The twentieth Lean in Europe visit took place in Spain's Basque Country on Monday 12 & Tuesday 13 November 2018. The usual Lean in Europe terms and conditions apply.

Mission location: Basque Country, Spain (closest airport is Bilbao, BIO). 25 places, priority was given to applicants with some experience in implementing lean.  Cost: No participation fee, although all participants had to cover their own travel and accommodation costs.

Day 1 - Preparatory evening at the Basquegame Lab

The prep evening included: a lean activity led by Richard Keegan (Adjunct Professor - Trinity Business School, Dublin and Lean advisor to the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation), information on the opportunities offered by the EU-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement, insight into lean programming and ensuring quality by some of the Basquegame Lab's members and a networking dinner featuring local delicacies.

Day 2 - Lean in Europe visit to GKN Driveline Zumaia

The visit included lectures, shop-floor visits, coaching and detailed explanations.

This visit focused on GKN Driveline's use of lean manufacturing deployment plant-wide, digital factory model and a Factory 4.0 roadmap.

GKN Driveline is a leading automotive driveline technology and systems engineer. It designs and manufactures an extensive range of driveline technologies for over 90% of the world's car manufacturers including for 2-wheel drive, 4-wheel drive, hybrid and electric vehicles.