Debrecen4U September 17, 2026

Schaeffler Debrecen Wins KAIZEN Hungary Award

This year’s KAIZEN™ Award Hungary prizes were presented at the University of Debrecen’s Innovation Centre on Tuesday, with the involvement of the university’s Faculty of Engineering. According to a report published by unideb.hu on Wednesday, the winner was Schaeffler Motion Technologies Debrecen Kft. Like the winning company, the University of Debrecen’s Faculty of Engineering also considers the application and teaching of the kaizen philosophy and lean management methods important to its operations.

KAIZEN™ Award Hungary recognises Hungarian companies that apply KAIZEN™ and Lean principles aimed at continuous improvement in innovative and effective ways.

Norbert Mátrai, Assistant Professor at the Department of Engineering Management at the University of Debrecen’s Faculty of Engineering, explained that leading and most competitive industrial companies from around the world enter the competition organised by the Kaizen Institute. “When assessing the entries, the main consideration is how well they meet the criteria of the kaizen mindset. This includes, for example, the extent to which a company focuses on customer needs, how well it can establish an operating model that best meets those needs, and how competitively it can do so in terms of quality, cost and adherence to deadlines,” Norbert Mátrai explained.

The Assistant Professor stressed that one of the faculty’s fundamental objectives is to ensure that, alongside solid, up-to-date engineering knowledge, students also acquire a modern approach to engineering management thinking. This is a fundamental requirement expressed by industrial companies in the region. “Debrecen is developing very rapidly, and companies are bringing increasingly complex and advanced technologies to the city. Knowledge of engineering management, as well as lean and kaizen tools and methodologies, is now a basic expectation of industrial companies when it comes to engineering graduates leaving the university. We aim to ensure that our students are not only able to design and operate the industrial systems of the future, but are also capable of continuously improving them,” Norbert Mátrai said.

At the event, participants were welcomed by Balázs Bessenyey, Managing Director of Kaizen Institute Hungary; Domicián Máté, lecturer at the Department of Engineering Management at the University of Debrecen’s Faculty of Engineering; and Zoltán Pécskay, Managing Director of EDC Debrecen, the city’s economic and urban development centre.

Ulrich Wolfers, KAIZEN™ Institute Global’s Director of Brand and Licensing, explained that state or private organisations and companies headquartered in Hungary could enter the KAIZEN™ Award with projects completed within the previous two years.

This year’s KAIZEN™ Award was won by Schaeffler Motion Technologies Debrecen Kft., with special professional awards presented to Dryvit Profi Kft., ACPS Automotive Kft. and Contitech Fluid Automotive Hungária Kft.

Source and photo credit: dehir.hu