NEWS RELEASE
NS-SUS, Nippon Steel’s Subsidiary in Thailand, Won Third Place at the Global KAIZEN Award for KAIZEN Principles and Practices
Dec. 02, 2024
Nippon Steel Corporation
NS-Siam United Steel Co., Ltd. (NS-SUS; President: Hideki Ogawa), a consolidated subsidiary of Nippon Steel Corporation (Nippon Steel) and a manufacturer of cold-rolled steel, hot-dip galvanized and galvannealed steel sheets, and tinplate steel in Thailand, received third place at the 6th Edition of the Global KAIZEN Award. This award is presented by the Kaizen Institute, Ltd. (established in 1985, and headquartered in Switzerland) and honors organizations for their outstanding achievements in implementing KAIZEN principles and practices. NS-SUS entered the award program with its company-wide improvement activities (the “NS-SUS Way”) and results in the areas of manufacturing, sales, and indirect departments. The company ranked first in the Thai national round held on September 6, 2024 and was consequently selected to represent Thailand. In the global round held on November 12 of the same year, the company ranked third out of 15 countries (with about 500 participating companies in total).
In the global round, NS-SUS’s improvement activities (the “NS-SUS Way”) were judged to be 1) company-wide and sustainable as well as fully established within the organization; 2) making steady achievements in various areas such as safety, the environment, equipment maintenance, and quality while utilizing DX technology; and 3) contributing to improving corporate profits through measures such as increasing customer and employee satisfaction as well as reducing costs. These results were judged to align with the five KAIZEN principles*1 advocated by the KAIZEN Institute.
Behind these achievements are the improvement activities employing the TPM*2 method that NS-SUS has been working on as company-wide activities since 2005, focusing on equipment maintenance, productivity improvement, and skills transfer. NS-SUS will continue to work tirelessly on improvement activities with the cooperation of all managers and employees, and will continue to strive to fulfill its mission of “Contribute to society and pursue happiness of all stakeholders”.
*1：The five KAIZEN Principles are:
-Create customer value
-Let it flow
-Be gemba oriented
-Empower people
-Be scientific and transparent (From the KAIZEN Institute website)
*2：The Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) program was developed by the Japan Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM). It is a corporate-wide maintenance program to be participated by all employees, from the top management to production workers, with the aim of building a company that pursues maximum efficiency in production system in keeping with the goal of “no accidents, no defects, and no trouble.”
Outline of NS-SUS
| Name |
NS-Siam United Steel Co., Ltd. (NS-SUS) |
| Location of headquarters |
Headquarters・Works: Map Ta Phut, Rayong Province Sales Office: Bangna, Bangkok |
| Business |
Manufacture and sale of cold-rolled steel, hot-dip galvanized, galvannealed steel sheets and tinplate steel |
| Capital |
13 billion baht (approx. 56 billion yen) |
| Shareholders |
Nippon Steel Corporation: 94.9% Nippon Steel Trading Corporation: 0.3% Thai Tinplate Mfg. Co. Ltd.: 4.8% |
| Production capacity |
Cold-rolled steel sheets: 1 million tons/year Hot-dip galvanized and galvannealed steel sheets: 360,000 tons/year Tinplate steel: 230,000 tons/year |
| Number of employees |
Approximately 1,500 |
The Nippon Steel Group will always seek the best technologies in the world as well as the power of manufacturing and continue to contribute to the progress of society through activities that also match the sustainable development goals (SDGs) adopted by the United Nations (“Responsible Production and Consumption”).
For inquiries
https://www.nipponsteel.com/en/contact/