SEAT Wins the Prestigious Lean Award for the Efficiency of Its Production Processes

MARTORELL, SPAIN - October 24, 2013: The SEAT factory in Martorell has been distinguished with the Automotive Lean Production award for the quality and efficiency of its production processes. More specifically, the Spanish company was singled out in the OEM category (Original Equipment Manufacturer) by the renowned annual study conducted by the German trade journal Automobil Produktion, whose jury based their decision on the improvements and constant innovation implemented by SEAT in recent years to streamline their production processes. SEAT Vice-president for Production Dr. Andreas Tostmann and SEAT Head of Martorell Production Plant Dr. Stefan Loth were given the coveted international award in the ceremony held in Wolfsburg, Germany.

For the first time in the eight editions of these industry honours, the jury of the renowned German study has awarded a first-place finish to a Spanish factory. According to the expert panel of jury members, SEAT has succeeded in implementing and developing a production system that comprehensively reflects current Lean Manufacturing principles, based on doing things more efficiently, especially in the areas of quality, logistics and personnel development. “We were impressed with the Lean spirit adopted by the SEAT team”, they stressed.

Dr. Tostmann thanked the jury for the award: “We are proud that the positive results we have achieved in recent years have been recognized internationally”. He went on to say that the prize “confirms that SEAT is on the right path and proves that productivity, competitiveness and the quality of our production processes are of the highest level”. This award is a starting point, commented Dr. Tostmann, “consistent with the Lean Manufacturing philosophy, our objective is to continuously improve”.

Dr. Loth added that in addition, the award “recognizes the hard work carried out by the SEAT team and comes thanks to the commitment and consistency shown by every one of the company’s workers”.

Automotive Lean Production Award

From 2006 the renowned study Automotive Lean Production Award & Study organized by the trade journal AUTOMOBIL PRODUKTION and the management consultancy Agamus Consult investigate which are the best fabrics in terms of innovation and flexibility and how they have achieved it. This has been the eighth edition of the prestigious international Automotive Lean Production award. Since 2006, more than 700 factories in over 15 countries including Germany, France, Spain and Italy have vied for this prize, which is one of the most important in Europe.