Rinnai – Factory Tour
Rinnai Corporation is a Japanese multinational heat and energy appliance manufacturer headquartered in Nagoya, Japan. The company has 14 subsidiaries and production bases in Japan as well as over 30 manufacturing subsidiaries overseas.
Corporate Information
- Company: Rinnai Corporation
- Foundation: 1920
- Location: Headquartered in Aichi Prefecture
- Main Business: Manufacturing of heating products
Rinnai Corporation – Lean Characteristics
TQS, TPM
Rinnai’s catchphrase “quality is our destiny” epitomizes a corporate obsession with quality. They keep production of key components in-house at three of their own factories and 14 manufacturing affiliates under the Rinnai Group umbrella in Japan. By realizing this high in-house production ratio, they have control over quality and strive for zero-defect status.
The basis for manufacturing and all aspects of the process at Rinnai is to think and act from a scientific perspective. They have built a market-orientated production system that combines policy management, the quality control cycle, and continuous improvement proposal activities, based on a bottom-up approach heavily influenced by the Toyota Production System, and utilizing Total Productive Maintenance and Total Quality Management.
All employees participate in improvement and TPM efforts. They maintain a multi-product, mixed-flow production system based on actual demand. Through their own logistics network, they can realize timely delivery.
We learned from the masters (sensei), who were filled with wisdom, passion and experience. The Lean Japan Tour content was very practical and made a lot of sense. We received excellent hospitality from Paul and Craig of Shinka Management.
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A great mix of Japanese Business Etiquette, site visits show-casing lean principles, Japanese Culture and networking with the other members of the group. Both Ben & Paul were professional yet relaxed and friendly. Their relationships with key personnel in strategic lean businesses is impressive and their ability to translate quickly & accurately minimised the language…
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It has been a great and eye-opening tour. It made me believe more that lean is possible and achievable. The way the tour was organised impressed me – your team has put time and effort into making the program well-organised and enjoyable. Thank you for keeping up the standard and keeping lean awareness going for…
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It was an exciting experience learning about Japan’s culture and industrial mentality. I had the honor of seeing and experiencing the industrial culture in Japan and exploring the reasons for its prosperity based on the principle of “kaizen”, as well as witnessing the work environment in a distinctive way embodied in the principle of 5S. It was…
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It was a fasntastic tour from the beginning to the end. It was very well-organised and informative. Sessions were followed with practical training which concentrated more on the ideas that had been explained. The factories visited were chosen in a way that allowed the participants to see a live supply chain work. Big thanks to…
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If you have embarked on a lean journey The Lean Study Tour should be on your bucket list! It was inspiring to see the Toyota Production System in action as a management system, as well as the small improvements made day in and day out by dedicated and motivated teams all striving to continuously improve.…
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The Shinka Management Lean Japan Tour is a professional development program run several times annually. The program includes a mix of lean and kaizen seminars, hands-on lean training and visits to several benchmark lean companies. For further information and program dates, see the lean tour overview page.
Tour Inquiries
Interested in joining us in Japan? For additional information prior to registration please fill in the form provided or contact us.