The best lean practitioners from across Europe have been recognised for their excellence in continuous improvement at a ceremony at the Park Plaza Hotel in Amsterdam.
The inaugural Lean Management Journal (LMJ) Lean Top 25 aims to celebrate the great work done in lean.
Despite being a worldwide methodology that has helped countless organisations for decades, lean’s reputation continues to fly under the radar. The LMJ Top 25 aims to help break this by removing the myths around lean and highlighting the dedicated individuals who have worked for years to help their organisations and improve productivity.
Recipients were nominated by the editorial managing team of the LMJ, its editorial board and several well-known consultants including Lean Competency Systems, Tecla Consulting and XCL Ltd.
The recipients came from across a broad range of industries and sectors including legal, finance, aerospace, manufacturing and logistics.
The recipients were nominated for one of three reasons:
- Innovation – A lean practitioner whose ideas and enthusiasm have led them on a new path of lean, whether it be a minor tweak to the existing way of implementation or a revolutionary idea that has been a game changer.
- Championing – A person publicising lean and helping its reach grow. Someone who is driving more knowledge of lean and creating awareness of continuous improvement.
- Involvement and waste reduction – Someone who has passionate about lean and has created or managed a lean implementation or continuous improvement change that has seen a significant rise in profit margins of increase in production.
Recipients of the honour included Faith Geary, from the Ministry of Justice, who leads a team of experts that has helped one of Britain’s largest government departments better itself amongst turbulent economic times. Others include Dr László Abraham, general manager of National Instruments Hungary, who was nominated for innovation -and after recommendations from his staff.
George Donaldson, the group continuous improvement manager of News UK, who were recently awarded the prestigious Shingo Prize was also recognised for his work on engagement and cultural change.
Steve Yorkstone, chairman of the conference, said of the event: “The Lean Top 25 2015 is the start of something brilliant. These highlighted individuals showcase the inspirational ways people are working together, using lean, to make their work better.”
Lean Management Journal Editor Andrew Putwain said:”I’m proud to announce The Lean Top 25. These unsung heroes have been contributing to lean and are being recognised as the innovators and champions they are. Congratulations again.”
Photos from the event are available here and the report can be seen here.
