Also present is Daniel T. Jones, author of the Lean classic. He will be a key speaker at the BestPractice Day – for the first time together in Germany with Dr Michael Ballé, author of “The Lean Manager” and “Lead with Respect”. For Jones, Lean Management is today much more than a tool or a method: “Initially, we focused on tools, then on how to establish a management system that supports these. And, thereafter, on a transformation method to change an organization,” says the founder of the Lean Enterprise Academy. Nowadays, 95 per cent of the industrial companies in Germany are working with Lean Management methods. And, they are doing so successfully: In more than 90 per cent of the companies, the approach has had a positive effect, and competitiveness has increased significantly, as confirmed by a study of Staufen AG conducted with 1,300 industry managers. However, Lean Management’s predominant focus is still on production. In so doing, companies are not utilizing huge potential. And they are still, for the most part, concentrating on the methods. Only a small share also understands Lean as a way of thinking and has comprehensively aligned its strategy and organization to this. “In the next step, the purpose of the companies is to work holistically in the spirit of a Lean Enterprise, so as to successfully master the digital transformation within the context of Industry 4.0. Top performance is the objective – and Lean Transformation is the way to attain this,” says Wilhelm Goschy, member of Staufen AG’s Executive Board. Regardless of how far a company is when it comes to Lean: At the BestPractice Day 2016, it will be awaiting a top-class mix of concentrated expertise, Lean implementations and best practice examples. Key figures from the manufacturing industry share their expertise in presentations and discussions. In addition to this, participants can receive visual instruction from excellent companies, to initiate their own improvement process or revitalize it with new accents. This year, all-day workshops performed together with BMW, Audi, Upstalsboom, Lufthansa Technik Services Logistik, Marquardt, Recaro, Maquet, SEW-Eurodrive as well as the PTW Institute of the Technical University of Darmstadt. Specialist speeches will held during the first day in the congress hall of Darmstadt, and there will also be an opportunity for exchanging opinions in the plenum and in expert forums; on the second day, the agenda focuses on extensive workshops in the companies. For more information about the event, please visit: www.best-practice-day.com
