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Recognized as a model in the application of the Lean methodology in the industry, the auto parts manufacturer ZEN SA received the first place of the Kaizen Lean Brazil Award in the Productivity Excellence category in 2020. There were 120 projects registered from 60 Brazilian companies, with  Zen as one of the 14 finalists among other major companies such as Claro, DHL Supply Chain, Yamaha, Johnson & Johnson and Banco Itaú. The virtual awards ceremony was on December 1.

"During the last years we have developed a strong manufacturing system, based on the Lean Philosophy, which has given us the basis for strengthening the culture of continuous improvement at ZEN. Today our teams develop very well-founded projects, that amazes us every year. Therefore, for us, winning the Kaizen Award for the third consecutive year in different categories is mainly the recognition of hard work, focused on enhacing people to achieve results", celebrates the Director of Operations and COO of ZEN, Eduardo Bertolini.

Kaizen Lean Brasil is the most important award for recognition of continuous improvement practices in companies. It is promoted by KAIZEN™ Institute, that operates in more than 30 countries, in partnership with the School of Advertising and Marketing (ESPM), the Vanzolini Foundation, the Mauá Institute of Technology and the Administration Institute Foundation (FIA). In all five national editions of the award ZEN SA was nominated as a finalist.  Won one of the categories three times (2018, 2019 and 2020) and, with the ZEN Manufacturing System case, secured second place in the global edition in 2019, behind only portuguese company Galp and ahead of italian company Ducati Motor Holding. Zen President and CEO, Gilberto Heinzelmann, also received the title of KAIZEN Ambassador™ in 2018.

Productivity Excellence

In 2020 ZEN was recognized by the Productivity Management by  Demand Leveling case. With a strong manufacturing system and seeking to achieve levels of excellence in productivity, the company optimized resources and improved standardized work balancing, driven by customer demand and business premises. This way, ZEN developed its own methodology, the machine load coefficient, that ensured the use of work labor at maximum levels of performance, resulting in 2019 in a productivity gain of about 15% compared to the work centers where the coefficient was not applied.