CDI Holdings · Case Study Library
SAMS — Schoeller Allibert Manufacturing Standards · Schwerin, Germany
Schoeller Allibert Schwerin
Coaching as the Catalyst — Turning Small Conversations into Long-Term Results
Schoeller Allibert European Operations · Schwerin Plant, Germany · 35,000 Tonnes/Year · 28 Injection Moulding Machines · 200+ Employees
11
Consecutive quarters
OEE improvement
OEE improvement
429
Improvement ideas
implemented
implemented
35K t
Annual output
28 machines
28 machines
200+
Employees across
the Schwerin site
the Schwerin site
Context
The Fourth European SAMS Plant — and the Coaching Case
Schoeller Allibert’s Schwerin site is a high-capacity injection moulding operation producing 35,000 tonnes annually across 28 machines with over 200 employees. In 2015, Schwerin initiated its Lean transformation through SAMS. Where Nurieux demonstrates recovery from failure, and Romont shows ideas culture at scale, Schwerin adds the third dimension of the SAMS story: coaching as the mechanism for making improvement sustainable.
The Challenge
Tools Without Behaviour Change — The Gap That Only Coaching Closes
Previous improvement efforts at Schwerin had relied on technical tools without producing sustainable behavioural change. Leadership routines and team mindsets had not shifted to support consistent execution of Lean principles across departments. The challenge was cultural before it was operational: without new ways of thinking about leadership, communication, and daily routines, the tools would remain tools and never become habits.
“Coaching is the key to success.”
“Coaching is the key to success.”
The Approach
Shift Thinking, Build Systems, Sustain Results — Through Coaching
1
Replacing Old Thinking with New ThinkingOld thinking — top-down, skill-centric, rigid, siloed — was explicitly contrasted with new thinking: behaviour-first, open, mobile, unified. Leaders were repositioned as facilitators of performance rather than controllers of it. Gemba walks reframed from inspection routines into learning and relationship-building opportunities — the leader there to ask, listen, and develop, not audit and direct.
2
SAMS Modules and SQSWT Goal AlignmentSAMS modules coached into deployment: MBU, 5S, Problem Solving, Asset Care, Self-Management, and Quality. Visual management used to align goals across all teams using SQSWT logic — Safety, Quality, Speed, Waste, Teamwork — making the five dimensions of performance visible, shared, and consistently prioritised across shifts and departments.
3
Embedded Routines for Reflection and IterationEvery department developed embedded routines for reflection, target-setting, and problem-solving. The structured process — grasp the current condition, establish the next target, iterate toward improvement — gave teams a repeatable improvement cycle that did not depend on external facilitation to continue. PDCA and feedback loops applied across shifts and functions.
4
Independent Problem-Solving Across DepartmentsBy 2017, more departments at Schwerin were engaging in structured problem-solving without external prompt. 429 improvement ideas implemented, 107 more in progress: the innovation output of a workforce that had internalised the improvement habit rather than performing it under observation.
5
Every Gemba Walk Is a Coaching OpportunityMichael Klünder’s insight captures the philosophy: “Every Gemba walk is a coaching opportunity.” Not an audit. Not a performance review. A coaching opportunity — to ask questions, listen, and develop the capability of the person beside you at the machine. The shift from manager-as-expert to leader-as-coach determines whether structured improvement systems sustain or decay. At Schwerin, that choice was made deliberately across 11 quarters of OEE improvement.
SAMS European Network
Nurieux, France — Recovery from 3 failed initiatives: trust rebuilt through respect and inclusive implementation.
Romont, Switzerland — Ideas culture & J1-J2 progression: problem-solving hubs, 3 ideas/person/year.
Schwerin, Germany — Coaching-led transformation: 11 quarters of OEE improvement, 429 ideas implemented.
Global SAMS — 13 plants, 3,141 ideas, 20+ OEE pts: one system with 13 expressions.
Results — 2015 to 2017
Eleven Quarters of Improvement and a Culture That Coaches Itself
11 Qtrs
OEE Improvement
OEE improved steadily across 11 consecutive quarters — the sustained trajectory that distinguishes a coaching culture from an event-driven improvement programme.
429
Ideas Implemented
429 improvement ideas implemented and 107 more in progress — the innovation output of a team that owned its improvement rather than waiting to be prompted.
Lower
Downtime
Reductions in mould, machine, and automation downtime across departments as Asset Care and problem-solving disciplines became embedded team habits.
Independent
Problem-Solving
More departments independently conducting structured problem-solving — the most important behavioural shift: capability that sustains when the coach is not present.
Visible
Leadership Behaviour
Behavioural change visible in leadership routines and team ownership — Gemba walks transformed from inspection events to genuine coaching conversations.
SAMS
Culture Embedded
SAMS not just deployed but culturally embedded — the Schwerin plant contributing to a European network of sites that share language, standards, and improvement momentum.
“
Every Gemba walk is a coaching opportunity.
Michael Klünder · Schoeller Allibert Schwerin · SAMS Transformation Programme
Key Insight
Schwerin completes the Schoeller Allibert SAMS story in the CDI library. Nurieux recovered from failure; Romont built an ideas culture; Schwerin embedded coaching as the operating philosophy. Together they demonstrate that SAMS is not a standard applied uniformly — it is a shared language in which each site finds its own most important lever. At Schwerin, that lever was the daily conversation between a leader and a team member at the machine.
