By Mike Schnee, Sr. Director Automation Enabling Technologies
Continuous improvement does not end when a Kaizen event concludes. In many ways, that is when the most important work begins.
Twelve weeks after President’s Kaizen Week 2026, teams reconvened to share what happened after the event ended. While Kaizen Week is designed to generate breakthrough ideas and improvement plans, the Sustainment Award recognizes something even more important: successfully embedding those improvements into the business and delivering measurable results over time.
This year’s top honor was awarded to the team from Suzhou, China, whose project focused on growing and sustaining our Air Bearing Spindles (ABS) business while building a stronger, more resilient operating model.
The Sustainment Award is intentionally different from traditional Kaizen recognition. It is not based on the ideas generated during the event itself. Instead, it recognizes the team that most effectively implemented those ideas and integrated them into daily operations, demonstrating that the business operates differently because of the improvements made.
The Suzhou team’s work exemplified that goal.
Their Kaizen focused on transforming the ABS business from a cyclical growth model into a sustainable, scalable operation positioned for long-term success. The team developed a comprehensive growth strategy, identified operational constraints, established new management systems and created a structure that connected strategy, commercial execution, new product introduction and operations.
Most importantly, those outputs did not remain project deliverables.
The team embedded them into the way the business operates. Obeya boards became part of regular business reviews. Growth opportunities were managed through standardized processes. Operational readiness plans, expansion strategies and long-term sustainment actions became integrated into everyday decision-making and execution.
Their achievement reflects one of the core principles of the Novanta Growth System: Improvement creates lasting value only when it becomes part of how we work every day.
Competition for the Sustainment Award was strong. Finalist teams represented initiatives across operations, commercial excellence, demand planning, project management, sales strategy and new product introduction. Together, they demonstrated meaningful progress in areas including inventory reduction, forecast accuracy, opportunity acceleration, project execution and on-time delivery.
Leaders noted during the review process that most teams successfully sustained or completed their Kaizen actions, highlighting the growing maturity of continuous improvement across our company. The Sustainment Award recognizes the team that most effectively translated those actions into lasting business impact.
The Suzhou team’s success demonstrates what is possible when improvement efforts extend beyond a single event and become embedded into the operating system of the business.
It is a powerful example of One Novanta in action: employees working across functions, disciplines and regions to create systems that drive growth and strengthen execution to support our long-term strategy.
The goal is never simply to complete a Kaizen. The goal is to make the business better long after the event ends.