I know that some people think that on rare occasions I might be a little cynical and sarcastic, but believe me, I am asking this question in earnest. Why should anyone apply for the Shingo Prize?
That question occurred to me earlier today when I wrote about GHSP and how lean they are. Previously I have written about Pella and some other very lean companies. I would imagine they could win a Shingo if they really wanted to, but I am not sure why they would want to.
In the case of GHSP, Honda knows how lean they are, as do their other customers. They certainly already know it themselves. So why would they want to shell out the thirteen grand or so it takes to go through the process, devote the resources to the application, and put up with the disruption of the audit? What would they stand to gain by winning the Prize if all of their stakeholders already know?
I am not casting aspersions at the Shingo Prize; I just put myself in the shoes of a GHSP manager and try to think of the arguments I would use to try to convince the top guy to go for a Shingo and I will be darned if I can think of any good business reason for him to do so.
Please weigh in on this and let me know the answer. I'm sure there are good reasons - I just can't think of any. Of course, this ultimately gets back to Delphi. 24 winning plants at $13K each comes to better than $300 grand they spent on winning Shingos - plus the high cost of aggravation. That's a lot of money for someone who can't pay their bills. i wonder what they thought the benefit would be?