Four Principles celebrates second Kaizen Awards in Riyadh Ceremony

• Tania Bottled Drinking Water Company and National Water Company recognized as leaders in second annual Kaizen Awards
• Awards established by Saudi Arabia’s first dedicated Lean Management experts
• Principles of the kaizen philosophy first pioneered by Japanese corporations and designed to boost efficiency and performance, eliminate waste, and maximize utilization of resources

Four Principles, the leading Lean Management consultancy and part of Abdul Latif Jameel, announced the winners of the region’s second Kaizen Awards in a ceremony last week.

Following the success of last year’s inaugural Kaizen Awards – which saw the top prize go to Sulaiman Al-Habib Medical Group – the four organizations recognized at this year’s ceremony held at Riyadh’s Faisaliah Hotel include:

• Lean Transformation Award: Tania Bottled Drinking Water Company
• Lean Transformation Runner-up: IKEA Saudi Arabia & Bahrain
• Continuous Improvement Award: National Water Company
• Continuous Improvement Runner-up: Abdul Latif Jameel United Finance

Eng. Showimy bin Ajayan Al Ktab, CEO of Tania Bottled Water Company receiving the ‘Lean Transformation’ Winner Award

Four Principles established the awards last year to publicly recognize industry pioneers who have seen tangible commercial benefits in adopting the kaizen approach. As a result, the companies celebrated at the second ceremony have seen improvements in the categories of customer satisfaction, business efficiency, increased agility, reduced waste and stronger profitability.

Mr. Murtadha Alalawi and Mr. Abdullah Faisal receiving the ‘Lean Transformation’ Runner-up Award and representing IKEA Saudi Arabia and Bahrain

Co-Founder & Managing Partner of Four Principles, Seif Shieshakly, said: “Our goal at Four Principles is to spread the Japanese Lean Management philosophy in the Middle East, demonstrating that it is not merely a management toolkit, but a profound change of corporate culture – from the bottom of the organization to the very top.

“The awards tonight is only one part of that, and we will shortly be announcing further details on a new kaizen training academy in the heart of Riyadh.”

Eng. Saleh Al-Ghamdi and Eng. Abdullah Al Bishi receiving the ‘Continuous Improvement Winner Award’ and representing National Water Company

Prizes on offer included a five-day trip to Japan for company representatives to experience first-hand how Lean practices are implemented in pioneering local Japanese firms.

Guest of honor Mr. Joachim Raber, Global Director Product & Licenses, Porsche Design Group, also spoke on the topic of ‘How the Lean Management Philosophy continues to inspire and drive the strategy and the operations of Porsche Design Group’s product & licenses business.’

Originally developed by Toyota to transform the efficiency of its production system, Kaizen principles, which lie at the heart of Lean management, aim to reduce waste, improve quality, and accelerate lead times. Ultimately, the methodology can improve business-wide efficiency and deliver a corporate culture capable of delivering a smooth and adaptable workflow.

Eng. Sinan Al-Saady receiving the ‘Continuous Improvement’ runner-up award on behalf of Abdul Latif Jameel United Finance from Seif Shieshakly and Patrick Wiebusch, Four Principles Managing Partners

Four Principles, which is part of Abdul Latif Jameel, works with businesses across Saudi Arabia and the wider region to drive better performance through the adoption of Kaizen principles, in line Saudi Vision 2030 to improve competitiveness and productivity.

Four Principles will release more details on a dedicated training academy, based in Riyadh, for Saudi Arabian public and private sectors shortly.