On October 25-26, 2025, the National Finals of the Industrial Engineering and Lean Management Innovation Competition, part of the China College Students' Mechanical Engineering Innovation and Creativity Competition, were successfully held at Tianjin University. This year's competition was organzied by the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, hosted by the College of Management and Economics (hereafter called CoME) at Tianjin University (hereafter called TJU) and the Industrial Engineering Branch of the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society, and co-organized by the Industrial Engineering and Management Branch of the Management Science and Engineering Society, the Management Technology Branch of the Innovation Method Research Association, the Tianjin Lean Management Innovation Society, and the Tianjin Industrial Engineering Society. The competition received support from Tianjin Bozhi Linghang Enterprise Management Consulting Co., Ltd., Shanghai Green Blackboard Digital Technology Co., Ltd., and Beijing Greina Electronic Products Co., Ltd.

Held annually since its inception in 2018, the competition has now successfully completed its eighth edition. The number of entries has consistently reached new heights over the years, and in 2023, it was included in the "National College Student Competition Directory" released by the China Association of Higher Education.

Under the theme "Lean Intelligence, Collaborative Innovation," this year's competition attracted 769 teams from 122 universities across 26 provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government. Through eight regional selection competitions nationwide, 351 teams advanced to the national finals. After intense competition, 19 teams including Tianjin University and Northwestern Polytechnical University won first prize; 33 teams including Shenyang University of Technology and Guangxi University won second prize; and 125 teams including Southern University of Science and Technology and Northeast Forestry University won third prize.

As one of the professional competitions of the China College Students' Mechanical Engineering Innovation and Creativity Competition, the Industrial Engineering and Lean Management Innovation Competition was jointly established by the Chinese Mechanical Engineering Society and the Ministry of Education's Teaching Guidance Committee for Industrial Engineering Programs in Higher Educational Institutions. It is committed to accelerating the implementation and popularization of industrial engineering and lean management innovation methods and technologies in industrial practice, helping college students break through traditional thinking boundaries, broaden their horizons in technological innovation, and enhance their core capabilities in solving practical production problems. Over the past eight years, the competition has built collaborative connections between universities, enterprises, and social institutions, providing both a professional display window for innovative achievements of faculty and students and an exchange platform for cutting-edge industry experience. It continues to cultivate reserve talents with lean thinking and innovative literacy for the high-quality development of China's manufacturing industry, promoting the positive development of the innovation ecosystem in the industrial engineering field.