The Shingo Institute selected Merit Medical’s HQ in Salt Lake City, UT, as one of the model facilities to tour during its Mountain West Shingo Study Tour. The annual event provides participants with the opportunity to visit and learn from world-class manufacturing facilities and Shingo Prize recipients for a first-hand look at facilities, cultures, and processes that demonstrate operational excellence. The sold-out event took place last week, September 17–19.
Participants of the Mountain West Shingo Study Tour visited Merit Salt Lake City and experienced how the facility operates with a lean business model, applies best practices, and thrives on a culture of continuous improvement. To achieve these successes, Merit Salt Lake City practices a set of principles developed by the Shingo Institute, a division of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University.
Shingo principles, as part of a larger Shingo Model™, are designed to guide organizations toward operational excellence. Tenets include assuring quality at the source, leading with humility, creating value for the customer, and more. Attending the tour gave participants a deeper understanding of these principles, so they could use them to better their own organizations. Participants also had time to ask questions and network with peers and Shingo leadership.
In addition to helping organizations continually improve, the Shingo Institute also recognizes those that have catalyzed lean transformations on their own by awarding its globally distinguished Shingo Prize.
Earlier this year, Merit Tijuana proudly received the Shingo Prize for demonstrating an exceptional culture that fosters continuous improvement and excellence. Similar to the Tijuana facility, Merit Salt Lake City also uses the Shingo Model as a guide, thereby offering tour participants an in-depth example of how Shingo principles apply within the facility, helping them to envision these standards implemented at other organizations.
In addition to Salt Lake City and northern Utah, annual Shingo Study Tours take place in the Northeast (Boston), Minneapolis/St. Paul, Ireland, and Japan, benefiting organizations the world over.
It was an honor to host the group during this year’s Mountain West Shingo Study Tour. As part of a global community that supports one another, we look forward to hearing of Shingo tour participant successes and continually learning from each other as we all work toward practicing better business.
Learn more about ways our worldwide facilities achieve operational excellence.