Shigeo Shingo and the Importance of Operational Excellence

Shigeo Shingo once said, “Lean is a way of thinking, not a list of things to do.” In his most recognized work reflecting the core principles of operational excellence, he makes it clear that leaders have the ability and responsibility to lead the company culture in a direction that thrives alongside continuous improvement. 

The key to achieving operational excellence is forging a relationship between principles, systems, and tools such as Six Sigma, Lean, etc. In short, those tools won’t stick if employees and management don’t understand the purpose of their actions or why something must be done. This article will explore the meaning of operational excellence and its core principles and introduce the man who popularized the model, Shigeo Shingo.

Who Was Shigeo Shingo?

Renowned as the world's leading expert on manufacturing practices and the Toyota Production System, Shigeo Shingo is a man devoted to the art of operational excellence in manufacturing processes. Here’s a closer look into his life’s journey, leading him to create models and methods to help procedures move towards improvement. 

Shingo’s Early Life and Education

Shigeo Shingo was born on January 8th, 1909. He attended the Higher Technical School of Engineers in Saga, Japan- his birthplace. He continued his education by graduating with an Industrial Engineering degree at Yamanashi Technical College in 1930.

From there, he went on to work in several different industries, such as a technician who specialized in railways track manufacturing at the Taipei Railway Factory, and eventually became a management consultant focused on improving factory management. During World War 2, he was sent to the Amano manufacturing plant in Yokohama by the government. During his time as a production manager, he increased productivity by 100%.

During his time working in the mid-1940s and mid-1950s, Shingo polished many of his ideas like, SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Dies) and Poka-Yoke. Later, he was invited by Taiichi Ohno, known as the father of the Toyota Production System, where he refined the Just-in-Time production (JIT) process. 

Shingo and Toyota

Shingo became involved with the Toyota Motor Corporation in 1955 after one of Toyota’s engineers happened to listen to a lecture given by Shingo. This began an over 20-year relationship between Shigeo Shingo with both Toyoda and Ohno. During those 20 years, Shigeo ended up teaching around 80 classes at the Toyota Motor Corporation, educating thousands of Toyota engineers on the Toyota Production System.

Overall, Shingo was an extraordinarily influential Japanese industrial engineer who ended up working closely with Taiichi Ohno and the Toyoda family to further develop TPS and introduce the concept to the rest of the world’s manufacturing industries.

Some of the Lean manufacturing tools that Shingo was well known for spreading across the globe include Zero Quality Control, Poke-Yoke, and SMED.

Entry Into The West

Shigeo Shingo’s work gained popularity in both Japan and the West. His findings on process improvement were primarily based on Western companies, including those in the United States, which further made his methods universally applicable. 

His seminars at Toyota were an instrumental tool for process improvement, playing a key role in the engineer's approach to refining their practices. His books and methods, such as Single-Minute Exchange of Die (SMED), a lean tool that focuses on reducing the time it takes to transition from one process to another. The aim of the method was to reduce the exchange time down to a “single minute” for enhanced productivity. 

Upon his introduction to Norman Bodek, an American entrepreneur, publisher, and the founder of Productivity Inc., Shigeo was on the pathway to notoriety. Bodek has translated both Shigeo’s Japanese publications into English and countless others in the 1980s. In fact, he has published over 100 Japanese management books in English.

The English translation is really what brought Shigeo’s material, as well as the Toyota Production System basics, to America’s manufacturing plants.

Bodek was also the founder of the Shingo Prize for Occupational Excellence. This prize is known globally and is bestowed upon companies by the Shingo Institute that meet workplace improvement and achievement goals as determined by the Shingo model and Shingo Institute examiners.

What is Operational Excellence?

In simple terms, operational excellence loosely translates to uniting an organization- its system, members, and procedures- to one common goal: continuous improvement. This process usually involves analyzing existing procedures and competitors in the market and tweaking current procedures to outperform them. Simply put, it involves refining manufacturing procedures to create a business that thrives from the rest of the market. To achieve operational excellence, organizations follow the Shingo Model to change organizational culture. 

Shingo Model For Operational Excellence​

The Shingo Model is not just another improvement tool; rather, it falls as a new way of thinking to achieve operational excellence. 

Structure Of The Shingo Model: A Look At The Four Dimensions Of The Diamond 

The Shingo Model is often represented in the form of a diamond. Also known as the transformation process, The Shingo Model represents the relationships between four components: systems, principles, results, and tools.

Culture: 

Culture is located at the center of the diamond. As the foundation of any workplace, culture is also considered the central point on which the Shingo Model operates. Culture is leaned on so much in this method because it is the driving force of change within the workplace. For example, a workplace culture that is intent on fixing mistakes will be better off in terms of continuous improvement than another workplace culture that only focuses on output.

Principles: 

Going from the center of the diamond to the very top is where the guiding principles reside. Shingo’s ten guiding principles are the building blocks of excellence and creating a sustainable working culture. Divided into four categories, the principles focus on culture development, improvement, an emphasis on understanding the company’s purpose, and the results of all their hard work.

Systems: 

Moving on to the right corner of the diamond are the systems used within the company to achieve the company’s purpose. The outcomes here are entirely determined by behavioral excellence as well as performance.

Tools:

Moving on to the bottom corner resides the tools within those systems that are used to achieve the results the company wants. Many companies become fixated on solving their problems solely with tools. However, Shingo was adamant that the tools would be used with all other parts of the Shingo Model. Furthermore, only focusing on tools such as 5S and Six Sigma would answer the question of “how” to complete a task but would leave the workers wondering “why” it was necessary.

Results: 

Lastly, we have the left-hand corner where results are located. Many know them as Key Performance Indicators, or KPIs. Tools and workplace culture help to achieve the expected results while affirming the guiding principles and refining the tools used.

All of this is to say that leaders cannot expect to achieve results by just haphazardly setting a goal without the means to achieve that goal. Working towards operational excellence means creating the right culture and gathering the appropriate tools, systems, and guiding principles to make a process more sustainable. In this case, it involves applying the core principles of the Shingo Model to achieve operational excellence. 

The Ten Guiding Principles of Operational Excellence

Key concepts from the Shingo model—principles, systems, and tools—are the driving force behind Shingo’s operational excellence theory. Some companies tend to gravitate towards tools that simplify operations in the workplace. However, Shingo made it clear that any tools implemented would result in nothing if the proper principles or systems were ignored. 

Let’s first begin with Shigeo Shingo’s ten principles of operational excellence. He divided the following principles into four different categories:

Cultural Enablers:

This includes the first two principles: leading with humility and respecting every individual.

Continuous Process Improvement:

This includes the next five core principles of operational excellence: focus on the process, embrace scientific thinking, flow and pull value, assure quality at the source, and seek perfection.

Enterprise Alignment:

This includes the next two principles, creating constancy of purpose and thinking systematically.

Results:

This includes the very last principle, creating value for the customer.

Imagine these four categories stacked in a pyramid shape, with the tip of the pyramid being the end results of a company’s hard work. That means cultural enablers are the foundation of Shingo’s model.

Shingo’s Core Principles Of Operational Excellence 

The timeless guiding principles of operational excellence include: 

1. Respect for Individual:

    Respecting each and every individual in the workplace enables their development in creativity and continuous improvement. By doing so, this empowers them to make suggestions for improvement.

2. Lead with Humility 

   The  feeling of mutual respect comes from the initial willingness from leaders to accept feedback and listen to their employees. This builds trust and an environment based on continuous learning and improvement. Creativity flourishes in this type of environment.

3. Focus on Process:

    When the right inputs exist for a process, and the right steps are taken, there will be a good result. Focusing on the process will also allow problem-solving to be directed away from people as the culprit and find the issue that made that person make a mistake.

4. Embrace Scientific Thinking:

    There are several different methods that promote scientific thinking in the workplace. These include PDCA, DMAIC, the QC story, and A3 thinking. To achieve understanding, employees must be trained to understand the process, and the language regarding improvement must be changed.

5. Flow and Pull Value:

   The pull system is that of matching the rate of production to demand and implementing process flow creates a system that runs faster at less of a cost, therefore being better. Put the two together, and you have an efficient system.

6. Assure Quality at the Source:

   There are three aspects that make up the assurance of quality: refraining from passing on defective material, stopping to fix problems immediately, and respecting the individual in the process.

7. Seek Perfection:

    There is always room for improvement, which means looking for improvement opportunities in places where there don’t seem to be any problems; they may be hiding.

8. Create Constancy of Purpose:

   Always ask, “Why does this organization exist?” This will help keep people focused on the horizon of change, as workplaces should be in a constant state of improvement.

9. Think Systematically:

    Creating a process that promotes synergy between processes or people will lead to systematic development that creates a product greater than its sum.

10. Create Value for the Customer:

    All aspects of value created by a company include quality, cost, delivery, safety, and workplace morale. These must be the highest priority in any company to not only achieve the above principles but also to prioritize the customer.

How To Implement The Shingo Model?

Applying the Shingo Model often involves, 

Shiego Shingo’s Contribution to Lean Manufacturing

As mentioned earlier in this article, Shingo contributed a great deal to quality control, which is an important part of following any lean manufacturing strategy. The three tools that he focused on in his teachings to achieve operational excellence alongside the principles of the Shingo model include:

Just-in-Time production: A production model in which items are created based on demand instead of estimating advance of need or surplus. 

Single Minute Exchange of Dies (SMED): A process that involves reducing the time it takes for equipment changeovers or transition into processes. 

Zero Quality Control: Is a quality enhancement project that involves working to create products with zero defects. 

These, of course, are some of the tools that can be used in the Shingo Model. Remember! Tools must be paired with principles, systems, and results to actually achieve quality in the workplace.

Achieve Operational Excellence With Creative Safety Supply

The Shingo Model can drive your culture towards organizational excellence and help your business outperform your competitors. Use our guides and high-quality industrial products like safety signage and labels to help introduce safety and streamline procedures along the value chain with Creative Safety Supply. With our resources, you can work towards perfection.