Industry Classification & Selection Guide
142 Case Studies · 24 Industry Groups · 47+ Countries · 25+ Years
Top 10 Recommended Cases
These ten cases offer the strongest combination of brand recognition, transformation drama, measurable results, and geographic reach. Each name links directly to the full case study.
- Volkswagen South Africa – Iconic global OEM — frontline involvement at the highest-profile automotive brand in Africa. Immediate name recognition with any manufacturing prospect.
- Nestlé Malaysia – Six Factories – 2,100 employees across 6 sites — the most compelling multi-factory culture change story in Asia, with a globally recognised client.
- Mozal Aluminium – USD 2 billion smelter in Mozambique — flagship Southern African transformation under BHP Billiton.
- SABMiller Honduras – Global brewing brand uniting culture and performance in Latin America. Strong international credential outside Africa.
- Continental Corporation USA – Global Tier-1 automotive — sustaining excellence via coaching reviews in the USA. Proves CDI methodology travels to North America.
- Hella – From Survival to World Class – 35% worse than budget to world class — the strongest turnaround narrative in the entire dataset. Finance audiences stop at this one.
- Richards Bay Minerals – Level 5 organisation aspiration — landmark South African minerals processing transformation with clear philosophical depth.
- Fair Cape Dairies – CDI’s own long-term client — dairy, lean leadership, personal relationship, and consistently strong results across 21 years.
- Cervecería Nacional Ecuador – Culture of excellence in brewing, Ecuador — strong Latin American credential with a compelling narrative arc.
- Nestlé Global – 480 factories, 276,000 employees — demonstrates MDW operating at true enterprise global scale.
Industry Classification & Selection Guide
Each industry group lists all cases with recommended selections highlighted. Case names are hyperlinked to the full case study text.
AGRICULTURE & AGRI‑PROCESSING · 3 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| The DNA Program | Multi‑country | Coffee/grains/oilseeds – multi‑continent rollout across 7+ countries |
| Karsten Group | South Africa | 25 farms, 4,200ha – dispersed teams, seasonal labour, MDW outdoors |
| Kromco | South Africa | Fruit packhouse – turnaround after failed 1988 attempt |
AUTOMOTIVE · 25 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| Acoustex | South Africa | Sound insulation – reigniting MDW after momentum lost |
| ALC (Automotive Leather Company) | Multinational | Leather interiors – frontline problem‑solving, 100+ defects per cover |
| AWI SA | South Africa | Aluminium road wheels – from closure risk to export leader |
| Borbet South Africa | South Africa | Alloy wheel manufacturing – building forward momentum |
| Continental Tyre SA – Reigniting | South Africa | Tyres – reigniting after complacency at 1,559‑person plant |
| Continental Tyre SA – Unionised | South Africa | Tyres – MDW in heavily unionised environment (MBA thesis research) |
| Continental Corporation USA | USA | Tyres – sustaining excellence via coaching reviews, global tier-1 |
| Dana Spicer Axle | South Africa | Axles & driveshafts – operational gains through MDW discipline |
| DAS – Metal Assembly | South Africa | Seat frames – frontline transformation |
| Dorbyl Automotive Systems (1) | South Africa | Automotive components – winning hearts and minds |
| Dorbyl Automotive Systems (2) | South Africa | Automotive components – sustaining high‑performance culture |
| Duys Components / KZN Cluster | South Africa | SMME cluster – collaborative transformation, 9 companies |
| Feltex Fehrer | South Africa | Foam car seats – building world‑class plant from shop floor up |
| Halberg Guss Aluminium | South Africa | Powertrain castings (VW/Ford) – frontline quality solving |
| Hella SA – Waste Elimination | South Africa | Automotive lighting – waste elimination via empowered teams |
| Hella – From Survival to World Class | South Africa | Automotive components – 35% worse than budget to world class |
| Murray & Roberts – Autocast PE | South Africa | SG iron casting – MDW turnaround |
| Saffil Automotive | UK / SA | Catalytic converter mats – global MDW across two cultures |
| Shatterprufe – Frontline Leaders | South Africa | Automotive glass – changing frontline leader culture |
| Shatterprufe – After Leadership Chg | South Africa | Automotive glass – sustaining after leadership change |
| Shatterprufe – Innovation via MDW | South Africa | Automotive glass – systematic innovation from suggestion to system |
| Shatterprufe – Three Years | South Africa | Automotive glass – three‑year MDW journey at Struandale |
| Smiths Manufacturing | South Africa | HVAC/radiators for OEMs – global competitiveness |
| TI Automotive Kongsvinger | Norway | Fuel/fluid systems – cultural transformation in high tech plant, Europe |
| Volkswagen South Africa | South Africa | OEM vehicle manufacturing – frontline involvement at iconic global brand |
BEVERAGES – ALCOHOLIC · 12 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| Cervecería Nacional | Ecuador | Brewing – culture of excellence, Latin America |
| Distell Ladysmith DC | South Africa | Wine/spirits distribution – rapid-growth DC, 160% volume increase |
| Distell Parow Distribution | South Africa | Wine/spirits distribution – world‑class DC post‑merger |
| Distell Post‑Merger Production | South Africa | Wine/spirits – post-merger alignment across 9 sites |
| Distell Secondary Production | South Africa | Wine/spirits – post‑merger transformation journey |
| Distell Welkom Distribution | South Africa | Wine/spirits distribution – MDT empowerment |
| Distell Worcester Production | South Africa | World’s largest brandy distillery – process excellence |
| Nederburg Wines | South Africa | Wine production/bottling – asset care and quality assurance |
| SAB – Newlands Brewery | South Africa | Brewing – world‑class plant culture |
| Century Bottling Co. (SABCO) | Uganda | Coca‑Cola bottling – world-class under challenging conditions |
| SABMiller Honduras | Honduras | Brewing – uniting culture and performance, Latin America |
| Distell – Wine Bottling at Adam Tas | South Africa | Wine production – team‑level quality and innovation at pre-bottling |
CHEMICALS & COATINGS · 6 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| Barloworld Plascon Coatings | South Africa | Paints/coatings – leadership culture renewal, 1300 staff, 3 factories |
| JohnsonDiversey UK (Cotes Park) | UK | Cleaning/hygiene – underperformance to world‑class |
| JohnsonDiversey (Enschede) | Netherlands | Cleaning/hygiene – mini‑business and lean, 82,000 tonnes |
| JohnsonDiversey South Africa | South Africa | Cleaning/hygiene – MDW and DMAIC integration |
| JohnsonDiversey Waxdale – Going Lean | USA | Cleaning/hygiene – 30%+ OEE, $5M savings in 18 months, Mfr of Year |
| JohnsonDiversey UK – Manufacturer of Year | UK | 85,000t, 123 staff – productivity tripled, iMechE MX award via MDW |
ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURING · 1 case
| Case | Location | Description |
| PFK Electronics | South Africa | Electronics (3,000+ products daily, 24/7) – textbook MDW implementation |
ENERGY & NUCLEAR · 1 case
| Case | Location | Description |
| PBMR (Pebble Bed Modular Reactor) | South Africa | Nuclear energy R&D – MDW in high‑precision, safety-critical environment |
FINANCIAL SERVICES · 1 case
| Case | Location | Description |
| DirectAxis – Breaking Down Silos | South Africa | Personal loans/insurance, 450,000+ clients – from silos to cohesion |
FOOD MANUFACTURING – DAIRY · 9 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| Clover Clayville | South Africa | Dairy – overcoming resistance and building ownership |
| Clover CSC | South Africa | Dairy – world‑class call centre culture |
| Clover Frankfort | South Africa | Dairy – frontline empowerment via Operation Together We Grow |
| Clover – Leadership Paradigm | South Africa | Dairy – leadership paradigm shift case |
| Fair Cape Dairies | South Africa | Dairy processing – lean leadership and cultural empowerment |
| Fruitique – Sustaining MDW | South Africa | Fruit pulps (dairy inputs) – sustaining transformation |
| Fruitique – Small Business, Big Impact | South Africa | Fruit pulps – small business MDW impact (60 employees) |
| Fruitique – Completes the Puzzle | South Africa | Fruit pulps – recovery of underperforming acquisition |
| Fruitique – A Decade of MBUs | South Africa | Fruit pulps – 10‑year longitudinal case, three defined phases (2006-2017) |
FOOD MANUFACTURING – FMCG · 28 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| Cadbury Tasmania | Australia | Confectionery – knowledge to wealth, 750 employees |
| Cape Natural Tea Products | South Africa | Rooibos/herbal tea – MDW in 22-person commodity business |
| Craft Box (Pioneer Foods) | South Africa | Snacks/cereals – from strike to 17 months consecutive record sales |
| Mead Johnson Nutrition | Asia Pacific | Infant nutrition – MBUs across Singapore, Philippines, Thailand, China |
| Nestlé Australia (2 factories) | Australia | FMCG – building model factory culture, Campbellfield & Blacktown |
| Nestlé Babelegi | South Africa | FMCG – from firefighting to forward momentum |
| Nestlé Malaysia – Milo Tiga | Malaysia | Noodles/culinary – MDW and DMAIC, RM2.7M variance eliminated |
| Purina Blayney (1) | Australia | Pet food – competitive edge through purpose & alignment |
| Purina Blayney (2) | Australia | Pet food – efficiency and ownership in complex plant |
| Nestlé Global | Worldwide | Global FMCG – 480 factories, 276,000 employees, MDW at enterprise scale |
| Nestlé Ice Cream Clayville | South Africa | Ice cream – from EBITA -7.5% loss to profit via employee engagement |
| Nestlé India – South Asia Region | India | FMCG – MBUs across 9 factories, unleashing 100% potential |
| Nestlé Malaysia – Six Factories | Malaysia | FMCG – culture change across 2,100 employees, 6 sites |
| Nestlé Malaysia – Supply Chain NDC | Malaysia | Distribution – service beyond expectation via lean |
| Nestlé Malaysia – Bridging Strategy | Malaysia | FMCG – bridging strategy and shopfloor via MDW |
| Nestlé Malaysia – Petaling Jaya | Malaysia | FMCG – transforming through engaging leadership |
| Nestlé Malaysia – Fostering Ownership | Malaysia | FMCG – ownership and motivation across factories |
| Nestlé Malaysia – MDW Integration | Malaysia | FMCG – value stream alignment through empowerment |
| Nestlé Singapore – NQAC | Singapore | Quality assurance lab – MDW in precision analytical environment |
| Nestlé Oceania – Innovation | Oceania | FMCG – innovation and leadership via MBU, 17 factories |
| Nestlé Oceania – Engaging Leadership | Oceania | FMCG – embedding engaging leadership across 18 sites |
| Nestlé Philippines | Philippines | FMCG – people‑driven continuous improvement at scale |
| Nestlé Southern & East Africa | Africa | FMCG – high-performance culture across 12 factories |
| Nestlé Shah Alam | Malaysia | FMCG – world-class factory, 238 SKUs, 800 pallets/day |
| Pioneer Foods – Bloemfontein Bakery | South Africa | Bakery/bread – from loss to profit via MDW |
| Sugarbird | South Africa | Food – ordinary people, extraordinary ideas |
| Tydstroom (Pioneer Foods) | South Africa | Poultry processing – setting the stage for MDW success |
| Weet‑Bix | SA / Australia | Breakfast cereals – manufacturing excellence via team ownership |
GLASS & PACKAGING – RETURNABLE · 8 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| Bevcan Cape Town | South Africa | Metal beverage cans – world-class culture built from day one (Greenfield) |
| Bevcan Rosslyn | South Africa | Metal beverage cans – sustaining MDW through restructuring |
| Consol Glass | South Africa | Glass packaging – asset care for world‑class OEE |
| Consol Glass Clayville | South Africa | Glass packaging – from system installation to team ownership |
| Foxtec‑Ikhwezi | South Africa | Returnable packaging – MDW in niche SA manufacturer |
| Schoeller Allibert Global – SAMS | Global | Returnable packaging – €500M group; 20pt OEE gain, 3,141 ideas |
| Schoeller Allibert Schwerin | Germany | Returnable packaging – 429 ideas, coaching culture, 11‑quarter OEE gain |
| Schoeller Allibert Romont | Switzerland | Returnable packaging – 11% downtime cut, problem-solving culture |
| Schoeller Allibert Nurieux | France | Rebuilding Trust Through MBUs After Three Failed Lean Attempts |
INDUSTRIAL ENGINEERING & EQUIPMENT · 5 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| Consani Engineering | South Africa | Pressure vessels/tanks – workflow module breakthrough |
| Domino UK | UK | Industrial printing (120 countries, 80,000 printers) – behavioural change |
| Multotec – Procurement Excellence | South Africa | Mineral processing equipment – MDW in procurement |
| Multotec South Africa | South Africa | Mineral processing equipment – measured March to world‑class |
| WPC‑Blackheath Cluster | South Africa | 9‑company SMME cluster – MDW across diverse businesses |
INDUSTRIAL MANUFACTURING – WHEELS · 4 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| GKN Armstrong Wheels USA | USA | Agri/eearthmoving wheels – leveraging core competency through MDW |
| GKN Denmark | Denmark | Agri/earthmoving wheels – creating new culture via MDW |
| GKN Wheels Italy | Italy | Agri/earthmoving wheels – goal alignment and lean culture |
| GKN Wheels Telford UK | UK | Multi-sector wheels – manufacturing excellence through MDW teams |
LOGISTICS & SUPPLY CHAIN · 1 case
| Case | Location | Description |
| UTI Material Handling | South Africa | Logistics/warehousing at client’s 4 facilities – MDW in complex network |
META / CROSS‑INDUSTRY · 2 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| Lessons from the Field (Benchmarking Study) | South Africa | Research across 10 manufacturers – what drives MDW success? |
| Graham Lambert / LORD Corporation | 6 continents, 40+ countries | 13 MBU rollouts – scalability proof across food/beverage/tobacco/chemicals |
MINING & METALS · 14 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| Anglo American Polokwane Smelter | South Africa | Platinum smelting – cultural transformation via MDW |
| Assmang Manganese (Cato Ridge) | South Africa | Ferro‑manganese – world-class discipline and innovation culture |
| BCL Ltd | Botswana | Copper/nickel smelting – strategy and culture alignment |
| BHP Billiton Bayside | South Africa | Aluminium smelting – mini‑business implementation |
| BHP Billiton – Payment Services | South Africa | Mining shared services – world-class support function |
| Element Six – MDW with Six Sigma | South Africa | Industrial diamonds – integrating MDW and Six Sigma |
| Element Six – Kaizen & Kaikaku | South Africa | Industrial diamonds – R984k savings, defects 8% to 1.2% |
| Middelburg Mine (1) – System Integration | South Africa | Coal mining – leadership alignment and MDW system integration |
| Middelburg Mine (2) – Wiring for Success | South Africa | Coal mining – 21,000ha, storytelling cascade across 100+ teams |
| Mozal Aluminium – 5S and Goal Alignment | Mozambique | Aluminium smelting ($2B) – world‑class operating systems |
| Mozal Aluminium – MDW & BAOS | Mozambique | Aluminium smelting – strategy to action through BAOS |
| Polokwane Smelter (Anglo Platinum) | South Africa | Platinum smelting – reigniting MDW under pressure |
| Richards Bay Minerals | South Africa | Mineral processing – empowering teams for Level 5 organisation |
| Sasol Mining | South Africa | Coal mining – MDW taken underground |
PAPER, PRINT & LABELS · 3 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| BusinessPrint | South Africa | Commerical printing – quality culture via MDW |
| Mondi Shanduka Newsprint | South Africa | Newsprint (220,000 tpa) – top‑down to high‑performance culture |
| Noelex Labels | South Africa | Label manufacturing – big MDW impact in 45‑person business |
PERSONAL CARE & CONSUMER GOODS · 1 case
| Case | Location | Description |
| Beiersdorf Brazil | Brazil | NIVEA/skincare – empowerment and ownership culture, Latin America |
PHARMA & LIFE SCIENCES · 2 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| Chiron Vaccines | UK | Influenza vaccines – innovation culture in biotech, 700 staff |
| Janssen Vaccines AG (J&J) | Switzerland | Vaccines – OTD from <50% to 97%, ISPE Facility of Year, Ebola fast-track |
PLASTICS MANUFACTURING · 1 case
| Case | Location | Description |
| Nice House of Plastics | Uganda | Consumer plastics – transforming culture via the Mulwana Way |
PUBLIC SECTOR · 3 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| KZN Dept of Transport | South Africa | Provincial government – MDW enabling world‑class service delivery |
| KZN Dept of Transport | South Africa | Provincial government – embedding meaningful measures |
| merSETA | South Africa | Education/training authority – public service delivery via MDW |
RAIL & TRANSPORT · 1 case
| Case | Location | Description |
| Transnet Rail Engineering | South Africa | Rail manufacturing/maintenance – building world‑class operation |
STEEL & METALS PROCESSING · 1 case
| Case | Location | Description |
| Columbus Stainless – Astute HR | Mozambique | Engineering training deployed to client country – MDW from scratch in 6 weeks |
TECHNOLOGY & SECURITY · 1 case
| Case | Location | Description |
| UTC Fire & Security | South Africa | Life safety/security solutions – management going the extra mile |
TOBACCO · 9 cases
| Case | Location | Description |
| Imperial Tobacco Taiwan | Taiwan | Cigarettes – compliance to contribution culture, MBU model |
| Imperial Tobacco Volga | Russia | Cigarettes – factory culture transformation, Volgograd |
| ITG Bouaké | Ivory Coast | Tobacco – lean pioneer in West Africa, VUCA environment |
| ITG Jhunan Taiwan | Taiwan | Tobacco – from good to great via MBU |
| ITG Morocco | Morocco | Tobacco – lean leadership in global network, North Africa |
| ITG Sacimém Madagascar | Madagascar | Tobacco – spectators to actors via visual management |
| Kassie Herbst / Lao Tobacco | SE Asia | Tobacco – shifting leadership paradigms |
| Stefan Dunger / Lao Tobacco | Laos | MDW in SE Asia, challenging operating context |
| Imperial Tobacco Global | Honduras/ Philippines/ Taiwan/ Laos | Four‑country comparative – 75% cost savings Taiwan, 300+ ideas Honduras |
