Shigeo Shingo "Only the Last Turn" Sticker

ONLY THE LAST TURN TIGHTENS THE BOLT

Remind yourself or the experts at the frontline about over-processing with this Lean legend (on vinyl).

Lean manufacturing experts, operational excellence pros, six sigma peeps, and industrial engineers are going to dig this comic book nod to Shigeo Shingo.

Venezuelan artist Leimar Bolivar posed Shingo as a samurai in front of the shimmering red sun, wielding a screwdriver instead of a katana. 

Stick Shingo on a grinder, on a laptop, on a lathe... Wherever this most insidious of seven wastes occurs. 

NOT AVAILABLE IN STORES!

#IYKYK. If you don’t know…

Shigeo Shingo (or Shingō Shigeo to be true to the Japanese name ordering) is the industrial engineer often credited as the preeminent expert on lean manufacturing and the Toyota Production System (AKA TPS). Despite the strong association with the automotive giant, especially in the West, Shingo never was an employee of Toyota. During the period of his career that most of its highlights, he was a consultant.

“Only the last turn tightens the bolt,” was Shingo's concise summary of over-processing, one of the seven wastes. The Toyota Production System’s taxonomy of muda has come to be known as the 7 Wastes:

1. Defects
2. Delay
3. Over-production
4. Over-processing
5. Travel/Transport
6. Inventory
7. Motion

The highly lauded subject of our sticker is the father of poka-yoke, zero quality control, and single minute exchange of die (SMED). Shingo was a deep thinker, a professor, and perhaps most importantly—a chronicler of Lean and the Toyota Production System. He authored at least six books on the subject.

His enduring legacy lives on in the namesake of the Shingo Prize for Operational Excellence, which is administered by Utah State University. 

He was mild-mannered and knew how to slice waste from a process, sorta like a samurai. Cinephiles may have noticed the nod to Kurosawa’s 1954 masterpiece, Seven Samurai.

OFFERED EXCLUSIVELY TO QI CURIOSITIES CUSTOMERS

LIMITED TIME ONLY!

Buying in small batches pays! Get an escalating discount when you buy multiple stickers in any combination. UP TO 30% OFF! 

• Tier 1 - Buy 4 - 5 for 10% off.
• Tier 2 - Buy 6 - 7 for 20% off.
• Tier 3 - Buy 8+ for 30% off.

So go nuts. These things are cheap to start with!

• Artist: Leimar Bolivar (Venezuela)
• High opacity film that’s impossible to see through
• Fast and easy bubble-free application
• Durable vinyl
• 95µ density

Don't forget to clean the surface before applying the sticker.

Size guide