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.



Paul and Ben from Shinka Management need to be commended for the tour that they ran in Japan. The experience has enlightened and energised me to intensify the lean efforts within our organisation. The tour was packed full of knowledge building as well as relationship building with other participants all whilst experiencing a cultural treat…
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This tour was recommended to me by our VP Operations who undertook the tour the previous year. Both Ben and Paul provided an excellent tour of the Japanese manufacturing industry and the program was both well run and highly focused towards the practical implementation of lean strategies. There were plenty of opportunities to ask questions…
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The whole tour was very professionally undertaken and led. Paul and Ben have to be congratulated for putting together a very informative and very enjoyable experience. The itinerary was excellent and to see from the raw material all the way through the supply chain through to the finished product was superb. I loved the thought…
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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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I highly recommend the Lean Study Tour of Japan as an experience not to be missed. Having attended the tour for the past three years, supporting our clients, I have come away with new learnings every time. Whether you are new to Lean Thinking or well into your Lean Journey you will undoubtedly have an…
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Dear Paul, Thank you for the nice experience you and your team were able to provide me! It has been a very professional tour and even more a very nice human connection with you, David and Eri. You have built a nice team that makes people’s lives change! Ciao, Maurizio
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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.