Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence

Shingo Prize
Awarded for	world-class organizational culture based on principles
Presented by	the Shingo Institute at Utah State University
First awarded	1988
Website	[1]

The Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence is an annual award given to organizations worldwide by the Shingo Institute, part of the Jon M. Huntsman School of Business at Utah State University in Logan, Utah. In order to be selected as a recipient of the Shingo Prize, an organization "challenges" or applies for the award by first submitting an achievement report that provides data about recent business improvements and accomplishments and then undergoing an onsite audit performed by Shingo Institute examiners. Organizations are scored relative to how closely their culture matches the ideal as defined by the Shingo Institute. Those meeting the criteria are awarded the Shingo Prize. Other awards include the Shingo Silver Medallion, the Shingo Bronze Medallion and the Research and Professional Publication Award.

In 1988, Utah State University conferred an honorary doctorate to Shigeo Shingo, a Japanese industrial engineer and author credited for his contribution to many of the elements, theories and tools associated with the Toyota Production System. That same year, Utah State University established what was then called the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing in his honor.

The Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing was first only awarded to organizations within the United States. By 1994, however, Ford Electronics in Markham, Ontario, became the first Canadian organization to receive the award. By 1997, the award was given to the first Mexican organization, Industrias CYDSA Bayer.

In 2000, BusinessWeek referred to the Shingo Prize as the "Nobel Prize for manufacturing."

In 2004, a "Finalist" category was added to recognize challengers that scored well but didn't meet the Shingo Prize level.

In 2005, a separate awards system was established for public sector organizations. Three levels existed in the public sector awards category: Gold, Silver and Bronze.

In 2008, Utah State University changed the name of the award to the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence in order to reflect altered criteria that made the award available to organizations from all industries, not exclusively manufacturing. The focus of the award was also shifted away from recognizing the use of lean manufacturing tools to recognizing the overall organizational culture. This was in response to growing concern about the validity of what the Shingo Prize was supposed to signify about its recipients.

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