What is Kaizen?
In Japanese, Kaizen means continuous (Kai) improvement (zen) is a famous Japanese business philosophy that has been successfully applied to many businesses everywhere.
1. Customer orientation
Manufacturing and providing services market-oriented and meeting customers' needs are the leading immutable principles in modern business administration. In Kaizen also absolutely adhere to this principle. Although Kaizen tools are primarily focused on improving and managing product quality, the ultimate goal is to serve customers, increase product benefits to maximize customer satisfaction. The ultimate beneficiary is the customer, so any activities that do not increase the added value of the product and continuously improve customer satisfaction are discarded.
2. Continuous improvement
According to Kaizen, finishing a job does not mean finishing the job, but completing it at one stage before moving on to the next. This principle has improved the habit of employees often switch to a new job immediately after succeeding a certain task. Current specifications, product designs and costs will not meet the needs of future customers. If we focus on improving the current product, it will be much more efficient, in terms of both cost and time compared to producing a new product. Therefore, the process of improving products and services should be clearly planned and implemented continuously.
In Japanese factories, many new product lines or new electronic brands have constantly dominated the global market, with dizzying speed and steadily increasing sales. So, why are "made in Japan" products so attractive? In fact, only some of these products are really new, the rest are previous products that have been slightly modified to suit the tastes and pockets of today's customers. The secret is that manufacturers are always taking advantage of new opportunities in the market, constantly diversifying products, providing consumers with many new options. The continuous improvement and Kaizen evaluation process of Japanese engineers has achieved the world's leading "innovative" products and brands such as SONY, HONDA, TOYOTA…
3. Building a "No blame culture"
This is a modern scientific term of business management that has been successfully researched and applied by many scholars and big business administrators. Going into detail, there are a lot of research issues within this term of scientific management. First of all, it is necessary to develop a working motto that is "my fault, my success by the team", assigning proper and appropriate responsibilities to each individual and each individual must assume the responsibility to complete the assigned task. function delivery; In particular, do not blame others in the area of personal responsibility. The head must be responsible for his team, not "kick the ball" to another people...
In the public, in front of customers, each organization needs to build an environment of "No blame culture"; Should not report, apologize to the public, customers for many different reasons for unwarranted reasons such as: it rains, it is sunny, technical conditions, our conditions are still poor ... On the contrary, need to take responsibility for yourself. Collective should promote the capacity of each member to fix errors together, perfect the best products and services possible; For each day the prestige gets bigger, the products and services will stand firm in the marke.
4. Promote an open environment
Openness is considered a strong point for employees to fix errors quickly. Building an open, culture-free culture, employees in the company dare to look straight at mistakes, point out weaknesses and ask colleagues or leadership to help. It is a mistake if every employee considers knowledge their own. Managers need to build a good internal management information system, in which information channels need to be effectively supported for employees to share and exchange experiences between departments, colleagues, employees and employees. and vice versa throughout the company.
5. Teamwork
Creating effective teams is an important part of the company's structure. Each group needs to be given certain powers. Team leader is a person who knows, understands the tasks, requirements and has the ability to gather, evaluate and appropriately arrange members' capacity to implement projects effectively. Each individual employee needs a concerted effort to build a reputation for that group to achieve good results, efficiency and continuous improvement in groups (QCC). At the end of the mission, each group needs to evaluate, rank members, respect the reputation and personality of each member.
6. Cross function management
According to this principle, projects are planned and implemented on the basis of using combined resources from divisions and departments within the company, including utilizing resources outside the company. The Boeing Group is a case in point that combines the internal divisions of the company with potential customers and suppliers to produce the next generation of aircraft, the Boeing 777 to produce the fuselage and air plane wings. The result has been a major benefit for Boeing: not only has the production cycle and costs been significantly reduced compared to previous generations of large aircraft such as the Boeing 747 but also control waste of materials, time and labor; and it is clear that customers have been fully satisfied with the company's products.
7. Nurturing "long-term relationship"
The Japanese often do not like enemies or head-to-head relationships, discourage individuals from pragmatic working focus to results. Japanese people are also not suitable with the culture of blame, they always maintain a good teamwork culture, ensuring uniformity in the company. They often invest heavily in training programs for communication skills for employees, especially training courses for managers and leaders, because they are the most responsible people to ensure communication and information clearly.
Many Westerners who joined Japanese companies were amazed to find that companies here often spent huge amounts of time training such programs, but the results were even more surprising when It was discovered that it was an investment to build trust for employees who are always loyal and committed to long-term work in the company
8. Self-discipline training
Self-discipline has naturally formed in the Japanese people through education at schools, churches and social organizations. The Japanese often voluntarily adapt to rituals and rules of society so that they always feel comfortable, and affirm the fullness and inner strength of each person. Such self-discipline has not been compared to the ability of them to sacrifice themselves in order to have a homogeneity with their colleagues and to match the company's credo. They always consider themselves to control their own personality, willing to put the company, group or leader above themselves and their family.
9. Information transparency
Information is an important input in the modern business; Information from managers to employees should ensure on-time, accurate, complete and appropriate elements. Employees need to understand the goals and requirements when the manager assigns tasks, is responsible for planning and implementing specific tasks appropriately and in the right direction to achieve the highest goals.
Research results from business managers have confirmed that employees cannot be expected to achieve outstanding results if they do not understand the tasks, values, products, business results and resources and other company plans. Therefore, maintaining every employee to be shared information is a way to share the challenges of the company for each member.
10. Promote productivity and efficiency
The Kaizen philosophy promotes employee productivity and efficiency through a combination of methods including:
- Multi-skill training.
- Encourage and create motivation.
- Build responsibility at work.
- Specific authorization
- Promote the ability to work proactively and decision-making skills.
- The ability to access and use resources (information data, budget, intelligence, strength, time ...).
- Create conditions for employees to give feedback proactively
- Job rotation
- Incentive.
Kaizen implementation steps
Kaizen relates to each member in making changes. Kaizen focuses on identifying root causes, solving root causes and changing standards to ensure that the problem is solved at its root. To do this, there are six steps needed:
Standardize: Start with the process of performing a specific, repeatable and organized activity.
Measure: Check whether the process is effective by using quantifiable data such as the time it takes to complete, the number of hours to spend, etc.
Compare: Compare measurement results with requirements. Does that process save time? Does that take too much time? Does it match the expected results?
Innovate: Find new or better ways to do the same job or achieve the same results. Looking for smarter, more efficient way to reach same goal that can increase productivity.
Standardize: Create another similar process for new, more efficient activities.
Repeat: back to step 1 and start again.
Above is a 6-step basic system in solving a problem that needs improvement. It is flexibly applied to almost all business, not just for the production department. The spirit of process improvement will ensure that everything from management to employees adhere to improvement in a scientific and serious manner
Taky Food - Kaizen spirit
Recognizing the importance of Kaizen, all managers or employees of Taky Food can start from establishing a new mindset and building a business environment in the right direction. Each individual always keeps the following in mind to build a company culture according to Kaizen strategy:
- Do not let a day go by without made some improvements somewhere in Taky Food.
- Kaizen applies in customer-oriented strategy, ensuring all management activities ultimately lead to increased customer satisfaction of Taky Food.
- The quality of Taky Food products and services is top priority, not profit; A business will become prosperous if and only when customers buy products and services that they are satisfied with.
- Acknowledge that Taky Food's processes and regulations are subject to mistakes, so it is necessary to establish a corporate culture so that all Taky Food employees are self-aware of the mistakes, then ready. Provide improvement ideas.
- Solving work in teamwork and cheeking by cross functions.
- Emphasize the process and establish a mind-set approach to process improvement, and establish a supportive management system and thank the Taky Food staff for the improved contribution.
To be successful, Taky Food also has to constantly improve and develop continuously in the spirit of Kaizen. With the promotion of the Kaizen spirit in every Taky Food employee, the development and building of Taky Food is more and more stable and reaches out from the constant fluctuations and increasingly fierce competition of the market.
