World Class Manufacturing

Discover Japan's approach to World-Class Manufacturing Learn how Japanese firms achieve superior production standards Focus on the latest trends by visiting the top manufacturing plants in Japan Get a close look at "the real GEMBA" ("production site" in Japanese) Meet senior Japanese industry leaders

Since the 1992 first edition, more than 900 participants from across all EU Member States have participated in this hands-on training course.

The 5-day World Class Manufacturing training mission provides in-depth analysis of Japanese manufacturing methods and is aimed at EU managers with knowledge of WCM and an engineering background. It assists the participants to gain a better understanding of TQC (Total Quality Control), TQM (Total Quality Management), TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), JIT (Just In Time), TIE (Total Industrial Engineering) practices and  current KAIZEN manufacturing methods (Continuous Improvement).

The training course consists of lectures, workshops and visits to some of the world’s most advanced Japanese factories in order to understand the real "GEMBA" (production site), talk directly with their production managers and observe the effective implementation of manufacturing methods.

This course gives its participants a detailed understanding of current Japanese approaches that they can adapt to help their companies lean journeys.

WCM is organised twice a year, in October and in March.