Building on a Lean Foundation, Guided by Six Sigma: Shanghai Handai Chemical Officially Launches Its Lean Management Upgrade Strategy

On December 22, 2025, Shanghai Handai Chemical Co., Ltd. held a kick-off meeting for the strategic upgrade of Lean Management and Six Sigma. General Manager Shen Yue presided over the meeting and delivered a systematic deployment. He emphasized that in the face of higher demands from direct clients such as Jotun, Hempel, PPG, Weilburger Coatings, Nippon Paint, Valspar, and Lear Corporation, as well as leading international enterprises served through distributors—including Meckvich, AkzoNobel, and the global leader in adhesive materials, Avery Dennison—alongside top domestic partners like Chongqing Sanxia, Aerospace Sanfeng, and Oriental Yuhong, particularly regarding delivery cycles, product stability, and sustainability compliance, the company must deeply integrate Lean Management and Six Sigma into the entire chain of R&D, production, supply, and service. This integration aims to secure long-term customer trust through consistently excellent quality and efficiency.

General Manager Shen Yue pointed out that Lean and Six Sigma are not only management tools for optimizing efficiency but also the core strategy for the company's high-quality development over the next 3–5 years. To this end, the company will officially launch the 'Dual-Drive Training Program' to systematically build a learning-oriented organization guided by Lean principles:

1. Trainer System: Combining Internal and External Expertise, Practical Experience + Cutting-Edge Methods—In addition to relying on internal experts who have already obtained Black Belt certification, external authoritative consultants and industry mentors will be introduced to form a composite training force that combines 'internal practical experience with external前沿methodologies.'
   
2. Training Pathway: Tiered Advancement, Certification Linked to Career Development—A progressive curriculum from 'Yellow Belt' and 'Green Belt' to 'Black Belt' will be designed, covering personnel from frontline operators to management. Certification results will be directly linked to career advancement and role empowerment.
   
3. Practical Mechanism: Project-Oriented, Applying Learning to Practice—Employees will be encouraged to form improvement teams focused on actual business pain points such as quality enhancement, energy consumption reduction, and delivery acceleration. Under the guidance of mentors, they will complete certification projects to achieve 'learning through practice and validating learning through practice.'
   
   

At the meeting, Lü Hongfei, the head of the factory—who is one of the company's first Six Sigma Black Belt-certified experts and managers—spoke on behalf of the production system. He stated: 'The production system will resolutely implement the company's strategy, truly transforming Six Sigma and Lean Management into a standardized working language and a data-driven mindset. We will start with key areas such as production line layout optimization, process standardization implementation, and production fluctuation control, setting quantifiable quarterly improvement goals and gradually incorporating Lean indicators into the daily management dashboard. Our core objective is to make 'continuous improvement' the DNA of the Handai factory.'

The meeting clarified that the company will establish a 'Lean Six Sigma Promotion Committee,' led personally by General Manager Shen Yue, to develop a clear three-year implementation roadmap. Progress will be disclosed to all employees and partners quarterly. The initial focus will be on promoting production line process standardization and the first batch of Yellow Belt training for employees, which is expected to launch next month. This strategic upgrade is not merely the introduction of management methods but also a deep transformation of organizational culture and mindset, marking a critical step for Handai Chemical toward becoming an 'internationally first-class chemical manufacturing and service enterprise.'

Rooted in high customer demands and facing industry benchmarks, Shanghai Handai Chemical, which specializes in water-based epoxy curing agents and high-performance water-based coatings, will take this kick-off meeting as a new starting point. It will drive full employee participation and comprehensive process Lean initiatives, aiming to achieve a 30% increase in production efficiency and a 50% reduction in product defect rates over three years. This effort will further solidify collaboration with multinational clients and create stable, sustainable value for global partners.