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Supporting your Shingo Journey

Our consulting team have supported companies across the world on their Shingo journey. Some of these companies have gone on to receive recognition from the Shingo Institute.  We have also supported individuals to become Shingo Alumni through our workshops and coaching.  We have published four SHINGO award winning books and have 10 accredited trainers who can deliver your workshops in a wide range of languages.

Contact us for more information.

Shingo Awards banner image

Find out more about each of the SHINGO Workshops …

The six SHINGO workshops will support you develop your understanding and capability to drive Enterprise Excellence within your organisation.  The workshops include: Discover Excellence; Systems Design; Cultural Enablers; Continuous Improvement; Enterprise Alignment; and Build Excellence.

S A Partners delivers each of these courses virtually and face-to-face.  For more information about our open workshop programme CLICK HERE.

We also offer a FREE Introduction to Shingo workshop. Visit our events page for the next available dates.

The Shingo Prize is named in honour of Dr. Shigeo Shingo. He was instrumental in developing the Toyota Production System, and the Shingo Prize   is dubbed the “Nobel Prize of Manufacturing” by BusinessWeek. It was established in 1988 at the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University as the benchmark for Enterprise Excellence.

The Shingo prize measures an organisation’s establishment of a culture anchored on principles of operational excellence based on the understanding that Enterprise Excellence is much more than the application of lean tools. The Shingo Model™ is not just another initiative; it is a new way of thinking.

Back in 2013 the Shingo Institute formed a collaborative partnership with S A Partners to bring this knowledge to a wider global audience. Today we have a fully accredited Shingo team that is capable of delivering all six courses, creating Shingo Alumni, developing organisations and assessing Shingo challenges in either English, Spanish or Mandarin.  Since being awarded affiliate trainer status we have run over 150 courses and trained over 1,500 candidates, we supplement our formal Shingo training with half day awareness sessions and the Shingo Forum for organisations interested in pursuing and Enterprise Excellence Journey.

The Shingo Model

Model and Principles

The Shingo Model is based around 10 Guiding Principles which align the systems within an organisation and the specific tools required to produce results.

  1. Respect every individual
  2. Lead with humility
  3. Seek perfection
  4. Assure quality at source
  5. Flow and pull value
  6. Embrace scientific thinking
  7. Focus on process
  8. Think systemically
  9. Create constancy of purpose
  10. Create value for the customers

The Shingo approach is a way of creating sustainable and excellent results. This involves overcoming two major hurdles:

  1. Moving beyond the ‘implement the tools stage’ to look at complete systems
  2. Bridging the functional & cultural change gap by connecting the traditional technical approaches to improvement with the leadership and change management required

Download The Shingo Model Handbook, and find out more about how we can help you on your Shingo journey (link to “How can we help you” page)

To find how we can help, or if you would like a Shingo Assessment carried out, please contact:

At S A Partners we have developed a simple 7 step approach seen below, that can help you create your own Shingo journey. You can click on th eimage to download as a PDF:

Image of mountain showing the Shingo steps to success

The real benefit of applying the Shingo approach is the creation of a Culture of Improvement where excellence is achieved through people across the whole organisation and in the whole spectrum of business results.

It is not what you see; it is in what you feel, hear and the positive emotions that you experience in being in such an organisation. It is the way people are respected, led and inspired.

It is not the winning of a Prize, but the journey that is key.

At S A Partners we have worked with several Shingo prize winning sites.

group view of the Vale crew

Vale were the first UK Company to be awarded the Shingo Silver Medallion in 25 years with just one other European company being previously recognised at that level. Simon Grogan, S A Partners MD for Europe who’s worked closely with the company, said that “it’s a fantastic reward for the hard work Vale and S A Partners have been putting in together over the last few years”.

Common Wealth Bank of Australia

Being an affiliate of the Shingo Institute, S A Partners are pleased to announce that a team within the Direct Channels Division at the Common Wealth Bank of Australia (CBA) have become the first ever financial team to reach Shingo Silver Medallion status from the Shingo Institute.

The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (the Group) is one of Australia’s leading organizations, providing integrated financial services, including retail, premium, business and institutional banking, funds management, superannuation, insurance, investment and share-broking.

Not every organisation we work with decides they want to make a Shingo challenge. This is not the point of the Shingo approach. However, for many it is a good recognition of your people’s collective effort and can be highly motivational.

If you do wish to make a challenge, we can draw on our experience of almost 20 challenges to help you. We can help you:

  • Understand the challenge process
  • Prepare an achievement report
  • Respond to clarification questions from the Shingo Examiner team
  • Prepare for an on-site assessment and the examiners review

Our team are all licensed Shingo trainers with a detailed understanding of the Shingo model. Fiona Buttrey, John Quirke, Colin Scott, and Richard Young, are Shingo examiners who have worked with the Shingo Institute to assess sites challenging for Shingo recognition. This has given them a deep understanding of the assessment process, and they can advise potential challengers on what to expect during an examination.

Fiona Buttrey was the CI lead at Vale’s Clydach Nickel Refinery throughout their Shingo journey, culminating in a Shingo Silver Medallion. This has given her practical experience of how to write a Shingo achievement report, and how to prepare for and execute a site visit.

Below is our list of publications that have been awarded a Shingo prize for excellence.

The Essence of Excellence, Creating a Culture of Continuous Improvement

Essence Of Excellence Book coverOver the last 5 years Peter Hines and Chris Butterworth have conducted research in over 100 companies worldwide. Of these, around 40 have shown themselves to have, in their different ways, the Essence of Excellence they were looking for. This has culminated in the book, The Essence of Excellence, which was launched in January.

4 + 1: Embedding a Culture of Continuous Improvement in Financial Services

4 + 1 book coverThe authors combine their seventy years of collective experience in Lean and business improvement to present 5 basic habits to the reader that are easy to learn yet take years to master.
A culture of continuous improvement in your organisation will start to develop almost as soon as the habits are applied and continue to mature as they are mastered.

Staying Lean, Thriving not just Surviving

Staying Lean: Thriving, not just surviving, is a Shingo Prize winning publication for Operational Excellence, in the Research and Professional Publication category. The book draws on the story of a multi-national company that has successfully implemented Lean in its manufacturing and commercial areas to help turnaround the organisation s financial performance.

Creating a Lean & Green Business System

Creating a Lean and Green Business System: Techniques for Improving Profits and Sustainability. Another Shingo Prize winning book which offers opportunities for innovation that can simultaneously reduce dependence on natural resources and enhance global prosperity. It explores less understood aspects of lean and green – discussing their evolution independently as well as the opportunities that exist in their integration, highlighting the importance of a cultural shift across the whole company.

The Routledge Companion to Lean Management

book cover showing rowers on a riverThe Routledge Companion to Lean Management, is a 2017 Shingo Prize winning publication for Operational Excellence, in the Research Award Category. Contained within it are two chapters co-authored by S A Partner’s Professor Peter Hines and Dr Keivan Zokaei, respectively on ‘Lean Armed Forces’ and ‘Lean and Green’.

S A Partners clients who have been awarded a Shingo Prize for Excellence

Two Edwards Service Technology Centres awarded Shingo Medallions

Congratulations to Edwards Service Technology Centre Taiwan who were awarded the SHINGO Silver Medallion in 2020.  and Edwards Service Technology Centre Korea for the SHINGO Bronze Award. Fiona Buttrey who supported both sites on their journey said she was absolutely delighted to see this award being made to such incredible teams.

Panalpina Logistics awarded Shingo Prize

image of jumbo jet being loaded with goods and the nose cone raisedS A Partners are pleased to congratulate Panalpina on their Shingo Award for Operational Excellence. This particular award goes to DSV Panalpina Logistics and Manufacturing facility in Sorocaba, near Sao Paulo, Brazil.  For more information CLICK HERE

Long standing client, Vale, recieve Shingo Award

shingo gorup photo of Vale winnersVale were the first UK Company to be awarded the prize in 25 years with just one other European company being previously recognised. Simon Grogan, S A Partners MD for Europe who’s worked closely with the company, said that “it’s a fantastic reward for the hard work Vale and S A Partners have been putting in together over the last few years”.

First Shingo Prize awarded to a financial team

shingo award and image of CBA logoBeing an affiliate of the Shingo Institute, S A Partners are pleased to announce that a team within the Direct Channels Division at the Common Wealth Bank of Australia (CBA) have become the first ever financial team to reach Shingo Silver Medallion status from the Shingo Institute.

Webinar: Introduction to the Shingo approach

In this half hour introductory webinar, Prof. Peter Hines talks about Shingo, and how you create a sustainable system of improvement. With polls, and survey findings, it delivers a very informative summary of what Shingo is, and how it works in an organisation.

Webinar: Navigating the Enterprise Excellence Journey using Shingo as a Guide

This webinar was hosted by Prof. Peter Hines and presented by Jon Alder, and covers Enterprise Excellence, showing how Shingo can be used as a guide towards this goal.

Webinar: How to win a Shingo Prize

In this FREE to view webinar recording, Jon Alder talks at length about his journey taking Rexam, a global multi site organisation, through to the Shingo prize. He talks about his experience along the way, and how you create a sustainable system of improvement aligned to the Shingo approach.

Meet our SHINGO team:

Colin Scott
SHINGO Master Trainer
Regional Head – North America

Richard Young
SHINGO Facilitator
Regional Head – Australia

John Quirke (IE)

SHINGO Master Trainer

Fiona Buttrey (UK)

SHINGO Facilitator & Examiner

Ken Wisinski

SHINGO Facilitator

Noel Hennessy

SHINGO Facilitator

Richard Guba

Master Trainer

Alex Teoh

SHINGO Facilitator

Ailsa Carson

Events Team

Jim Brydon

Events Team

 Leadership Skills & Training

Leadership Skills & Training

Find out how we can support your Leadership & Continuous Improvement Programmes.

Systems Consulting

Systems Consulting

Supporting your organisation to achieve Enterprise Excellence.

Latest Resources

Latest Resources

S A Partners continues to invest in industry research to support our customers.

Events & Workshops

Events & Workshops

Supporting your learning Journey - delivering workshops and Shingo Prize guidance