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2018.10.30
The new management approach based on Kaizen by all 6 Big typhoons are hitting Japan one after another. I am sorry for those who suffered from the these.
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When Japanese manufacturing was remarkably strong in the world, both cars and electric appliances were outstanding in their functional quality. Speaking of functional quality, “No breaking down” was the most important factor. Next factor, if it is a mobile phone, was that the other party’s voice could be heard well even in the shadow of the building or a long mail was possible. Speaking of cars, running well, turning well, stopping well, they were the representative of functional quality.
Japanese products were outstanding in functional quality, and as a result, the manufacturing industry lead the economy of Japan. However, I have written in recent lectures that today’s markets are not so simple as before, and we need to understand what the customers want in addition to function.
The other day, J.D. Power of the United States announced “1018 U.S. Initial Quality Study”. There are only 2 Japanese car companies in the top ten, 8th Lexus and 10th Nissan. Considering that there were six Japanese companies in “2011 edition”, 1st Lexus, 2nd Honda, 3rd Acura (Honda), 5th Mazda, 7th Toyota, 8th Infinity (Nissan), Japanese cars are not evaluated so high as before. Functional quality of Japanese cars is still good as before, but in other quality field as usability of car navigation system and IT information systems are not evaluated as other high ranked cars. You can see that the market evaluation has changed.
The change in the world is fast and we need to change ourselves at the same speed. The attitude of “User in” is required.
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Question: What do you think about changes in the car evaluation?
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2018.10.19
Improvement diary of consultant 5 I cannot proceed my job with my own pace. Once the consulting schedule is fixed with the client, I must visit the factory on the day because many people are waiting for me. Therefore, it is necessary for me to keep the condition always good.
I mentioned that I am a health geek before. The health item which is the oldest among the otaku items of mine is the “breath control”.
There are various breathing methods in the world, but the breathing method that I practice is a very simple one. I breathe out slowly and quietly and breathe in again slowly and quietly. That’s all.
After today’s work is finished, I will start the breathing on the Shinkansen train by which I move to the workshop tomorrow. I repeat fifteen round trip breathing in about 10 minutes (one trip is 40seconds). I will do it slowly and quietly so as not to be thought that I am a strange man by the person aside me.
after having calmed down by breath control, I start enjoying the trip with tea and sweets (episode 94).
References: “Ki’s Breathing Method” by Koichi Tohei, Gentosha
http://amzn.asia/d/9Yn1i9X -
2018.10.12
The new management approach based on Kaizen by all 5 I have been waiting for the comfortable cool autumn. Now I am in autumn and happy! The summer this year was so long.
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From now on, it is necessary to do Kaizen with other departments to cover the whole. It is useful not only to divide tasks but also to work together at times. There are also ways that does not necessarily obey past processes such as emphasizing organization or hierarchy. In other words, it is necessary not only to adopt the logical management based on the past, but also to incorporate elements such as inspiration, motivation or empathy.
Also, in the past preparation was very important in order not make mistakes, but from now on you will quickly start Kaizen to find hidden problems by failing quickly. You need a sense of speed to complete the development quick. Up to now we were proceeded with the talk based on past data and hypotheses, but from now on there will be scenes where they are useless. It is necessary to obtain real information through real field observation.
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Question:What do you think about failing quickly is good?
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2018.09.20
Yukio Kakiuchi’s Kaizen diary 4 Since I go on business trips from factory to factory almost every day, I have a lot of belongings. The weight of my bag becomes almost 20 kg because I pack my PC, books, and spare clothes for one week.
I am often asked “it is tough to move with such heavy baggage, what kind of bags are you using?” I love this question because I am proud of my bag.It is a business bag made by SWANY Corporation, and I have been using it almost since I became a consultant. I have been a heavy user for about 25 years. Why is that so good? The developer of the bag, Mr. Etsuo Miyoshi (former president) has the aftereffect of severe polio, but he was moving around the world as a salesman with great vitality. However, big luggage was occasionally very difficult to move because of the handicap. Then he made a good bag that everyone can use easily from his own experience. It’s amazing improvement, isn’t it!
For details, I would like you to see the website of the company. Point is, it is not a pulling type, but it is a pushing type, so it is safe. And because it can be pushed at the position of natural hand position it is also a substitute for my walking stick. Besides, the sound of the caster is small. There are tremendously loud noise bags which are not good to use late in the night.
I use a SWANY bag for two years. Since I move with the bag carrying 20 kg and for at least 3000 steps every day, I change tires after about a year. The other day, the tire was broken after a year, I replaced them for new ones. I will use my bag for another year to be supported.
Suwanee Corporation Website
https://swany-shop.jp/
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2018.09.07
The new management approach based on Kaizen by all 4 The sun light is becoming weaker. I am happy, it is autumn.
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Currently, economic activities in Japan is changing center industrial production only to service implementation also. For example, it is not enough just to create a new smart-phone, but also find a new way to use that phone. Consumers are seeking not only functional performance improvements but also experiences with more satisfactory usage.
In other words, it has been an era of technological pursuits and you can sell them if they are functionally good. And then, the company’s management could show enough result by independent activities by each department, such as sales, design, technology, control, and manufacturing.
However, from now on, on the premise of using the high technology that we have cultivated so far, it is required to satisfy the strong demand of the service to satisfy individual users. Therefore, independent activity by each department is insufficient.
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Question: I’ve been told that improvement of service is important since long time ago, but don’t you think that the meaning of the service of the past is different from that of the service required now?
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2018.08.29
Yukio Kakiuchi’s Kaizen diary 3 I am a consultant to teach Kaizen. So, when I go to a factory I speak a lot of Kaizen plans and surprise everyone around me! … but to tell the truth, it is me who is surprised.
Let me show you a Kaizen which surprised me recently. The Kaizen was done in the Kagoshima factory of Parts Seiko Co., Ltd. and was announced at an Kaizen meeting held in the headquarters in Misato-shi, Saitama prefecture.
It is a Kaizen which changed a normal continuous white line to a dotted line. I have not seen such a line. First, I was not impressed by the Kaizen because I could not find the effects other than reduction of the amount of tapes.
Actually, this Kaizen has three big effects.
1. The required amount of tape is reduced. In this picture it is about 1/4.
2. You can make the line by one person. It usually takes two or more persons to complete a line with normal long tapes.
3. Maintenance is super easy. Only stained parts can be replaced.I came up with only 1, but 2 and 3 are the reasons for greatness. I had believed that the line on the factory floor should be continuous straight line. I was rather inflexible.
I am still learning much from factories. The site of manufacturing in Japan is truly amazing!
Parts Seiko Co., Ltd. Website http://www.parts-seiko.com/
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2018.08.20
The new management approach based on Kaizen by all 3 Kaizen so far and Kaizen from now are greatly different. I begin to analyze it.
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Kaizen so far can be said that it has been implemented mainly by the manufacturing department for quality, cost, and delivery time (Q, C, D). And it has created competitiveness of manufacturing of Japan. But it was the Kaizen in the market-in era when customer needs were known. The quality theme then was claim reduction, the cost theme was the prerequisite in competition, the delivery theme was the production plan management so as not to cut off the supply. It was not facing the customer’s individual needs. The other departments like design or sales also did Kaizen but they could not be said to be enough cooperation to create synergies between departments.
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Question: I said that the Kaizen which each department was doing was not connected … What do you think?
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2018.08.08
Yukio Kakiuchi’s Kaizen diary 2 a question from a reader, “Keep moving that much is a hard job. How do you achieve it? Do you have any secret?”
Actually … I have it. I am a heavy and maniac health geek and I am doing quite a lot of things. I would like to introduce some of them.
First, from “Sleep geek”.
I spend the most of my consulting time on shop-floor, where I must speak aloud to communicate. Therefore, I am very afraid of catching cold and sore throat. And as I also spend much time using a lap-top, my eyes are tired before I go to bed.
So, I wear masks all night long not only in winter but also in summer. One is for my throat and the other is for my eyes. The material for both masks warm me and keep moist by far-infrared. The picture below is an image(haha).
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2018.07.30
The new management approach based on Kaizen by all 2 From this essay I will write “New management approach based on Kaizen by all” and “Consultant’s improvement diary” every other week.
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Compared with the US and Europe, Japan is said that strategies of the manufacturing companies are weak, but I don’t think it is it true. In Japan there are a lot of examples of strategy building starting from Kaizen which is typical tactical activity. Toyota Production System is the example. Japanese manufacturing companies are not weak in strategy but it is a reverse approach that can not be implemented by the manufacturing companies in the US and Europe. I would like to make the best use of the original strengths of Japanese manufacturing to make them strong again.
*************************************Question: Kaizen is very tactical and keep doing Kaizen leads you to great strategy in Japan. What do you think?
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2018.07.25
Yukio Kakiuchi’s Kaizen diary 1 I start writing Kaizen diary every other week.
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My consulting is done at your factory. You don’t come to my office, and I visit your factory. I move a lot and I use trains every day.
For example, last week, I worked for five companies. Monday: Maibara, Tuesday: Mikawa Anjo, Wednesday: Maibara, Thursday: Yamagata, Friday: Fukushima.
The trip was quite relaxing because I was in the reserved seat of Shinkansen all the way. I have kept this life for 27 years, so I have made a routine motion.
The belongings are an eki-ben (station bento food), bottled tea, confectionery, books. For one hour after getting on Shinkansen, I enjoy relaxed time eating, drinking, reading. Then I start writing and studying with my lap-top computer.