Key systems are the foundation of organizational excellence. According to the Shingo Model, systems must be intentionally designed to achieve specific end objectives; if left unmanaged, they evolve unpredictably. Systems drive the behavior of people within an organization, and variation in behavior inevitably leads to variation in results. Sustained excellence requires well-designed, aligned systems that consistently promote the ideal behaviors needed to sustain ideal results.

Shingo Licensed Affiliates can nominate one (non-Shingo Site Recipient) organization each year that has built and evolved a model system aligned to the Shingo Guiding Principles, where measurable improvement over time is clearly attributable to that system—not to isolated tools or short-term initiatives. The system must demonstrably drive behaviors closer to ideal while improving performance outcomes. Recipients of this award have benchmark-worthy systems from which others can learn.