spirit of improvement on the floor that led the way. Dr. Shingo had noted in his writing that in addition to the seven wastes the greatest waste (the “8th waste) was “loss of human creativity.” UE had worked hard to attack that waste: <ul> <li>In 1986 it threw out its traditional locked-box cost-driven suggestion “rejection” system in favor of an idea system that rewarded and recognized the implementation of “many small improvements”: kaizen.</li> <li>In 1987 UE’s traditional cost accounting department was dismantled and job tickets and variance reporting were replaced with periodic audits of standards.</li> <li>In 1988, the production time clock was removed – all employees became salaried. To the surprise of some critics, attendance improved!</li> <li>In 1989, UE adopted the X-type Matrix for policy deployment, shifting from an ala carte to a systematic means for managing improvement. Tools became part of a system for improvement with expected, concrete outcomes.</li> </ul> Without the understanding and support of UE ownership and management, these system improvements would not have been possible. Conventional thinking was countered by principle-driven leadership that put the customer first and recognized that employees are the greatest resource. To be sure, UE was never a paragon of Lean, but it was trying hard and getting results. On that basis the company was encouraged to vie for the Shingo Prize in its first year. In 1988, the <a href="http://www.shingoprize.org/htm/award-info/application-guidelines/shingo-prize-guidelines">Shingo Prize application guidelines </a>was only two pages! The Prize was in its infancy, so Shingo’s books served as the primary guideline. Shingo described a progression of understanding beginning with tools leading to systems and finally basic principles that would transcend any venue and be universally applied. This was the model that <a href="http://www.shingoprize.org/htm/about-us/dr-shigeo-shingo">Shigeo Shingo</a> put forward which became the basis for today’s <a href="http://www.shingoprize.org/htm/about-us/mission-model">Shingo Prize model</a>. Back to the summer of 1989: A regular workday was interrupted by an announcement over the UE public address system that Dr. Shigeo Shingo was en route to UE and would be entering the building through the side entrance. The announcer said, “Dr. Shingo will be arriving at our side entrance in about five minutes. Anyone wishing to greet him as he enters is invited to leave their work and proceed to the side aisle.” Every department emptied to the side aisle. Salespeople, assemblers, machinists, engineers, accountants and management gathered as if waiting for a great statesman to arrive in the building. Shingo’s teaching had touched so many people individually, we all wanted to say thank you. Shingo’s limousine pulled to the side entrance where he was first greeted by the company owners. What ensued in the next few minutes was a spontaneous outpouring of gratitude that according to Dr. Shingo’s handlers he had never before experienced. As the building door swung open and Shingo entered, a loud cheer went up from UE employees followed by continuous applause: a “standing O” for Dr. Shingo. Shingo glanced to wife to his wife in astonishment and losing his breath just said, “Ohhhh.” His wife smiled. Dr. Shingo then directed his attention to the employees, grinned, and through his interpreter joked, “I would like to shake everyone’s hand, but please don’t shake too hard, my hand is not that strong.” Shingo played the crowd like the star that he was seen to be. So began Dr. Shingo’s last tour of an American plant. In his first book translated to English, Shingo had noted that he “wanted to give back to America” for the learning he had received from US innovators. This was the basis of the Shingo Prize as well, to promote progressive thinking in our operations. In a small way however on that summer day in 1989, UE employees gave back to Dr. Shingo just a little bit on behalf of America. His interpreter remarked, “Dr. Shingo really appreciates this.” What happened next? In my next post. :) Bruce Hamilton, GBMP President & Administrator of the <a href="http://www.neshingoprize.org/">Northeast Region Shingo Prize</a>     Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:00:00 MST http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=5011 steven.vonniederhausern@usu.edu (Steve von Niederhausern) Thinking Outside the Toolbox http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=4318 Robert D. Miller - Executive Director, The Shingo Prize When asked what lean means, most people will respond with something about the identification and elimination of waste. Yet, consider the waste associated with an unsustained business improvement initiative; or worse yet, several of them, over many years. At The Shingo Prize, we are beginning to understand that one of the most prevalent causes for less than expected results from a lean transformation is the unbalanced focus on lean tools without a corresponding understanding of lean principles. For many years at The Shingo Prize we have wrongly emphasized the implementation of lean tools; not recognizing the limitations of a tool to create sustainable cultural transformation. Shingo taught us the empowering impact that a deep understanding of lean principles can have on an organization. Most of us understand that our actions are driven by our beliefs yet we somehow think that by teaching people how to use a few lean tools, their beliefs will somehow be transformed and a new culture will emerge. The Shingo Prize model of lean is grounded on the understanding that a sustainable lean culture can only be built when throughout their organizations, leaders enable a deep understanding of the principles behind the tools. Managers guide the development of strongly aligned management systems grounded on these principles and finally all employees use the thoughtfully selected tools of lean to drive continuous improvement. Now, more than at any other time, your organization cannot afford the risk of wasted resources pursuing a lean strategy grounded largely on the use of lean tools. In the end, most who begin their lean journey in this way will be disappointed… yet again! We invite you to print out a copy of these thoughts and discuss them with your teams and your leaders. If they resonate with you, make plans to attend all four days of <a href="http://shingoprize.org/htm/conferences/annual-conference/overview">The Shingo Prize Annual Conference</a> and Award Ceremony this May. This will not be like any other conference you are thinking of attending. Our focus is on helping attendees learn from successful companies how they are building sustainable lean cultures. You will hear lessons from Shingo Prize recipients who have achieved the highest levels of cultural transformation (principle orientation), and also learn from award recipients in various stages of the lean journey (strong tool and systems orientation). Your leaders will be exposed to ideas on how to lead through lean principles and your managers will learn how to build aligned systems and select the right tools. Please visit our <a href="http://shingoprize.org/htm/conferences/annual-conference/schedule">conference schedule</a> for details on the conference. This could be the most important investment of scarce resources you will make this year. We invite your participation and also encourage you to share your thoughts and those of your team here in this forum. Robert D. Miller Executive Director, The Shingo Prize   Wed, 25 Feb 2009 00:00:00 MST http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=4318 jamesehigham@cc.usu.edu (James Higham) Accelerating Through the Curve http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=3953 Robert D. Miller - Executive Director, The Shingo Prize When my father taught me to drive, one of the hardest lessons to learn was the principle of gaining control of the car by accelerating through the curve. While my instincts told me to use the brakes, he taught me when and how to prepare for the curve then apply the accelerator and speed up through it . . . acceleration enabled control. I have never forgotten that lesson and have often applied it to life and business. Peering now into the economic curve we seem to have entered, we are each faced with the urge to apply the brakes, slow down, and cut back until things get better. While these options may apply to some elements of business, now is the perfect time to accelerate the process of applying Lean tools, systems, and principles throughout an enterprise. If done wisely, an organization can leverage the vulnerability of a competitor during these times and come out of the curve a more lean, flexible, and responsive player. By acting now to capitalize on the collective wisdom of the many industry experts who have contributed to the development of The Shingo Prize model for Lean transformation, your business can seize this moment to gain market share, improve margins and build customer loyalty. Implementing Lean is not like investing in new brick and mortar. The best Lean implementations, in fact, are those that are not capital intensive but are built on the almost infinite capacity of people to do the right thing and continuously improve. Lean initiatives, that are forced to use the people who do the work as the prime movers for the change, almost always are more successful in accelerating transformation and serendipitously at making improvements last. Here’s the curve: leaders must always lead. And leading this kind of transformation, especially during a period of economic uncertainty, requires a focus on only those things that matter the most. I once worked with a brilliant leader who said, “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality.” The Shingo Prize transformation model is also an assessment tool used to clearly understand your reality. It is being used all over the world to systematically identify waste in all of its insidious forms and point increasingly scarce resources to the things that impact results. The value of a systematic process for assessment is that “the best place to look for waste is where it is often thought not to exist” (<a href="http://www.shingoprize.org/htm/about-us/dr-shigeo-shingo">Dr. Shigeo Shingo</a>). Because assessment for recognition is one of the pillars of The Shingo Prize, the exact same process may be used by a company for self-assessment. If understanding reality is step one, then step two is to have a plan for how to improve. At The Shingo Prize, we have learned from Dr. Shingo – one of the principle innovators in the Toyota Production System – and hundreds of our professional associates that successful transformations focus on the wise application of Lean tools and techniques, the integration of quality systems of management and ultimately a workforce that understand not only the “how”, but even more empowering, the “why”. Knowing the “why” results in deep cultural transformation, the only means to ensure that an investment in Lean ultimately delivers “The Prize” or the required organizational results. Because we are an arm of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, the third component required to successfully negotiate the curves is right up our ally – we educate. At The Shingo Prize, we prepare people for leadership and teach them how to drive, particularly through the curves. Our Lean educational programs include affordable executive education, workshops and on-line courses dealing with all aspects of Lean. We teach leaders and practitioners Lean tools and techniques and how to apply them to the right problems. We teach them how to build strong systems to ensure consistent and standard work processes, and we teach people how to see waste through the lens of proven Lean principles. Robert D. Miller Executive Director, The Shingo Prize   Wed, 10 Dec 2008 00:00:00 MST http://shingoprize.org/htm/news/articleID=3953