USU prize brings international fame
The Shingo Prize is important to many top manufacturers like Ford, Delphi, HON, Johnson & Johnson and John Deere. USU is home to the prize for excellence in manufacturing.
The prize, created in 1988 by the College of Business in honor of Shigeo Shingo, a Japanese industrial engineer, for his efforts to make the manufacturing world more productive. Given an honorary doctorate by the College of Business for his efforts in Lean Manufacturing, Shingo has challenged the status quo of better business.
It is one of the most prestigious business prizes for manufacturing. Dubbed the Nobel Prize for manufacturing by Business Week, the Shingo Prize is an award given to companies that demonstrate excellence in quality, efficiency and continuous improvement.
Shingo worked with Toyota from the 1950s to the 1980s developing the ideas of Lean, which is a two-tiered program that involves eliminating waste and focusing on continuous improvement.
“It is toward Shingo’s objective of cutting waste and achieving perfection that the Shingo Prize was created,” said Ross Robson, Executive Director of the Shingo Prize and also College of Business professor. Waste can be found in anything from too much inventory that isn’t in use, down to the time it takes to walk more steps than necessary in the office. Along with being honored with the Shingo Prize, manufacturers also realize that applying one principle of Lean can save them hundreds of thousands of dollars.
As the prize has gotten more and more renowned worldwide, it has grown from one recipient in 1988 to 19 manufacturers eligible for the recognition of business excellence in 2007. A list of recipients can be seen in the Business Building. The Shingo has moved across U.S. borders with companies from Canada and Mexico working hard to apply the principles emphasized by Shingo.
Before the prize is awarded to manufacturers, they have to go through an extensive application process that demonstrates that they are applying Lean principles. Also, an on-site tour is conducted by a team of examiners made up of three to five former recipients of the award and a USU student.
Students of the College of Business say they are getting a head start into the business world as they are taught the principles of the Lean system.
“Utah State has classes that teach these principles, so that they can get a solid foundation to be better qualified for their career in the business world,” said Tory Neiwert, a graduate student in instructional technology,
According to Robson, USU is the only university in the country that offers the specific training in the Lean program that manufactures are looking for. The college sends out students each year for on-site tours to get experience with CEOs of top companies like Delphi, Ford, Boeing and many others as part of their training.
“It was awesome and a little overwhelming when company leaders were asking me for advice on how they could improve the company,” Preston Chandler, a senior in operational management said of his on-site tour.
Chandler traveled to Delphi in Michigan for three days, then spent three days working with the team of examiners as they judged the facility before it could potentially receive the award. Each of the examiners came from other major companies and asked Chandler for his thoughts before they put together their final decision.
Chandler said, “If anyone who is in business doesn’t take the chance to get training in Lean, they are making a big mistake.”
-dwkoecher@cc.usu.edu