Complaints to Kaizen
Introduction
Many industries are striving to have the appropriate management in terms of production. The manufacturing industries are facing various problems like the logistics and the use of machineries. But due to the applied strategies and systematic procedures, manufacturing of the products can be effective. However, because of the influence of the Japanese manufacturers, the manufacturing industry in other parts of the world is attempting to develop their own type of manufacturing processes.
An Overview on the Kaizen
In terms of improving the production quality in manufacturing industry, there is no doubt that Japanese entrepreneurs are most outstanding. From the experience of the Toyota in manufacturing the automobiles and today’s leading manufacturer, the applied philosophy that they usually keep in the four corners of their organization is also introduced in the Western society. The manufacturing systems dramatically changed through their application in some of their philosophies like “kaizen”, which promotes changes for betterment. The Kaizen philosophy is established to encourage the manufacturers that through the continuous improvement in the area of manufacturing system. As part of the lean manufacturing, the product or process has a room for improvement (Khalil, Khan, & Mahmood, 2006). The same philosophical view is emphasized in the assessment of pull based approach that was the result of the JIT production techniques wherein the manufacturers are believed to increase the production efficiency and effectiveness by firstly identifying the trend and information from the market. Kaizen was designed in the Japanese management to stop the production processes if there is any problem recognized (Berggren and Dalgaard, 2009). Once again, the effective communication and collaboration of the people can be developed within the team and unites them to achieve their purpose.
Lean manufacturing philosophy started in late 1800s from Japan with the concept of “Kaizen”. The concept was based on the notion that no product or process can reach a point where it cannot be improved further (Khalil, Khan, & Mahmood, 2006). The practical implementation such as the team collaboration in the face of Japanese’s management is hard to copy. From the very beginning, the organization is seeking for the young wherein they can be trained and have a potential in staying in the company longer. The application of the Japanese management started from their culture to continue the recognized strengths, review the current problems and find specific answer to it (Kono, 2001). Many successful organizations allowed the practice and be passed from generations. The recognized benefit of this practice is that, it allows the people to collaborate with other member of the team and scrutinize the operation based on their knowledge and experience. This type of practice was applied to Toyota, which is one of the leading automobile producers in their country. Based on the Japanese management techniques, an employee can enhance his own potential through his own explorations (Tippu, 2006). Through the effective rotation of the roles, the organization can discover the best position for the person, therefore, the right people for the right position is resolved. On the other hand, still the HR managers’ seeks for the effectiveness of the employees towards the execution and operation.
The Complaints
Although Kaizen presented the benefits that an organization might possess, the Kaizen methodology received disadvantages particularly in the storage method.
Staying with the current method and applying the Kaizen might increase the risks such as generating excessive wastes. Most of the tools or machineries are very difficult to operate and thus very bulky and heavy. In addition the equipment relocation is highly required which will create another fraction of investment that might cause burden to the organization. The storage facilities are difficult to carry out such as the overhead racks and it should be constructed over the entire length of the building. The adjustments and processes in the adoption of Kaizen is also requires the longer training and practices to work efficiently and thus more wastes are created (Lee, Dugger, & Chen, 2000).
Furthermore, the operation should be matched with the speed as well as the system being implemented in the operation. And in order to apply the machineries smoothly, there should be a construction for guides. In weighing the advantages and disadvantages, it seems that the organization will recognize more of the disadvantages before realizing the efficiency of the process.
References:
Berggren, E., & Dalgaard, L., 2009. Pulling the Levers that Drive Execution [Online] Available at: http://www.businessaligner.com/return-on-execution.pdf [Accessed 09 December 2010]
Khalil, S., Khan, A., & Mahmood, T., (2006) LEAN SIX SIGMA – A tool to Improve Productivity, Quality and Efficiency in Manufacturing and Industrial Sector [Online] Available at: http://www.iamot.org/conference/index.php/ocs/10/paper/viewFile/1181/515 [Accessed 09 December 2010]
Kono, T., 2001. Trends in Japanese Management: Continuing Strengths, Current Problems, and Changing Priorities. Palgrave, New York, pp. 284.
Lee, S.S., Dugger, J.C., & Chen, J.C., (2000) Kaizen: An Essential Tool for Inclusion in Industrial Technology Curricula, Journal of Industrial Technology, 16(1) [Online] Available at: http://atmae.org/jit/Articles/lees1101.pdf [Accessed 09 December 2010].
Tippu, S., 2006. Time to Learn Japanese Management Techniques [Online] Available at: http://www.nihongobashi.com/about_us/announcements/iTWire.pdf [Accessed 09 December 2010].
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment