On 19 & 20 February 2014, 14 engineers from 9 EU Member-States attended the second visit, to Kostwein Maschinenbau GmbH in Klagenfurt, Austria, organised under the EU-Japan Centre's 'Lean in Europe - Driving Competitiveness' initiative.

Following a preparatory lecture from Prof. Richard Keegan of Enterprise Ireland, the participants visited Kostwein’s machining hall & apprentice training area and then its assembly area. During the visit, Kostwein’s representatives explained how they implemented Lean and best practices principles in their company.

The visit proved to be very interesting for participants as evidenced by the many questions put to Kostwein’s representatives.

The visit ended with a debriefing meeting during which suggestions and ideas were shared between the participants.   

The goal of the Centre's Lean in Europe activity is to inspire and help participants adopt best practice techniques by seeing them in action in leading European factories.

10 years on from the first visit, Kostwein will host a follow-up visit on 5 & 6 February 2024. See this webpage for more information.