Results and Development
A ranking that shows
progress.
Lean Champions does not measure which company is the “best factory”. The ranking shows how well each participant is able to achieve its own goals, develop its projects and build on its results throughout the year. Below, you can follow the quarterly and annual results, as well as the way the evaluation is calculated.
01
Transparent criteria
Each participant knows in advance how the result is calculated.
02
Competing with yourself
The goal is progress compared with your own starting point.
03
Development throughout the year
Each quarter is the next step, not a separate result.
Evaluation System
How is the result
calculated?
Participants do not compete against each other, but against their own goals and previous results. At the end of each quarter, the evaluation is based on three criteria.
01
5S
The participant selects an area that is audited at the beginning and at the end of the quarter.
When the predefined target is achieved,
the participant receives 100%.
02
Kaizen Project
Each participant carries out an improvement project with a specific, measurable target – quality, productivity, SMED or another business indicator.
When the defined target is achieved, the result is
100%.
03
Participant Ranking
At the quarterly meeting, each team presents its project. The other participants rank it from 1st to 13th place, without being allowed to rank themselves.
1st place receives 12 points, 2nd place – 11 points, continuing down to 1 point.
The maximum result is 288 points,
which is converted into a percentage.
Quarterly Score
Arithmetic average of the three criteria:
5S + Kaizen + participant ranking.
Annual Score
Arithmetic average of the results
from Q1, Q2, Q3 and Q4.
Selection of the Lean Champion
85%
Annual score from the four quarters
15%
Evaluation by the international jury
Differences in the 2025 Evaluation System
Voting among participants:
In 2025, participants gave scores from
1 to 6, without being allowed to vote for themselves.
The resulting score was converted into a percentage
and included in the final quarterly evaluation.
Final annual evaluation:
50% annual score +
50% evaluation from the annual ceremony,
calculated as the average of the participant voting
and the international jury evaluation.
🏅 Annual Ranking – 2025
| Company | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Average (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kostal Bulgaria Automotive Ltd. 🥇 | 94.9% | 91.0% | 90.4% | 89.7% | 91.5% |
| NIKI Ltd. 🥈 | 93.3% | 87.0% | 88.1% | 86.6% | 88.8% |
| APS Trading Ltd. 🥉 | 93.3% | 87.0% | 90.4% | 83.8% | 88.6% |
| TVH Bulgaria Ltd. | 90.3% | 87.0% | 91.2% | 84.9% | 88.3% |
| Linamar Light Metals Ruse Ltd. | 85.6% | 91.0% | 93.1% | 82.1% | 87.9% |
| Alcomet AD – Automotive Team | 83.9% | 89.0% | 89.7% | 87.4% | 87.5% |
| Alcomet AD – Presses Team | 85.7% | 86.0% | 85.7% | 85.3% | 85.7% |
| LEM Bulgaria Ltd. | 91.1% | 67.0% | 90.4% | 85.7% | 83.6% |
🏆 Lean Champion 2025 – Final Annual Result
Overall evaluation of the Q1–Q4 2025 performance, based on the annual average result, jury evaluation and participant voting.
| Lean Champions |
Average Result Q1–Q4 2025
(50%) |
Jury Evaluation
(25%) |
Participant Voting
(25%) |
Final Result
2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| NIKI Ltd. 🥇 | 44.38% | 23.33% | 16.07% | 83.78% |
| Alcomet AD – Automotive Team 🥈 | 43.75% | 22.50% | 15.48% | 81.72% |
| Kostal Bulgaria Automotive Ltd. 🥉 | 45.75% | 20.42% | 14.29% | 80.45% |
| TVH Bulgaria Ltd. | 44.17% | 20.42% | 14.29% | 78.87% |
| Linamar Light Metals Ruse Ltd. | 43.97% | 22.08% | 11.90% | 77.96% |
| Alcomet AD – Presses Team | 42.83% | 20.83% | 15.00% | 78.67% |
| LEM Bulgaria Ltd. | 41.78% | 25.00% | 11.31% | 78.09% |
| APS Trading Ltd. | 44.32% | 20.42% | 11.31% | 76.04% |
Evaluation: 50% annual average result • 25% jury evaluation • 25% participant voting
🏅 Participants' Award – 2025
Voting by the new 2026 participants (score from 1 to 3)
| No. | Lean Champions | Individual Scores (1–3) | Average Score |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kostal Bulgaria Automotive Ltd. 🥇 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2.88 |
| 2 | NIKI Ltd. 🥈 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2.75 |
| 3 | Linamar Light Metals Ruse Ltd. 🥉 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2.50 |
| 4 | Alcomet AD – Automotive Team | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2.25 |
| 5 | APS Trading Ltd. | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2.00 |
| 6 | LEM Bulgaria Ltd. | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1.88 |
| 7 | TVH Bulgaria Ltd. | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1.88 |
| 8 | Alcomet AD – Presses Team | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1.38 |
🗳️ The scores were given by the new participants joining Lean Champions in 2026.
📊 Q1 2025 Ranking – Lean Champions
| No. | Lean Champions | 5S | Kaizen | Voting |
Final Q1 Score |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit 1 | Audit 2 | Target | Score (%) | KPI | Before Q1 | After Q1 | Target | Score (%) | Rating | Score (%) | |||
| 1 | Kostal Bulgaria Automotive Ltd. | 94% | 96% | 96% | 100% | Efficiency | 89.7% | 99.8% | 99.8% | 100% | 5.2 | 84.6% | 94.9% 🥇 |
| 2 | APS Trading Ltd. | 25% | 81% | 45% | 100% | Man-hours per unit of production | 0.57 | 0.35 | 0.51 | 100% | 5.0 | 80.0% | 93.3% 🥈 |
| 3 | NIKI Ltd. | 23% | 68% | 60% | 100% | AM plan completion | 0.0% | 37.0% | 37.0% | 100% | 5.0 | 80.0% | 93.3% 🥈 |
| 4 | LEM Bulgaria Ltd. | 88% | 92% | 92% | 100% | AM plan completion | 0.0% | 20.0% | 20.0% | 100% | 4.7 | 73.3% | 91.1% 🥉 |
| 5 | TVH Bulgaria Ltd. | 9% | 61% | 45% | 100% | Average monthly production | 8729 | 9997 | 9200 | 100% | 4.5 | 70.8% | 90.3% |
| 6 | Alcomet AD – Presses Team | 22% | 43% | 45% | 96% | Yield | 58% | 65% | 65% | 100% | 4.1 | 61.4% | 85.7% |
| 7 | Linamar Light Metals Ruse Ltd. | 68% | 86% | 80% | 100% | FA 7 Efficiency | 40.0% | 53.0% | 52.0% | 100% | 3.8 | 56.7% | 85.6% |
| 8 | Alcomet AD – Automotive Team | 9% | 38% | 45% | 84% | Occupied pallets | 182 | 96 | 98 | 98% | 4.5 | 69.2% | 83.9% |
Color indicator: 🟢 above 90% | 🟡 80–90% | 🔴 below 80%
📊 Q2 2025 Ranking – Lean Champions
| No. | Lean Champions | 5S | Kaizen | Voting |
Final Q2 Score |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit 1 | Audit 2 | Target | Score (%) | KPI | Before Q2 |
After Q2 | Target | Score (%) | Rating | Score (%) | |||
| 1 | Kostal Bulgaria Automotive Ltd. | 98% | 98% | 98% | 100% | Scrap rate | 3.0% | 0.5% | 0.5% | 100% | 2.18 | 73% | 91% 🥇 |
| 2 | Linamar Light Metals Ruse Ltd. | 70% | 85% | 80% | 100% | Efficiency – Core Shop Department | 47.0% | 50.0% | 48.0% | 100% | 2.18 | 73% | 91% 🥇 |
| 3 | Alcomet AD – Automotive Team | 25% | 90% | 75% | 100% | AM plan completion (%) | 0 | 8% | 8% | 100% | 2.0 | 67% | 89% 🥈 |
| 4 | TVH Bulgaria Ltd. | 27% | 97% | 60% | 100% | Production lead time reduction (days) | 29 | 24 | 24 | 100% | 1.82 | 61% | 87% 🥉 |
| 5 | NIKI Ltd. | 57% | 94% | 97% | 97% | AM plan completion | 37.0% | 57.0% | 57.0% | 100% | 1.91 | 64% | 87% 🥉 |
| 6 | APS Trading Ltd. | 31% | 89% | 70% | 100% | Material preparation time reduction (min.) | 246 | 74 | 20% | 100% | 1.82 | 61% | 87% 🥉 |
| 7 | Alcomet AD – Presses Team | 43% | 88% | 90% | 98% | AM implementation in 3 areas (%) | 0 | 3 | 3 | 100% | 1.83 | 61% | 86% |
| 8 | LEM Bulgaria Ltd. | 30% | 73% | 70% | 100% | AM plan completion | 20.0% | 40.0% | 40.0% | 100% | 0.0 | 0% | 67% |
Color indicator: 🟢 above 90% | 🟡 80–90% | 🔴 below 80%
📊 Q3 2025 Ranking – Lean Champions
| No. | Lean Champions | 5S | Kaizen | Voting |
Final Q3 Score |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit 1 | Audit 2 | Target | Score (%) | KPI | Before Q3 |
After Q3 | Target | Score (%) | Rating | Score (%) | |||
| 1 | Linamar Light Metals Ruse Ltd. | 72% | 82% | 80% | 100% | Efficiency – Core Shop Department | 50.0% | 49.0% | 51.0% | 96% | 2.50 | 83% | 93.1% 🥇 |
| 2 | TVH Bulgaria Ltd. | 50% | 97% | 80% | 100% | Productivity – average number of cylinders produced per month | 45 | 53 | 50 | 100% | 2.21 | 74% | 91.2% 🥈 |
| 3 | Kostal Bulgaria Automotive Ltd. | 98% | 98% | 98% | 100% | Reduce monthly warehousing costs by 15% | € 270,000 | € 229,500 | € 229,500 | 100% | 2.14 | 71% | 90.4% 🥉 |
| 3 | APS Trading Ltd. | 44% | 93% | 75% | 100% | Improve the efficiency of the TPH line | 37.50% | 26.70% | 30% | 100% | 2.14 | 71% | 90.4% 🥉 |
| 3 | LEM Bulgaria Ltd. | 95% | 95% | 95% | 100% | AM plan completion | 17.0% | 37.0% | 37.0% | 100% | 2.14 | 71% | 90.4% 🥉 |
| 4 | Alcomet AD – Automotive Team | 25% | 90% | 75% | 100% | AM plan completion (%) | 8 | 24% | 24% | 100% | 2.07 | 69% | 89.7% |
| 5 | NIKI Ltd. | 53% | 85% | 80% | 100% | AM plan completion | 57.0% | 69.0% | 69.0% | 100% | 1.93 | 64% | 88.1% |
| 6 | Alcomet AD – Presses Team | 43% | 88% | 80% | 100% | AM implementation in 5 areas (%) | 3 | 8 | 5 | 100% | 1.71 | 57% | 85.7% |
Color indicator: 🟢 above 90% | 🟡 80–90% | 🔴 below 80%
📊 Q4 2025 Ranking – Lean Champions
| No. | Lean Champions | 5S | Kaizen | Voting |
Final Q4 Score |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit 1 | Audit 2 | Target | Score (%) | KPI | Before Q4 |
After Q4 | Target | Score (%) | Rating | Score (%) | |||
| 1 | Kostal Bulgaria Automotive Ltd. | 98% | 98% | 98% | 100% | FTE optimization in the raw material supply process | 3 | 0 | 0 | 100% | 2.07 | 69% | 89.7% 🥇 |
| 2 | Alcomet AD – Automotive Team | 25% | 87% | 85% | 100% | AM plan completion (%) | 24 | 64% | 64% | 100% | 1.87 | 62% | 87.4% 🥈 |
| 3 | NIKI Ltd. | 53% | 90% | 80% | 100% | AM plan completion | 69.0% | 100.0% | 100.0% | 100% | 1.79 | 60% | 86.6% 🥉 |
| 4 | LEM Bulgaria Ltd. | 42% | 87% | 85% | 100% | Production floor space savings (m²) | 210 m² | 194 m² | 194 m² | 100% | 1.71 | 57% | 85.7% |
| 5 | Alcomet AD – Presses Team | 43% | 79% | 80% | 99% | AM implementation in 5 areas (%) | 8 | 11 | 11 | 100% | 1.71 | 57% | 85.3% |
| 6 | TVH Bulgaria Ltd. | 32% | 95% | 80% | 100% | Future cost avoidance | € 50,000 | € 62,000 | € 50,000 | 100% | 1.64 | 55% | 84.9% |
| 7 | APS Trading Ltd. | 67% | 92% | 88% | 100% | Increase productivity per shift | 625 | 724 | 724 | 100% | 1.54 | 51% | 83.8% |
| 8 | Linamar Light Metals Ruse Ltd. | 60% | 79% | 80% | 99% | Efficiency – Core Shop Department | 49.0% | 55.0% | 55.0% | 100% | 1.43 | 48% | 82.1% |
Color indicator: 🟢 above 90% | 🟡 80–90% | 🔴 below 80%
🏅 Annual Ranking – 2026
| Place | Company | Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | Q4 | Average (%) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ottobock Manufacturing Bulgaria Ltd. 🥇 | 88.89% | 95.14% | – | – | 92.02% |
| 2 | Mebel Stil Ltd. 🥈 | 88.77% | 89.00% | – | – | 88.88% |
| 3 | TVH Bulgaria Ltd. 🥉 | 86.69% | 90.74% | – | – | 88.72% |
| 4 | LEM Bulgaria Ltd. | 83.80% | 90.28% | – | – | 87.04% |
| 5 | Südwolle Group Italy – Bulsafil | 85.88% | 82.99% | – | – | 84.44% |
| 6 | APS Trading Ltd. | 82.75% | 84.72% | – | – | 83.73% |
| 7 | Kostal Bulgaria Automotive Ltd. | 83.33% | 83.33% | – | – | 83.33% |
| 8 | Linamar Light Metals Ruse Ltd. | 81.21% | 84.26% | – | – | 82.73% |
| 9 | AQ Plastronik AD | 82.52% | 82.75% | – | – | 82.63% |
| 10 | Alcomet AD | 81.60% | 81.94% | – | – | 81.77% |
| 11 | Wegmann Automotive Bulgaria Ltd. | 81.37% | 79.86% | – | – | 80.62% |
| 12 | Jacobs Douwe Egberts BG Ltd. | 83.24% | 77.31% | – | – | 80.28% |
| 13 | NIKI Ltd. | 81.38% | 76.87% | – | – | 79.12% |
📊 Q1 2026 Ranking – Lean Champions
| No. | Lean Champions | 5S | Kaizen | Participant Ranking | Final Result Q1 2026 |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit 1 | Audit 2 | Target | Result (%) | KPI | Before Q1 | After Q1 | Target | Result (%) | Ranking Points | Result as % of 288 max. points | |||
| 1 | Ottobock Manufacturing Bulgaria Ltd. | 57% | 78% | 70% | 100% | Weekly productivity (units per person) | 10.5 | 12.5 | 11.5 | 100% | 192.00 | 66.67% | 88.89% 🥇 |
| 2 | Mebel Stil Ltd. | 38% | 78% | 70% | 100% | Productivity – time per set (sec.) | 114 | 89 | 90 | 100% | 191.00 | 66.32% | 88.77% 🥈 |
| 3 | TVH Bulgaria Ltd. | 72% | 93% | 85% | 100% | Cost optimization – AC motors (%) | 47.0% | 19.1% | 25.0% | 100% | 173.00 | 60.07% | 86.69% 🥉 |
| 4 | Südwolle Group Italy – Bulsafil | 52% | 80% | 75% | 100% | Setup time reduction (min.) | 60 | 23 | 30 | 100% | 166.00 | 57.64% | 85.88% |
| 5 | LEM Bulgaria Ltd. | 87% | 96% | 90% | 100% | Finished goods warehouse efficiency (average time in sec. per export list row) | 330 | 300 | 300 | 100% | 148.00 | 51.39% | 83.80% |
| 6 | Kostal Bulgaria Automotive Ltd. | 27% | 88% | 60% | 100% | Autonomous Maintenance plan completion (%) | 0% | 5% | 5% | 100% | 144.00 | 50.00% | 83.33% |
| 7 | Jacobs Douwe Egberts BG Ltd. | 51% | 80% | 85% | 94.12% | Global efficiency % (Roastery) | 66.0% | 67.8% | 68.0% | 99.7% | 161.00 | 55.90% | 83.24% |
| 8 | APS Trading Ltd. | 96% | --- | 95% | 100% | Supplier delivery lead time optimization (days) | 65 | 14 | 20 | 100% | 139.00 | 48.26% | 82.75% |
| 9 | AQ Plastronik AD | 53% | 92% | 80% | 100% | Productivity increase (products per operator) | 120 | 150 | 138 (15%) | 100% | 137.00 | 47.57% | 82.52% |
| 10 | Alcomet AD | 19% | 52% | 50% | 100% | Setup time reduction (hours) | 06:15 | 02:15 | 03:00 | 100% | 129.00 | 44.79% | 81.60% |
| 11 | Wegmann Automotive Bulgaria Ltd. | 34% | 60% | 55% | 100% | Increase in lead casting production capacity (number of castings) | 5952 | 7438 | 7400 | 100% | 127.00 | 44.10% | 81.37% |
| 12 | NIKI Ltd. | 0% | 38% | 40% | 93.75% | Annual improvement plan completion | 0.0% | 40.7% | 41.7% | 97.60% | 152.00 | 52.78% | 81.38% |
| 13 | Linamar Light Metals Ruse Ltd. | 82% | --- | 80% | 100% | Quality improvement (%) | 27.0% | 25.9% | 22.0% | 84.94% | 169.00 | 58.68% | 81.21% |
Color indicator: 🟢 above 90% | 🟡 80–90% | 🔴 below 80%
📊 Q2 2026 Ranking – Lean Champions
| No. | Lean Champions | 5S | Kaizen | Participant Ranking | Final Result Q2 2026 |
||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Audit 1 | Audit 2 | Target | Result (%) | KPI | Before Q2 | After Q2 | Target | Result (%) | Ranking Points | Result as % of 288 max. points | |||
| 1 | Ottobock Manufacturing Bulgaria Ltd. | 39% | 73% | 65% | 100% | Weekly productivity – units | 35.0 | 80.0 | 70.0 | 100% | 246 | 85.42% | 95.14% 🥇 |
| 2 | TVH Bulgaria Ltd. | 91% | 92.5% | 92.5% | 100% | DC motor quality improvement (%) | 60.0% | 24.2% | 25.0% | 100% | 208 | 72.22% | 90.74% 🥈 |
| 3 | LEM Bulgaria Ltd. | 93% | --- | 90% | 100% | DMS management cost optimization | 0 | 800 | 800 | 100% | 204 | 70.83% | 90.28% 🥉 |
| 4 | Mebel Stil Ltd. – Plant 1 | 18% | 87% | 55% | 100% | Foam quantity optimization | 1643 m³ | 1360 m³ | 1360 m³ | 100% | 193 | 67.01% | 89.00% |
| 5 | APS Trading Ltd. | 18% | 83% | 75% | 100% | Order processing time optimization – Bravo Store (min.) | 07:24 | 04:50 | 05:00 | 100% | 156 | 54.17% | 84.72% |
| 6 | Linamar Light Metals Ruse Ltd. | 53% | 82% | 80% | 100% | Quality improvement (%) | 24.7% | 20.0% | 20.0% | 100.00% | 152 | 52.78% | 84.26% |
| 7 | Kostal Bulgaria Automotive Ltd. | 25% | 60% | 50% | 100% | Autonomous Maintenance plan completion (%) | 5% | 20% | 20% | 100% | 144 | 50.00% | 83.33% |
| 8 | Südwolle Group Italy – Bulsafil | 52% | 75% | 75% | 100% | Setup time reduction (min.) | 42 | 23 | 30 | 100% | 141 | 48.96% | 82.99% |
| 9 | AQ Plastronik AD | 64% | 80% | 75% | 100% | Productivity increase (%) | 36% | 87% | 60% | 100% | 139 | 48.26% | 82.75% |
| 10 | Alcomet AD | 52% | 65% | 60% | 100% | Setup time reduction (hours) | 06:39 | 02:27 | 03:30 | 100% | 132 | 45.83% | 81.94% |
| 11 | Wegmann Automotive Bulgaria Ltd. | 77% | 86% | 80% | 100% | Autonomous Maintenance plan completion (%) | 0% | 18.2% | 11% | 100% | 114 | 39.58% | 79.86% |
| 12 | Jacobs Douwe Egberts BG Ltd. | 77% | 91% | 85% | 100% | Global efficiency % (Roastery) | 68.0% | 70.1% | 70.0% | 100% | 92 | 31.94% | 77.31% |
| 13 | NIKI Ltd. | 38% | 40% | 40% | 100% | Annual improvement plan completion | 40.7% | 87.0% | 93.1% | 93.45% | 107 | 37.15% | 76.87% |
Color indicator: 🟢 above 90% | 🟡 80–90% | 🔴 below 80%