Q: Does the Shingo Institute provide on-site assessments to organizations that have not applied for the Prize?
A: Currently the Shingo Institute only performs on-site assessments for those organizations that challenge for the Prize.
Q: Can more than one organization receive each of the Shingo, Silver, and Bronze awards?
A: There is no limit to the number of organizations that can be recipients per year at any level. Applicants challenge against the criteria – not each other.
Q: How many organizations have applied through the years?
A: The list of active recipients is available on the
award page. A link to the archive list back through 1989 (the first year of recipients) is also available on that page.
Q: Is there information regarding the average number of organizations that apply for the Shingo Prize vs. the average number of applicants that actually receive an award within a given year?
A: The average number of applications for the past three years is 20. This number is not an indicator of probability. When an organization challenges for the Shingo Prize, the organization is not competing against other challengers, but against the Shingo Model™ and assessment criteria. The number of recipients will vary depending on the level and quality of the individual applicants in a given period.
Q: I am looking for local Shingo Prize recipient organizations that welcome tours to view their facility.
A: A comprehensive list of all Shingo award recipients is available on the
awards page. Most recipients include links to their profile sheets. Please review the list to see if there are any that meet your needs. Please contact the facility to inquire about tours.
Q: Do you have a list of preferred consultants/assessors who can provide a pre-assessment (or assessment consultation) and develop a road-map to address gaps according to the Shingo Model™?
A: We do not provide recommendations for consultants.
Q: Could an IT department challenge for the Shingo Prize?
A: The IT department is a support function, and the Shingo Prize applies to a more significant portion of an organization including operations with functions such as information technologies, human resources, accounting, etc.
Please re-evaluate your organization and consider applying as an entire facility. See the
Shingo Model™ and
Application Guidelines for further clarification, which can be downloaded at on the
Shingo Model page.
If you are interested in applying, please complete the application and supporting documents located online on the "
Challenge for the Shingo Prize" page.
Q: Can organizations from countries outside of the United States of America apply for the award?
A: Yes, the Shingo Institute accepts applications from around the world, provided we are capable of sending an assessment team to the applicant’s country if a site visit is awarded.
Q: What is the point-scoring range for the Shingo Prize, Silver Medallion and the Bronze Medallion awards?
A: The scoring ranges are
-Shingo Prize 775 or higher
-Silver Medallion 675 – 774
-Bronze Medallion 575 – 674
Organizations will receive a score sheet providing levels achieved according to the Behavior Assessment Scale and the Results Scale. For example, a Shingo Bronze Medallion recipient will receive a score sheet with the overall score level ranging between High Level 3 to Low Level 4, etc. The Shingo Institute does not provide numerical scores.
Q: Could you help me understand our final score? How can I determine the final score?
A: All business systems are scored according to a Behavior Assessment Scale. There are five different levels to this scale, each level with its own percentage range. Level 1 falls between 0-20%, and Level 5 is between 81-100%. The percentage range for Level 4 is 61-80%.
For example: An organization received an overall mid-level 4 level, which is equivalent to 61-67%. This percentage converted to a point system is between 610-670 points out of 1000 possible points. The organization’s overall score falls within this range. This same method can be applied to each area of the scoring process. As stated in the guidelines, the Shingo Institute does not provide an exact score in the feedback, just a range. This places the emphasis and focus on improvement rather than points.
Q: There is a recommended time period of no more than 12 months from when the application is submitted and the achievement report is completed. Is this required?
A: The recommended submission time frame is no more than 12 months from the date you submit the application documentations. Organizations do not have to wait a year to submit the achievement report. Once the application has been approved and accepted, the achievement report can arrive any time within the following 12 months.
The reason the Shingo Institute recommends a one-year time frame to submit the achievement report after the application process is to ensure there are no eligibility issues and that we have addressed all of your questions and concerns early on in the process. The Shingo Institute also wants to make sure that time has been taken by each applicant to attend (or hold internally) a DISCOVER EXCELLENCE workshop.
Q: Where can I get a sample achievement report?
A: The Shingo Institute does not provide sample achievement reports. The Shingo Institute has found, through feedback from our applicants, that the process of preparing the achievement report has been one of the most valuable and insightful elements in the challenging process. However, the Shingo Institute does provide some direction on writing the achievement report in the guidelines.
Q: Should the information pertaining to the guidelines’ Dimension Four (Results) be submitted in the same format as the profile sheet?
A: No. There is a complete description of what should be included with the application in the guidelines located on the "
Challenge for the Shingo Prize" page
.
Q: Is the intent of Dimension Four’s (Results) information to be more detailed than that of the information included in the achievement report?
A: No, it should be substantially the same content, as you would include in the final achievement report. Please focus your content mainly on charts and graphs with monthly, or at least quarterly, data points spanning at least three years. All charts and graphs should include a short narrative explaining any abnormalities.
Q: Is there a maximum document length for the information pertaining to Dimension Four (Results) at the application stage?
A: There is no page limitation for Dimension Four. As per the most recent version of the guidelines, the entire report is limited to fifty pages. The Shingo Institute has not put restrictions on any particular dimension. Please make sure you download the most recent version of the guidelines; in Dimension Four we have also listed strongly recommended measures. Dimension Four (Results) is listed under the section titled, “Writing the Achievement Report.”
Q: What are the requirements and costs of challenging for the Shingo Prize?
A: Pricing information and timeline for the process is available in the guidelines that can be downloaded on the "
Challenge for the Shingo Prize" page.
One of the most critical parts to the process is our DISCOVER EXCELLENCE workshop, which provides a clear understanding of the
Shingo Model™ and assessment methodology. The workshop sets clear expectations for challengers and is a combination of lecture and hands-on training. More information on the workshop and its availability can be found on the
workshop page.
Q: What are the benefits of being a recipient of the Shingo Prize?
A: Being a recipient of the Shingo Prize is not just about the trophy on your shelf, but the eye-opening, non-biased assessment by a third-party in your organization and the feedback that can accelerate your cultural transformation.
Q: The application form states, “For conflict of interest purposes, please list all consultants with whom you have current or pending contracts with.” Is this for any process improvement/lean consultants or any consultants that are affiliated with the Shingo Institute?
A: The Shingo Institute only needs to know the consultants who are affiliated with our organization so that we can avoid any potential conflicts of interest.
Q: How have organizations “tied” their corporate strategy (i.e. TPS house equivalent) to the Shingo Model™?
A: There are organizations that take the DISCOVER EXCELLENCE workshop and make sure they are reflected in their models. Some actually look at how principles, systems and tools map to each other and the behaviors that the systems are driving. The organizations define ideal behavior, and systems are adjusted using tools to close the gap. They also assess what is going on to ensure progress is being made in the desired direction.
Q: How does the current assessment or guidelines compare to the process prior to 2008?
A: The
Shingo Model and Application Guidelines had a significant change in 2008. As you read the current
Shingo Model, which can be downloaded on the
model page, you will notice that the emphasis is on a culture of operational excellence. You will find the current
Shingo Model and Application Guidelines quite different from what has been used in the past. We encourage potential challengers to participate in our
DISCOVER EXCELLENCE workshop to gain a better understanding of the
Shingo Model and our assessment methodology. Workshop availability and cost information is available on the
workshop series page.
Please call us at +1.435.797.2279 if you have further questions.
