Shigeo Shingo

Shigeo Shingo was born in 1909 at Saga City, Japan where he attended the Saga Technical High School. After graduation from Yamanashi Technical College in 1930 he went to work for the Taipei Railway Company.In 1943 shingo was transferred to the Amano Manufacturing Plant in Yokohama.

As Manufacturing Section Chief, he raised productivity 100%. Shingo worked for several manufacturers in 1945 and 1946 and also begana long association with the Japanese Management Association (JMA). From 1946-1954 Shingo had many assignments, delivered several important papers and crystallized his ideas on process and plant layout. He also applied Statistical Process Control.

In 1955, Dr. Shingo began another long association, this time with Toyota. In addition to his many consulting assignments in other industries. It is during this period that he first startedwork on setups by doubling the output of an engine bed planer at Mitsubishi’s shipyard.In 1959, Dr. Shingo left JMA to start his own consulting company.

During the early 1960’s, as an outgrowth of work with Matsushita, he developed his concepts of “ Mistake-Proofing.”In 1969, SMED was originated when he cut the setup time on a 1000 ton press at Toyota from 4.0 hours to 3.0 minutes. During the 1970’s, Shingo traveled in Europe and North America onmany lectures, visits and assignments. He began to see Toyota’s efforts as an integratedsystem and began to assist several U.S. and European firms in implementation.

Dr. Shigeo Shingo has written 14 major books and hundreds of important papers onmanufacturing. The Shingo Prize is awarded for excellence in manufacturing as a tribute to Dr. Shingo and his lifelong work. He died in 1990.

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Shingo Prize for excellence in manufacturing

Shigeo Shingo - wikipedia

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