Standard - AllAboutLean.com

Process Confirmation Standard for Kaizen at BMW Dingolfing—Part 4

January 1, 2026December 30, 2025 by Christoph Roser

BMW Group Dingolfing Plant Product Portfolio — BMW Group Dingolfing plant product portfolio

Work standards are key to kaizen, and their correct use requires process confirmation. The BMW Group Dingolfing plant does an outstanding job with this process confirmation, driving their continuous improvement. This gives BMW automotive plants an outstanding performance on par with Toyota. In this last post on the series on the process confirmation standards at BMW Dingolfing, we dig deeper into the confirmation for the work standard documents and the digital displays used to manage the product variety coming down the line.

Process Confirmation Standard for Kaizen at BMW Dingolfing—Part 3

January 1, 2026December 23, 2025 by Christoph Roser

Process confirmation is essential for maintaining standards, which are essential for continuous improvement. In my previous posts I introduced the process confirmation standard at the BMW Group Dingolfing plant, which helps BMW to achieve efficiency on par with Toyota. We already looked at the verification of the material supply standards and 5S. In this post I will talk more about the Gemba standards for the actual work. They demand improvement ideas directly from the shop floor, which is the best way to have fast kaizen cycles toward operational excellence. Read on!

Process Confirmation Standard for Kaizen at BMW Dingolfing—Part 2

December 16, 2025 by Christoph Roser

In my last post I introduced the process confirmation standard at the BMW Group Dingolfing plant, which helps BMW to achieve efficiency on par with Toyota. In this post I will talk more about the actual process confirmation checklist, starting with a brief overview, followed by a deep dive into the first two sections of the checklist. Read on!

Process Confirmation Standard for Kaizen at BMW Dingolfing—Part 1

January 1, 2026December 9, 2025 by Christoph Roser

Continuous improvement in lean works through work standards. Improving the standards improves your processes. However, all of this is for naught if the standard is not followed. In this series of blog posts I will look in more detail at how the BMW Group Dingolfing plant (a company on par with Toyota in terms of efficiency) does process confirmation on the shop floor. And, maybe even more important, how they drive the whole improvement process through the front-line workers on the shop floor using this process confirmation.

When to Use Standards…and When Not

August 21, 2025August 22, 2023 by Christoph Roser

Work standards are a key component to continuous improvement. A standard is a tool that (if used correctly) prevents drifting away from a best-practice approach to do a task. Hence, I sometimes read that everything needs a standard. However, I don’t quite fully agree with this. Let me tell you when standards are helpful, and when maybe not.

The Limits of Work Standards

August 21, 2025January 31, 2023 by Christoph Roser

Work standards are the backbone of continuous improvement because you need a standard to maintain what you have already achieved. But standards are not easy. A standard should explain everything in sufficient detail without being too detailed…and that is a fine line to walk. The key to the problem, but also to the solution, is the worker who uses the standard. Let me show you.

Work Improvement before Equipment Improvement

August 21, 2025October 5, 2021 by Christoph Roser

When improving a system, Western engineers love to take the technical approach and to optimize the machines and tools. However, at Toyota this is seen differently. At Toyota, they try to address a problem by first training the people, followed by improving the standards and the layout, before improving the equipment and finally twiddling with the design. Let’s have a closer look at how Toyota is approaching improvements.

Standards Part 9: Leader Standard Work

August 21, 2025September 7, 2021 by Christoph Roser

Leader standard work. Sometimes also called standard work for leaders. A term that floats around quite a bit in lean manufacturing, but I always find it hard to make it more specific. The idea follows the lean concept to standardize things, and tries to standardize the work of managers or leaders. The idea itself is not bad, but it always feels like nailing Jell-O to a wall. There are definitely some worthwhile elements, but sometimes it appears almost mystical. Let’s have a look: