Mercedes-Benz Türk / Project Story
Using AI in Kaizen Processes
A generative AI training and workshop program for approximately 150 foremen at Mercedes-Benz Türk's İstanbul and Aksaray factories. Kaizen and lean thinking were explored with AI through real shop-floor cases.
01 — What did the organization need?
At Mercedes-Benz Türk, Kaizen was an established part of production teams’ daily work.
The need was to explore how AI could be used in Kaizen and everyday problem solving. The bus factory in İstanbul and the truck factory in Aksaray were the program’s two work sites. Production lines, paint shops, quality and maintenance were addressed through foremen’s areas of responsibility.
02 — What change brought this need to light?
The spread of generative AI raised a new question.
The program was not about explaining a new technology in isolation from production. It was about bringing the processes foremen knew together with the decision support this technology offered within the same work.
03 — Which questions did we explore?
How could this technology support Kaizen experience?
We explored which questions, production contexts and forms of problem-solving support AI could address. The starting point was needs from the shop floor, not ready-made answers.
04 — What process did we undertake together?
The program, conducted with approximately 150 foremen, focused on participants’ real production issues rather than presenting ready-made AI examples.
Designed and delivered by Y. Bora Kaykayoğlu, the program ran in 2025 across 10 groups for a total of 20 days. Twelve days took place in İstanbul and 8 in Aksaray.
05 — What did teams start doing differently?
Teams reexamined problems, explored different causes and developed alternative solutions.
The workshops examined use cases ranging from production line management to maintenance activities. The same technology was connected to each participant’s questions within their own area of responsibility.
06 — What emerged at the end of the project?
By the end of the project, AI was no longer a technology topic separate from production.
Kaizen and lean thinking were explored alongside generative AI through real cases from the shop floor. The program focused on bringing this experience into foremen’s daily problem-solving practice.
07 — What did we learn from this project?
It became a new tool foremen could try in their Kaizen work.
What mattered in this project was not the capability of AI tools alone but their connection to production experience. The same training framework gained meaning through local needs at both factories.
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