SHIGEO SHINGO: BIOGRAPHY, CONTRIBUTIONS AND QUALITY PHILOSOPHY - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

Shigeo Shingo was a Japanese industrial engineer known for his influence in the productive industrial sector, thanks to the development of concepts that contributed to the operational improvement of Japanese and international companies throughout the 20th century.

He was born in 1909 and died 81 years later, in 1990. He grew up and developed his career in Japan, and then had an influential professional presence in the United States. Shingo is considered a world leader in manufacturing and industrial theories and practices.

Shingo is recognized for the existence and application of the Toyota Production System, which marked a before and after in the simplification and maximization of efficiency in the operational stages of production.

The components of this system began to be adopted by other companies throughout the world, with great influence and presence from Shingo himself.

Similarly, Shingo exhibited other industrial engineering concepts applicable to production systems worldwide, such as "poka yoke" and Zero Quality Control.

He was the author of multiple publications. Today an award is given in his name to the best operational innovations in the industrial and productive area.

Biography

Shigeo Shingo was born in the city of Saga, Japan, in 1909. He studied at the Higher Technical School of Engineers, where he first learned about the concepts around the Scientific Organization of Work, developed by the American engineer Frederick Taylor.

Later he studied at Yamanashi Technical University and in 1930 graduated as an engineer. Almost immediately, Shingo begins his professional work experience working as a technician for a Taipei railway company.

During this stage, Shingo begins to observe the operational dynamics of the various stages of work, as well as the efficiency of his workers.

Given their impressions, Shingo reflects and conceives the ability to improve and maximize the efficiency of industrial operating processes. It delves into the concepts of Taylor, is instructed in the fundamentals of scientific management and in the organization and administration of the flow of operations.

More than a decade later, Shingo is transferred to a munitions factory in Yokohama. After analyzing and studying operating conditions, Shingo practically applied his concepts of flow operations in one of the torpedo manufacturing stages, increasing productivity exponentially.

At the end of the Second World War, Shingo began to work with the Japanese Management Association, where he was a consultant and advisor in improving the administration and management of production processes in factories and industries. Until the mid-1950s, Shingo advised and applied his concepts in more than 300 companies.

He began working with Toyota in 1969, after successful experiences with companies such as Toyo and Mitsubishi during the 1950s.

Shingo's initial role at Toyota was to reduce production times at the die installation stage, increased times due to human and mechanical error.

The engineer developed a technique through operational analysis that made it possible to reduce production times. Shingo developed systems that minimized human error and provided qualities to machinery for precise assembly.

The effectiveness of his concepts and applications led Shingo to the United States, thanks to the help of an American who was also responsible for translating his articles and books into English.

Together they first brought Shingo's ideas to the West through private consulting. In the same way, Shingo was able to expose himself to American university audiences.

Most important contributions

1- Toyota Production System

Although the belief that Shingo was the creator of the Toyota Production System has become popular, he was actually in charge of analyzing it in depth as well as translating and disseminating it worldwide.

However, Shingo was an influential piece in the consolidation of this system as an example of operational effectiveness.

The Toyota Production System is a socio-technical mechanism that encompasses all the internal techniques of production, communications, marketing, among other aspects, that Toyota handles.

It is governed by a series of practical and philosophical techniques that transcend the merely commercial nature of a company, giving it a more personal approach.

Shingo's participation in the conception and consolidation of this system consisted in the development of innovative techniques that were attuned to the existing physical conditions and the performance that managers sought. The Toyota Production System also came to be called the "just-in-time" system.

This system includes the fulfillment of some general objectives: to discard the overload, the inconsistency and the waste.

The fulfillment of these objectives is present in all departments and business levels. This philosophy is governed by the phrase “do only what is necessary, when it is necessary, and only the amount necessary”.

Toyota defines the concepts around its system as "automation with a human touch."

It is claimed that the implementation of this system has led Toyota to be the company it is today, and has also motivated other companies around the world to apply their own versions of the system to maximize its effectiveness.

2- Push and pull system (

This operational management technique consists in the systematization of the necessary material to be manufactured at each stage of production. It is divided into the push and pull process, each with its own qualities and levels of stiffness.

The halar, or "pull" system, consists of the manufacture or acquisition of material according to the demand necessary for later stages. It is considered a flexible system that adapts to the parameters of the philosophy and technique “just in time”.

This system manages production based on demand, resulting in smaller inventories and much lower probability of failure in each product. This technique is applied at times when innovation is sought.

On the other hand, the push system, or "push", organizes its production according to future scenarios or in anticipation of these. It is a technique based on planning, therefore it is much more rigid than its counterpart.

The magnitude of production is projected in medium to long-term forecasts. It has qualities contrary to the "pull" system, since it generates large production inventories whose costs are offset at different commercial scales.

3- Poka yoke

It is a technique devised by Shigeo Shingo. It is a system that guarantees the quality of a product, preventing it from being used or operated incorrectly.

The poka yoke has also been informally popularized as a fool-proof system, although its purposes have great importance in the quality and final performance of a product.

Shingo introduced this system in his stage of work with Toyota, and conceived the following aspects as its main characteristics: not allowing human error during the use or operation of the product and, in the event of an error, highlighting it in such a way that it is impossible for the user to ignore it.

It is a quality control technique that focuses on simplicity and simplicity, alluding in some cases to common sense for the detection of failures or errors both in the product, showing a flaw in its manufacturing process, as well as for the user who does not you are doomed to lose a product due to misuse.

The poka yoke technique has positive effects on production lines. Some of these are: reduced training time for workers, elimination of operations related to quality control, elimination of repetitive operations, immediate action when problems arise and a vision of work oriented to improvement.

4- Shingo method

It consists of a series of thoughtful and practical guidelines that highlight Shingo's philosophy on quality and industrial and business dynamics. This method is applied and disseminated through the Shingo Institute.

The Shingo method encompasses a pyramid divided by the different techniques promoted by the Japanese and their applications in the industrial production scenario.

This pyramid is accompanied by a series of principles that, for Shingo, should guide all workers towards excellence, regardless of their hierarchical position.

Some of the principles promoted by Shigeo Shingo are respect for each individual, leadership with humility, the search for perfection, scientific thinking, focus on the process, ensuring quality from the source, the value of the Push & Technique. Pull, systems thinking, the creation of constancy and purpose, and the creation of real value for the consumer.

Shingo, unlike other innovators of industrial processes and management, took into account the human aspect that exists in the internal dynamics of the factories through its workers, and the capacity of its techniques also maximizes the effectiveness of the workforce..

References

1. Rosa, F. d., & Cabello, L. (2012). Precursors of quality. Virtual University of the State of Guanajuato.
2. Shingo Institute. (sf). The Shingo Model. Obtained from Shingo Institute. Home of the Shingo Prize: shingoprize.org
3. Shingo, S. (1986). Zero Quality Control: Source Inspection and the Poka-yoke System. Portland: Productivity Press.
4. Shingo, S. (1988). Non-Stock Production: The Shingo System for Continuous Improvement. Portland: Productivity Press.
5. Shingo, S. (1989). A Study of the Tovota Production System From an Industrial Engineering Viewpoint.
6. Shingo, S. (2006). A Revolution in Manufacturing: The SMED System. Productivity Press.