Kaizen Institute founder visits Siemens' Congleton site
03 January 2012
One of the world’s leading forces in manufacturing has made the trip from Japan to the Northwest of England to visit Siemens Congleton - a global hub for manufacturing variable speed drives - to review the site’s innovative production processes. Masaaki Imai, the founder of the Kaizen Institute, and author of global bestselling books ‘Kaizen’ and ‘Gemba Kaizen’, spent the day at Siemens Congleton to witness firsthand the site’s processes and meet with staff.
Mr Imai has been lecturing on lean manufacturing for over 30 years and is widely regarded as being the guru behind today’s leaner, more operationally efficient manufacturing processes which plants strive to replicate world-wide.
Masaaki Imai said: “Visiting Siemens Congleton has been a real highlight of my trip to the UK. Having the opportunity to analyse the plant’s processes and to meet with staff has been a valuable experience for both parties. I have been impressed with what I’ve seen and also hope I have given the team lots of food for thought to further ensure processes continue to evolve.”
The visit comes as Siemens Congleton celebrates its 40th anniversary and one of its busiest and most successful years to date. Finbarr Dowling, managing director of Siemens Congleton, comments: “Masaaki Imai’s visit to Congleton is a real landmark in the site’s history and we are extremely proud to have welcomed him to Siemens. Mr Imai is undoubtedly one of the most prolific and influential thinkers on manufacturing processes and to have him visit the factory and engage in a two-way sharing of ideas is truly remarkable.”
The Siemens Congleton plant was established in 1971 and is now Siemens’ global hub for manufacturing variable speed drives, which it exports to 78 countries across the world. The site conforms to high standards of energy efficiency and employs a zero defects policy to ensure operational excellence. Over the past 40 years, it has gone from strength to strength and its current 500 employees are enjoying an outstanding period of growth.