Some of you may remember it.
This time, I would like to talk about the further growth of the turtle team.
In the famous words of former vice president of Toyota, Taiichi Ohno, who is said to be the creator of the Toyota Production System,
There is a saying, "No one is more troubled than the one who is troubled."
Before the Kame-san team started kaizen activities, it seemed that things were going well, even if they didn't push themselves too hard.
It seems that there was no strong rival like Usagi.
In their first kaizen activity, they complained that the material manufacturer did not meet the delivery date, visited the manufacturer directly, and shared the problems to create a win-win situation with the manufacturer. As a result, we have successfully built a relationship.
In the beginning, it seems that there were not many subjective symptoms of dissatisfaction that the material manufacturer did not keep the delivery date.
I asked them to record the events that occurred in the previous development in as much detail as possible and to arrange them chronologically.
As they tracked their own and the manufacturer's behaviour over time, they realized that the cause of the equipment delays was on their side as well.
Only their dissatisfaction that "manufacturers do not keep delivery dates" occupied their minds, and they could only see their dissatisfaction. Still, they could see that the other party was in trouble because of them.
After this, they had a frank discussion with the manufacturer, and we found areas for Kaizen.
They were able to talk with the manufacturer with the feeling that "we will eliminate our problem, so please cooperate again", so we could see what we should do together.
I believed in their hidden talents.
Therefore, the goal of the second activity was a complete model change of the product.
The designer asked the manufacturing company to propose daily something he finds challenging to do.
So many ideas came to my mind.
In the design department, we put those ideas into drawings as much as possible.
Before I knew it, the goal that had felt too high and unattainable was now within reach.
Through this Kaizen, the Kame-san team achieved what they initially thought would be a challenging goal by leveraging the synergistic effects of the power of design + manufacturing + inspection.
In coaching terms, self-evaluation for achieving goals is called efficacy.
In addition, this activity is called collective efficacy because it is a group rather than an individual.
The first activity was to build a win-win relationship with the manufacturer.
In the second activity, the collective efficiency of design + manufacturing + inspection was increased.
And the following is the new story of their kaizen activity.
This time, the price of materials has skyrocketed globally, and we are in a challenging procurement environment worldwide.
Kame-san team was no exception.
In everyday activities, there was a plan to reduce costs in the medium term, and we planned to reduce costs in two years in line with that plan.
However, they quickly recognized the deterioration of the procurement environment as a problem and decided to bring forward the cost reduction plan one year in advance.
They set strict targets for cost reduction after consulting with relevant departments within the company.
Before they started kaizen activities, cost reduction was supposed to be done only by design, but by using the way of the second round, manufacturing and inspection naturally joined the team from the beginning.
Each set a target amount to be achieved and started activities with a sense of urgency, using the techniques they learned in the second activity.
In manufacturing, as with the second instalment, we identified proposals from the perspective of "how to make the structure easier to manufacture."
During this process, they involved production technology and put in the perspective of building production equipment, and from multiple perspectives, they identified many Kaizen proposals.
The speed from setting goals to identifying proposals was astonishing. It feels like proposals are gushing out like a fountain.
The same goes for inspections.
I quickly figured out a way to avoid the inspection.
When designing and visualizing the product's cost structure, they noticed that the housing was costly.
However, in terms of design, I came up with simplifying the housing structure, using fewer materials, and making it easier to manufacture. There was no standard of judgment.
There was no way to negotiate with the manufacturer.
So, I consulted with the department that makes the chassis in the company.
"If I make it in-house, how much will it cost?"
In response to this question, we received a strong response from the in-house chassis manufacturing department within no time.
As a result, compared to the current manufacturer's price, it seems relatively cheap compared to the processing cost.
Encouraged by this information, the design team leader consulted with his boss. Then, with the help of the Procurement Department, he decided to collect information from other chassis manufacturers.
Other business departments in the company also outsource their housing to manufacturers so that we can find reasonable prices.
Then, in addition to the teams within the department that we had been working with, we decided to bring in members from the Purchasing Department and request estimates from several companies.
After that, I felt there was a possibility of a significant cost reduction compared to the current product.
This activity also aims to achieve a significant goal in the first three months.
The reason for the success of this 3rd activity is the same as the 2nd one. It fostered collective efficacy.
Since the second instalment, expanding the number of friends has produced great success.
Leaders of kaizen activities enjoy the absolute pleasure of using the strengths of related departments within the company, leading to great results.
Kaizen is not something you do alone.
The movements of the Turtle team will increase in speed as they continue their activities.
The image of "turtle" is already a thing of the past.
Let's look at it from a cognitive science perspective.
They had such low awareness of issues that people would say, "No one is more troubled than someone troubled."
At that time, they were a little dissatisfied that the manufacturer didn't keep the delivery date, but now it's not a big problem.
In other words, this state of consciousness was their comfort zone at the time.
As they proceeded with the first and second kaizen activities,
They now have a clear vision of what the future should look like = the goal.
At this point, "Troublesome" had already graduated.
The "ideal future = goal" covered by scotoma is visible, the scotoma has come off, and the comfort zone has moved to the misselling side.
After their scotoma came off, I found ways to achieve my goals one after another and, without hesitation, put them into practice.
In addition, by sharing the "ideal future = goal" with the people involved, they fostered collective efficacy towards achieving the "goal" was.
Interestingly, collaborators appeared in front of me one after another.
*Scotoma is a psychological blind spot.
I have never met a turtle with such good footwork.😁
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