UG Students Win the 2026 Ford Lean Challenge

Mechatronics engineering students from the Irapuato-Salamanca Campus of the University of Guanajuato (UG) have won first place in the 2026 Ford Lean Challenge, a collaborative competition that promotes the application of Lean methodologies to address real-world challenges in the automotive industry.

Miriam Giselle Martínez Ramírez, Juan Armando Gutiérrez Robledo, and Jonathan Ojeda López were members of the winning team, which spent eight weeks developing continuous improvement projects at Ford Motor Company’s Irapuato Electric Powertrain Center (IEPC).

The competition brought together teams from various universities, which worked directly on manufacturing processes to identify areas for improvement, design solutions, and implement proposals aimed at generating measurable improvements in productivity, quality, and operational efficiency.

During the challenge, the team from the University of Guanajuato applied Lean Manufacturing tools, automation, root cause analysis, and machine vision technologies to address various needs in the production processes.

Among the proposals developed, a mobile inspection platform stood out as a way to strengthen the response to quality issues. The team also worked on initiatives aimed at reducing waste, standardizing operations, and improving work methods.

Team members highlighted the support provided by the University of Guanajuato in creating opportunities to connect with the business sector, as well as the support from Ford Motor Company through specialized consulting, training, access to technology, and spaces to develop their projects.

The Ford Lean Challenge 2026 allowed students to apply the knowledge they acquired during their academic training to real-world manufacturing processes, while strengthening their skills in continuous improvement, automation, problem analysis, communication, and collaborative work.