The 31st Lean in Europe visit was to RATIONAL's award-winning factory in Landsberg, Germany. Voted "Factory of the Year" in 2022, it is the world leader for multifunctional appliances used in professional kitchens. Established in 1973, RATIONAL's innovative cooking systems are used around the world to produce 140m meals a day. RATIONAL has more than 600 patents in operation or in application.
12 participants from a range of industries (pyrotechnics metal forming, machining of metal parts, textile machines, consulting, automotive supply, aerospace, bespoke manufacturing, lifting equipment, cork stoppers and outdoor equipment) took part in this two-day visit. The visit was hosted by RATIONAL's Peter Wiedemann (Chief Operations Officer) and by Harald Greiner (Executive Vice President for Production & Delivery Process).
The first evening ended up with a practical demonstration of the cooking systems in operation having begun with presentations about RATIONAL and its production processes including its use of:
The second day consisted of in-depth visits with explanations to RATIONAL's 3 plants in Landsberg and a debriefing session led by Richard Keegan, Adjunct Professor of Lean Operational Excellence at Trinity Business School, the EU-Japan Centre's Lean Advisor.
For more information on the host company, click on its logo.
Lean in Europe visits aim to facilitate discussions of good practice and the sharing of ideas. Originally started in 2013, 31 visits to 33 companies have taken place so far, with 668 participants to date.
For a look inside a Lean in Europe visit see the highlights videos from the visits to SkiBeat (2023), PakMarkas (2022) or HansaMatrix (2017). Details of other past visits can be found in the Lean in Europe visit archive.
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Joint venture established in 1987 by the European Commission (DG GROW) and the Japanese Government (METI) for promoting all forms of industrial, trade and investment cooperation between the EU and Japan.
