Vale Brucutu Mine Autonomous Haulage Awarded Prestigious Shingo Prize
February 25, 2026 – the Shingo Institute
Vale Brucutu Mine Autonomous Haulage Awarded Prestigious Shingo Prize
LOGAN, UTAH—February 26, 2026—The Shingo Institute, a program in the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, is proud to announce that Vale Brucutu Mine Autonomous Haulage in São Gonçalo do Rio Abaixo, Minas Gerais, Brazil has achieved the Shingo Prize, the world’s highest standard for organizational excellence. This honor reflects the site’s commitment to embodying principled leadership, disciplined execution, and a relentless focus on creating value for customers.
“The Shingo Prize recognizes organizations that build cultures rooted in systems thinking and a deep commitment to customer value,” said Ken Snyder, Executive Director of the Shingo Institute. “These recipients truly represent world‑class excellence.”
Vale, a global mining organization producing iron ore, pellets, and nickel, employs approximately 120,000 individuals across nearly 20 countries. Vale Brucutu Mine Autonomous Haulage has long played a pivotal role in strengthening Vale’s operational performance. In 2025, the site’s performance directly contributed to Vale achieving 90.4 million tonnes of iron ore output in the fourth quarter, a 6% year‑over‑year increase. This quarter was instrumental in propelling Vale to 336 million tonnes of total 2025 iron ore production, marking the company’s highest annual output since 2018. These results demonstrate the effectiveness of Vale Brucutu Mine Autonomous Haulage’s rigorous management systems and culture of continuous improvement. Behind these results are the experiences of the people who work with the system every day:
I am thrilled to hear that the Brucutu Mine operation has been awarded the prestigious Shingo Prize. This recognition is a testament to our exceptional commitment to operational excellence and continuous improvement, which has been deeply rooted in our cultural transformation journey. We have fostered a culture that emphasizes collaboration, accountability, and innovation, empowering our team to embrace best practices in lean management. This award not only highlights our dedication to these principles but also reflects the hard work and resilience shown by everyone involved. It is a proud moment for us, showcasing our ability to achieve outstanding results while maintaining the highest standards of safety, quality and efficiency, all driven by our transformative approach to organizational culture.
—Carlos Medeiros – Vice President of Operations Vale
This result was achieved by creating an environment where each professional can maximize their ability to transform their purpose of doing good and improving lives into results, thus ensuring respect for each individual. It is recognition of a trajectory of evolution of our VPS Management System to focus on people and the creation of an environment conducive to continuous improvement. At Brucutu, we place people at the center of our routine, and we believe in our potential to continuously improve our practices and systems to contribute to our ambition of leading value creation in mining. This recognition fills me with pride and belongs to every employee who contributed to this journey.
—Paulo Damasceno, Operations Director of Brucutu
Shingo’s journey of improvement has been enriching, full of learning, process improvement, and results through people development. This experience helped us connect culture and strategy to our VPS Management System and translate the company’s challenges to the operational base, which provided a tremendous sense of belonging, greater collaboration, purpose, engagement, and psychological safety. We involved people, creating a common purpose, and in this way, we experienced an evolution in our organizational culture. It was very rewarding and a great honor to be part of this enriching journey towards Vale’s future.
—Fabiana Trevizani, General Manager of Organizational Development
The Shingo journey transformed the mine operation by highlighting that the company’s true value lies in its people. There were significant gains in efficiency and waste reduction, as well as the creation of a healthier and more collaborative work environment. Teams were empowered to lead improvements, increasing engagement and motivation. Training in failure analysis tools expanded autonomy and the capacity for structured problem-solving. These advances consolidated the evolution of the career path, strengthening the future of people and the organization.
—Daniel Arantes Cunha, General Manager of Operations
The Shingo journey brought significant transformations to our routine and decisively reinforced the strengthening of our management system, the VPS. The first major gain was the strengthening of the organizational climate: we created an environment of trust, respect, and collaboration, where each person feels valued and an essential part of the process. This was directly reflected in the motivation and engagement of the teams. Another important advance was the focus on problem analysis and solution. We began to see challenges as learning opportunities, using structured methods that allow us to identifyroot causes and implement sustainable solutions. Finally, people development became the center of our evolution. We invested in training, encouraged autonomy, and promoted individual and collective growth. Today, we have more prepared professionals, aware of their role and committed to the organization’s results. This journey showed us that excellence is not just about achieving goals, but about building a solid culture where principles and values guide our actions and guarantee lasting results.
—Bruno César Pereira, Mine Operations and Infrastructure Manager
I wanted to share how much Shingo has contributed to my career path and, I believe, to the lives of many people. I have greatly broadened my vision of mining. I closely monitor processes and indicators, I have space to solve problems and express them, and, above all, I care about my well-being and the health of everyone around me! With Shingo, I was able to see and experience firsthand that it is possible for safety and productivity to go hand in hand and that we are truly capable of transforming the future together! I want to take this experience with me and apply it not only in my work, but everywhere I go! This is a legacy! Thank you for being part of this award! Proud to be a part of it!
—Geisymara Gandra, Equipment and Facilities Operator II
The Shingo Model implementation journey strengthened our VPS Management System and accelerated our evolution towards organizational excellence. We reinforced respect for people as the foundation of management and evolved towards a more humble, disciplined leadership focused on generating sustainable value.
—Luis Reche, Operations Director of Southeast Corridor
The Shingo Prize marks a defining milestone for Vale Brucutu Mine Autonomous Haulage. As a recipient, the site will continue to model industry‑leading standards, share best practices across Vale’s global network, and inspire innovation in safety, reliability, and value creation.
Representatives of Vale Brucutu Mine Autonomous Haulage will be formally presented with the Shingo Prize at the Awards Gala during Shingo Connect in San Diego, CA on March 19, 2026. Shingo Connect includes workshops, site tours, keynotes, and sessions focused on achieving organizational excellence. To learn more about the event, visit www.shingo.org/events.
About the Shingo Institute
The Shingo Institute is home to the Shingo Prize, an award recognizing organizations that demonstrate an exceptional culture fostering continuous improvement. Part of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University, the Shingo Institute is named after Japanese industrial engineer and Toyota adviser Shigeo Shingo, one of the world's thought leaders in the Toyota Production System.
Drawing from Dr. Shingo’s teachings and years of experience working with organizations worldwide, the Shingo Institute developed the Shingo Model, the basis for its various educational offerings, including workshops, study tours, and conferences. Workshops are available in multiple languages through the Institute's Licensed Affiliates. For more information on workshops and affiliates or to register to attend an event, please visit https://shingo.org.
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