In November, Nizhny Novgorod hosted the First Russian Lean Congress called Double Your Efficiency: Putting Words into Action. The Congress promotes best practices of corporate lean programmes that seek to increase efficiency and improve product quality.

Worldwide, up to 60% of companies leverage lean production technologies, whereas in Russia this share is much lower and stands at approximately 10%, according to the Lean Forum, the sponsor of the first Russian Congress. "Performance improvement is Russia's priority objective for the coming years. Lack of progress in that field renders sustainable and economic development of the country impossible. Efficiency leaders are the locomotives that power the Russian economy ahead," said Mr Baranov, Chairman of the Lean Forum.

During the Congress, the organisers announced the results of the Russian efficiency leaders contest named after Alexei Gastev, a prominent Russian and Soviet social activist and politician.

In the 1920s Alexei Gastev became head of the Central Institute of Labour and worked to develop a system promoting human development as the main driver behind performance improvements. His theory had a lot in common with the ideas of Frederick Taylor, a leading proponent of scientific management.

The Gastev Cup was established in 2010 and was inspired by the Shingo Prize, which is often dubbed the Nobel Prize for Manufacturing. The Shingo Prize was introduced by Utah State University (USA) to honour Shigeo Shingo, an outstanding Japanese manager. He was one of the masterminds behind the Toyota Production System, which came to be known as the prototype of the lean concept. In both cases, the projects aim to have the production systems reviewed and approved by independent experts. In Russia, the reviews are carried out both based on the submitted documents and as part of on-site audits.

This year, some 60 companies and organisations competed to win the contest. There were 22 nominations, and SIBUR's production sites won prizes in nine of them. The Grand Prix was awarded to the Company's Tomsk site, which also won the highest prize in an additional nomination, The Leader of the Chemical and Petrochemical Industry. SIBUR also won the Gastev Cup in the main nomination, The Absolute Corporate Leader, and the additional one (The Scale Leader). The Company provided an opportunity for the Congress delegates to visit its production sites in Nizhny Novgorod, Kstovo and Dzerzhinsk so that they could see first-hand how ongoing improvement projects were being implemented.

SIBUR's facilities have won the contest for the second year running, with the Tolyatti site taking the Grand Prix last year. "SIBUR set about implementing its production system back in 2010, having covered all the production sites and the support, service and management companies by now. We constantly improve our labour framework, seeking to ensure stronger employee engagement and develop a continuous improvement system. That is why our production facilities report excellent operating and financial results. Winning the award for the second consecutive year confirms that we are on the right track," said Denis Samokhvalov, Head of HR and Efficiency Management.

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