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Japan can be considered as one of

the best examples on the globe for
benchmarking continuous
improvement practices.

The whole world has seen their rags to

riches story. Within no time the country
has transformed its ƠMade in Japanơ
label from cheap to the one signifying
quality, reliability and preference.
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e who wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens

our skills. Our antagonist is our best helper.
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Yt will be interesting to study the best practices of their industries for

making continuous improvement under the following 4 sections:-
Y. People
YY. Work style
YYY. Product Quality
Y . Customers
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Y
  
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ºelection of personnel is the most important phase for quality &

continuous improvement. ºcreening of people is done on 2
principle criteria:
1. Does the person really want to work for the organization.
2. What is the applicants potential.
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Y 




 

Japanese organizations have true & genuine concern for people. This is
reflected in most of their organizations and is the first & foremost objective for
achieving continuous improvement. Besides healthy bonus, the perks include
housing for unmarried, home loans for newly weds, promise of upward
mobility within the company, access to employee cafeteria and holiday trips.
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V 
 


Once accepted for employment, the Japanese workers are guaranteed

employment for lifetime with the company. The employees do not
consider leaving an organization even if he could get a substantially
better position & salary. This gives the organization the advantage of
stable & experienced workforce.
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p 



Many mistakenly believe that company loyalty is achieved by much

publicized Japanese exercises, motto repetition or vision statements. Yt goes
much deeper & broader. Yt consists of a working relationship in which
workers recognize that the company is concerned not only about customers,
products, bottom-line & share holders but also about them.
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YY



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The top executives of all Japanese firms wear the same uniform as
their workers. The top management is personally involved in all the
areas of quality improvement. Many times the top management is on
the shop floor, they meet their workers, observe what they are doing &
converse and resolve their problems.
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Yn Japan workers are rotated in different jobs irrespective of their

qualifications. This is beneficial both for the management & the employees.
The employees tend to view all the problems with a fresh perspective and do
not have a biased attitude. This also relieves monotony and instills fresh
enthusiasm in the employees which is regarded as an important motivating
factor to obtain continuous good performance.
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The Japanese organizations inculcate in their employees the quality of

an inquiring mind. They believe that unless you have an inquiring
mind, continuous improvement is not possible. Thinking about new
ideas in most of the organizations is thoroughly encouraged.
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Japan with its limited space & scarcity of resources has been able to make
the most of whatever it has. ºpace, people and other natural resources in
Japan are so limited that all Japanese workers have been taught to exploit
them with great care & diligence. This colors the Japanese workers efforts
to excel with whatever little they have - A classical example of the positive
influence of adversity.
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|ormal training is a way of life in Japan & Japanese industry provides

resources for this vital area to ensure that workers know what they are
doing. The company believes that as you invest more & more in training,
the employees become more & more living assets who can be shifted to
new responsibilities & higher positions.
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The organizations in Japan give adequate financial incentive for

employees who come up with innovative ideas for improving quality &
productivity.
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p

 

 


Japanese managers do not make unilateral decisions effecting production,

quality and improvements. An idea or concept is aired for comment by
workers & middle management and their observations & suggestions are
seriously considered by the top management. The consensus style of
management has a great advantage because if many participants are allowed
to comment on an idea or a policy change, there will be least resistance when
it is actually implemented.
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Most of the decisions taken by the Japanese organizations are long

term in nature. Their investments aim for growth over a long period of
time.
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p 
 

Competition in Japan is taken as an opportunity to improve. More and

more Japanese companies benchmark their products with the global
leaders in quality.
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YYY
 


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6 
  


6ero defect is a well understood & practiced quality standard of

Japanese industry. At a ºony factory one could see a color T. that had
been operating 8 hrs a day for over 37,000 operating hrs with no
adjustments or repairs, and the T. was still producing an acceptable
picture. The Yndustry standard is 10,000 hrs.
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Yn almost all the Japanese organizations quality supersedes production.

Yn Toyota plants every workstation has a line stop button. Each worker is
empowered to stop the production line if something goes wrong and they
do not fear reprisal for interrupting the production line.
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º  
 

Poor quality work is not accepted from any supplier and definitely
means an end of relationship with the organization. The organizations
also conducts training program for their suppliers and takes interest in
continuously improving their products & services as well. The supplier
is considered to be an integral part of the organization.
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Japanese dedication to quality has given them the additional advantage

of low inventory which considerably reduces capital investment in
materials, storage space, material handling equipment and labor.
Toyota claims of a 2 hour inventory. The ºony factory in Ychnomiya
claims that the supplierƞs truck rolls in every 90 minutes to keep up
with the production rate of Trinitron color T .
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Yn most of the Japanese industries effective fool proofing principles are

followed. Most of the production line have a censor which halts the
machine whenever the machine begins manufacturing parts which are
outside the tolerance limits and are defective.
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Japanese industry enjoys high vendor quality because many suppliers are
formal employees who having learnt the parent companyƞs systems of quality
have set their own shops. ºince they understand the requirements of parent
companyƞs in toto, they can provide quality components with little inspection
& few rejects. Ynfact many industries in Japan finance such suppliers with
venture capital. Toyota for e.g.. has grown 90% of its suppliers with such
venture capital.
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Y£

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D
 

Japanese had a very clear vision of developing products for the global
market from the very beginning. They were quick in identifying the
disadvantages of some of the important products manufactured
globally. They made fast improvements on those products and offered to
customers at the most affordable price. Electronics and Automobiles are
live examples.
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The customer to most of the Japanese, is a human face with likes &
dislikes and not a faceless, formless impersonal market. Customers,
whether their employees, their suppliers or ultimate consumers are of
constant concern to the Japanese.
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What are there tastes? ow can we innovate to satisfy them better? ow
can we assure that our product is going to give trouble free service far
beyond the warranty period? ow can we be responsive to the customer in
the event of a breakdown?
|rom design & production to packaging & delivery the Japanese pay lot of
attention to details for customer satisfaction.
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Most of the organizations in Japan have risen to eminence because of

excellent market research - determining what consumers want and giving it to
them. The U.º auto manufacturers failed to perceive that the 1972 fuel crisis
would have a real impact on the customers and they continued to
manufacture large fuel inefficient cars. The Japanese saw the need and came
out with small fuel efficient cars which met with great success. The same
thing was also done for the Yndian market.