Monozukuri The art of m

akingSteven Blom

Many companies have introduced Lean, WCM and 6 Sigma, trying to realize the promise of

these techniques: twice as much production at half the costs. But in the West we are less

successful in achieving these goals than the Japanese. In this book, Steven Blom explains why

and proposes ideas and methods to make real progress in increasing productivity.

According to Blom balancing out the Technical and the Social System of a company is crucial.

Finding the right balance between these two systems requires that top management pays

continuous attention to both the production processes and the employees who do the job.

This book is a must-read for every manager who works with Lean, WCM and 6 Sigma and

wants a) to put a major step forward in improving the e�ciency and e�ectiveness of his/her

company, and b) to create a stimulating and enjoyable workplace for his/her employees.

Not only top managers will appreciate the book, it is also written for middle management,

sta� members and workers.

Steven Blom is a mechanical engineer who made his career at Mars, Johnson & Johnson and Fuji. He was the �rst production manager of the Fuji Photo Film plant in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Twenty years ago he founded Blom Consultancy.

Steven Blom was the �rst to introduce methods like TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), WCM (World Class Manufacturing) and Lean in The Netherlands. He has helped hundreds of companies to implement Lean.

Steven Blom also wrote ‘Long Live Dutch Manufacturing’, a book in which he makes a plea for keeping the manufacturing industry in The Netherlands vital by introducing WCM and Lean.

The art of making

The art of making

T h e M o n o z u k u r i C o m p a n y

MonozukuriMonozukuri

MONOZUKURI‘The Art of Making’

Steven Blom

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Steven BlomMarcel Metze

Blom Consultancy BVKanaaldijk 65735 SL Aarle-Rixtel

T. 0492 - 47 41 49info@BlomConsultancy.nlwww.BlomConsultancy.nl

Edited by: Marcel MetzeLayout: Rudi HaryonoCover design: Michel Kobus, Mars Media, www.marsmedia.nl

ISBN/EAN: 978-90-807466-4-0

© 2012 Steven Blom

All rights reserved. English version published by Blom Consultancy BV.

No part of this publication may be reproduced and / or made public by means printing, photocopying,

microfilm or any other means whatsoever, without prior written permission of the publisher.

All trademarks are the property of their respective owners and are in this publication, used for

identification purposes only.

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Contents

Introductie Mindful action 7

The philosophy

Chapter 1: Top level production 10

Chapter 2: Monozukuri: the art of making 14

Chapter 3: Inspiration and commitment 23

Chapter 4: Awareness 27

Chapter 5: Craftsmanship, character and career 32

Chapter 6: Managers, not MBA's 38

Chapter 7: Credible, sustained and constructive leadership 43

In Practice

Chapter 8: Implementing monozukuri: four phases 52

Chapter 9: Why Lean often fails 58

Chapter 10: Vision, mission & strategy (phase 1) 63

Chapter 11: Screening current projects (phase 2) 68

Chapter 12: Policy deployment (phase 3) 69

Chapter 13: Improvement teams (phase 4) 74

Epilogue 85

Footnotes 89

Literature and sources 93

Sources chapter 3 95

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Introduction

Mindful action

According to Zen Buddhism each and every person can reach ‘enlightenment’, a state of utter bliss which is achieved through acceptance and being rooted in the ‘now’. An enlightened being is no longer tormented by grief or pain from the past or by fear of what the future may hold. The most important way to reach enlightenment is through meditation. Zen believes that talent and creativity come from within. Whether they express themselves, and in which way, depends on how one deals with them. Being grounded in the now and complete focus are crucial.

Zen Buddhism’s philosophy of creativity matches the Monozukuri philosophy of ‘making things’. Monozukuri is a mindset. It can be described, in the words of the Japanese Institute for Trade and Organization (JETRO), as ‘having the spirit for producing excellent products and the ability to constantly improve a production system and -process.’

Monozukuri is not unlike some European traditions in the Middle Ages. At the time, it could take decades to complete large structures such as churches. Continuity of crafts and skills was essential. The building masters made sure that enough young apprentices where hired. They were assigned simple tasks and earned nothing at first. An apprentice stone mason began by roughly hewing crude lumps of stone to size. Only after he had proven himself to be capable and had shown some degree of skill, he could become a journeyman and receive pay. After many years of service he might have the opportunity to complete a masterpiece. As a master it would his turn to train new apprentices. In this way craftsmanship was preserved and passed on. The masters organized themselves in guilds. They felt united in their skill and appreciated each others’ accomplishments. In general, life in this period was closely linked to labor. The children of the cobbler could see their father at work each day. Workshops and small factories were located in urban neighborhoods instead of hidden away in industrial complexes.

In the early industrial firms, arising in the beginning of the twentieth century, the atmosphere of craftsmanship still remained alive. These companies often started from collaboration between investors and engineers. Engineers – people who are ‘ingenious’ - like to invent new things and to create, not to become rich but to improve our way of life and to create beautiful and innovative products. Henry Ford,

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Gerard Philips and others continued expanding their companies, even after they had become very wealthy men.

This culture of making things has largely been lost in the west. Too few new craftsmen are trained; many people regard office or management jobs as more respectable than manual crafts. It has become increasingly difficult to find skilled carpenters, painters, plumbers or other craftsmen. In many countries, the manufacturing industry is now smaller in size than the service sector. And even inside large industrial organizations the culture of manufacturing has been supersede by a culture of marketing and sales. Many marketing & sales managers lack any feeling for the art of making. Frans Swarttouw, CEO of the Dutch airplane manufacturer Fokker Industries in the eighties, once said: ‘selling airplanes is the wonderful but it’s a pity we have to build the damn things too!’ Automation and information technology have had a big influence on the cultural transformation of the manufacturing industry. They have shifted managerial attention away from the factory floor and created a virtual world which hardly bears resemblance to physical reality. Before the information era, managers used to meet on the factory floor. Now they work behind computer screens, interpreting each others’ data.

Another factor that stimulated the decline of the culture of craftsmanship was the emergence of the professional manager. During the twentieth century, many companies grew so large that the owners (often families) could no longer oversee their operations and started to hire managers to assist them. After World War II, an increasing percentage of them came from business schools (Master of Business Administration) or had a financial background. Their main focus was to increase profitability, the nature and quality of the goods their companies produced was less important. Many of them embraced the Anglo-Saxon, neoliberal economic model, in which managers receive options and bonuses related to the revenues, the market value and the size of the company. In the neoliberal era, which started in the early eighties, the emphasis in management shifted towards financial reporting, short term results and the share price (shareholder value). In order to boost their salaries corporate managers began to inflate revenues and short term profits. They stepped up the number of mergers & acquisitions, decreased the level of investment and moved production to low wage countries. In the eighties and nineties the electronics firm Philips, once the largest manufacturer in the Netherlands, outsourced all of its main production lines abroad, with the exception of electric razors. An increasing number of manufacturing companies fell into the hands of investment companies with a simple strategy: cut costs, improve short term performance, sell and quickly

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cash in. These hostile takeovers were often financed by burdening the acquired companies with debt, thus leaving them unable to make the necessary investments for the future. This form of strip mining inevitably leads to ‘business anorexia’, with a large risk of divestments, the disposal of less profitable subsidiaries and even closure.

The western world cannot allow any more of its manufacturing industry – a driving force behind its wealth – to decay or move away. It is high time that we stop this downward spiraling trend. And it is not difficult to do that. There is plenty of potential for improving the efficiency of our manufacturing industry. The effectiveness of production lines can be expressed in an Overall Equipment Effectiveness ratio. This describes the relation between the theoretical maximum output and the actual output. For the average manufacturing firm in The Netherlands, this ratio is less than 40 percent while 85 percent should be achievable.

In order to reach this objective and to cultivate new craftsmanship and industrial élan we need young people to be enthusiastic about building things. Monozukuri offers important tools for stimulating such enthusiasm. In Japan, Nissan employees visit primary schools and teach children through play how to set up a production line for building Lego cars. They also teach them to use electric screwdrivers and torque wrenches. It would be a good thing if we, in the west, started embracing the principles of Monozukuri and developing our own interpretations of this philosophy. We should teach our children once again that building is fun and that the results of building things are enjoyable. Schools should not only focus on teaching math and languages but also on the art of ‘creation’, and thus stimulate the pride in mastery and craftsmanship.

But there is no need to wait for this new generation to enter the labor market. Current employees and managers can also benefit from the teachings of Monozukuri. This is what this book is about.

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The philosophy

1. Top level production

Efforts to increase productivity are characteristic for the industrial age. An important leap was the introduction of the steam engine in the late eighteenth century. Factories grew, production lines expanded, organizations became more complex, and jobs became more specialized. At the end of the nineteenth century a second industrial revolution took off, triggered by inventions which were based on newly discovered physical and chemical principles such as oil refining, electrical appliances, the combustion engine and radio. The second industrial revolution stimulated the development of faster ships, of cars and airplanes, of electric lighting and trans-Atlantic telegraph cables. Substantial investments in production and marketing led to the rise of the modern large-scale industrial organization.

In 1911 Frederic Winslow Taylor, an American engineer who had worked in the steel industry, formulated his Principles of Scientific Management. Taylor called for a more precise analysis, division and standardization of the various steps in production processes. In the Netherlands, Philips, a producer of incandescent light bulbs, was one of the first to introduce such principles. Taylor was a practical man of science, a problem solver and inventor, with over forty patents to his name. He had a passion for order and efficiency. When he researched something, he did it thoroughly. In 1906, he pre-sented an article to the American Society of Mechanical Engineers about ‘the art of cutting metals’. It was the result of twenty six (!) years of research. 1

Taylor noticed that no-one had ever looked into the composition of work tasks and started a series of extensive time and motion studies at steel companies. Which separate actions made up an operation, how much time did these actions take, and could they be performed and structured more efficiently? With his scientific manage-ment methods Taylor often achieved spectacular results. The introduction normally doubled the production levels while labor costs remained constant. ‘Taylorisme’ became widely known due to Henry Ford. Ford wanted his workers to be able to buy the cars they built at his factory. Because automobiles were prohibitively expensive, he had to realize a drastic price reduction. He did this by introducing mass production and by thoroughly simplifying the assembly process, which he split up in standardized tasks. Ford’s most important tool, the assembly line, was not a new concept. At a slaughterhouse in Chicago he had seen how cows were suspended from chains and systematically dismembered at the various workstations. It dawned on him that this process of dismembering was basically the opposite of the process

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of assembling cars. Thus, the idea of the moving assembly line was born.After a while, Taylorism fell from grace. As Charles Chaplin demonstrated in his film Modern Times, it could lead to dull and monotonous jobs, while the introduction of piece-work sometimes drove laborers to exhaustion. A number of psychologists specializing in labor and organizational matters started a Human Relations Movement, which focused on the person behind the worker rather than on the efficiency of his actions. Another problem was that mass production according to the Ford method turned out to be fairly rigid. Ford’s assembly lines could produce only one model at a time. When asked about the various colors he could deliver Ford used to comment: ‘customers can have their car painted any color they want as long as it is black’. Still, many of the principles and practices developed by Taylor and Ford almost a century ago still hold value today. Ford said, for example, that factories should be kept small to keep costs at a minimum and that machines should be positioned close to each other to avoid a pileup of parts. This kind of common sense practices has been redis-covered over the last decades. We find them in the modern techniques for Lean Production, which will be discussed extensively later on.

The Japanese secret

After the Second World War, the western economies shifted their focus from manu-facturing to the service industry. They started viewing mass production as an out-dated activity which could best be exported to countries with low labor costs. In 1980, however, the American television network NBC broadcasted the documentary film If Japan Can, Why Can’t We. The Japanese industry was conquering the western mar-kets for cars and for consumer electronics - both high-tech types of products - at an alarming rate. The documentary explained why. According to NBC, the Japanese success was based on the principles of the American organizational expert W. Edwards Deming. During World War II, when U.S. military production was expanding fast, Deming, who had been trained as a statistician, had developed a production improve-ment method called Statistical Process Control (SPC). In the companies he worked for he would hang quality graphs close to the machines, which could be updated by the employees themselves. This not only boosted the production levels but also production quality, as the numbers of errors and repairs dropped. After a short run of success, the SPC method had gradually fallen into oblivion. After World War II, responsibility for quality control had moved from the factory floor to staff departments, and quality graphs had moved from the walls of the production halls to the walls of offices.

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In Japan, things had gone differently. Immediately after the capitulation, General Douglas MacArthur had been appointed governor. Because the Japanese manufac-turing industry was at a low and struggled with a lack of capable employees, MacAr-thur had introduced an American program for the swift training of operators, called Training Within Industries. Then he had asked W. Edwards Deming to come over. With his SPC method, Japanese businesses had managed to rapidly increase both productivity and quality. In the early fifties, Deming’s colleague Joseph Juran had also traveled to Japan to consult and give courses about quality management. In the sixties and seventies, the manufacturing industry in the West had slowed down and lost dynamics. Meanwhile, the Japanese manufacturing industry had blossomed. In 1971, the Japanese Institute for Factory Engineers had merged a number of ideas on quality control and production improvement into a single concept Total Productive Maintenance (TPM). Ten years later, the Japanese Institute of Plant Maintenance (JIPM) had been founded, aiming at further development of the TPM-concept (the TPM concept, of which a revised definition was published in 1989, is still central to the field of improvement management and will be extensively discussed later on). 2

Western corporations reacted strongly to the NBC documentary. First, they pressured their governments to levy import taxes against Japanese products. Then American and European managers flew to Japan by the plane-load to observe the Japanese way with their own eyes (the Japanese allowed this, under the condition that they could do the same in Europe and the US). The concept that most impressed the Western managers was the Quality Circle, in which employees are responsible for the entire product, from the beginning until completion, and are encouraged to submit ideas and implement improvements in the production process. Soon, quality circles were introduced in Western companies, albeit in guises such as Small Group Activity or Kaizen teams.

In the mid-eighties, it became clear that the basis of the Japanese successes was more complex than initially thought. When the American automotive industry asked MIT to compare the Japanese automobile industry to the rest of the world, the Japanese turned out to be twice as efficient. But this difference could not be explained easily. Quality circles and just-in-time production played a part, but the Japanese had developed many other methods and techniques to improve both productivity and quality. 3

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World Class Manufacturing

The Japanese improvement methods had American roots, but they were also strongly interwoven with Japanese culture. It took until the nineties before western companies were able to adapt and incorporate some of them. A major impetus came from The machine that changed the world, a book, published in 1991, which described the Toyota Production System (TPS). The authors translated TPS into a concept which they labeled Lean Manufacturing and connected it to Ford’s mass production system and the methods of Taylorisme. They founded a Lean Institute and communicated their ideas through books like Lean and Learning to see.

Since then, many more Japanese concepts have been translated into western practices. In the process, the essence sometimes gets lost. In Japan, it goes without saying that improvement methods will only be effective if they are reinforced by and supported by the people on the factory floor. The western translations of Japanese concept often have a top down nature. Take the Six Sigma model, developed by Motorola and extensively promoted by General Electric. In this system, teams of Greenbelts and Blackbelts run around the organization, stimulating improvement. In prac-tice, these teams are often used by middle managers as a vehicle to accelerate their career growth, while the original goal – a continually learning organization – disappears into the background.

When western gurus and consultants adopt Japanese concepts and techniques, they often put their own spin on them and attach their own labels. These may sound new but on closer inspection are often based upon familiar techniques. In this book, we will not follow this trend. We will use the terminology used by Dick Schönberger in his book World Class Manufacturing. In our view, this terminology offers the best description of the most important concepts. The core concepts of Schönberger’s book are Total Productive Maintenance as developed by the Japanese, and the overarching concept of World Class Manufacturing. We regard World Class Manufacturing as an integral method in which techniques and attitudes are of equal importance. 4

World Class Manufacturing is based on the philosophy of Monozukuri. For that reason the next chapter will discuss Monozukuri, the art of making things.

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2. Monozukuri: the art of making

Monozukuri (aka monodzukuri or monotsukuri) is a Japanese management- and pro-duction philosophy which has enjoyed a growing popularity in the Japanese manu-facturing industry over the last fifteen years. ‘Mono’ meaning product and ‘zukuri’ refers to the process of making. Monozukuri can loosely be translated as ‘the art of making’, because the term is strongly related to craftsmanship and labor pride. The primary goal of the monozukuri philosophy is to produce goods of the highest possible quality for the consumer. This goal is pursued by intensive collaboration between the various participants in the production process and by investing in the talents of the employees.

Monozukuri is slowly gaining a foothold in western companies too. It is not the first time Japan has inspired the west. Earlier, it did this with methods like kaizen (product improvement in small steps), just-in-time (logistic improvements), quality circles (teamwork and continuous feedback), Total Productive Maintenance and lean manufacturing. Monozukuri is a next step in the Japanese inspiration wave. 5

A deep-rooted tradition

The origins of the concept of monozukuri can be traced back to the Edo period (1603 – 1868). Japan had closed itself off from the rest of the world and little filtered through from the outside. Many historians believe the Edo period was an era of stagnation and limited scientific and technological development. The Japanese government takes another view and is convinced that significant technological developments did take place. Prime examples of Japanese engineering during this time are the traditional Karakuri. These mechanical dolls were meticulously crafted, individually and by hand, during the eighteenth en nineteenth century and display a remarkable level of craftsmanship. They had complex, minuscule mechanisms with cogs en wheels, and are therefore seen as the early forerunners of the robot. Their production methods, founded in craftsmanship and meticulousness, represent one of the sources of inspiration of the monozukuri philosophy.

The word monozukuri is so novel that it has not yet been adopted by the Japanese dictionaries. As it is linked to deep-rooted and ancient traditions – sometimes dating back to 2000BC – it has a certain historic atmosphere. So when Sony, in one of their brochures, refer to practices in their factory in the fifties as based on monozukuri, they actually use a term that did not exist at the time. 6

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Although monozukuri may have only recently come into vogue, it basically provides a philosophical and cultural basis for management concepts which were developed earlier by car manufacturer Toyota. The Toyota Production System and the related concept of lean manufacturing fit seamlessly with the concept of monozukuri. TPS was developed by Toyota in the seventies and eighties in order to improve productivity. Core elements are kaizen (continuous improvement) and the elimination of inefficiencies in the production process. 7

When Kozo Saito, professor of mechanical engineering at the University of Kentucky and author of many articles on monozukuri, was asked how TPS and monozukuri related to each other, he answered: ‘TPS is part of Monozukuri which is a unique product of Japanese culture and can represent a way of thinking that can connect to TPS and Kaizen. Monozukuri is the base for TPS and kaizen.’ Monozukuri thus offers an all-en-compassing framework for the more practically oriented Japanese management concepts which were developed earlier, and can be seen as the logical step in the further development of lean manufacturing and World Class manufacturing. 8

The term monozukuri has came into use mainly due to efforts of the Japanese government. The government is continuously working on improving the quality and image of Japanese products. It has introduced monozukuri as an important strategic concept, a Japanese version of the Deutsche Gründlichkeit, one might say. The Japanese government is so convinced of the principles of monozukuri, that it wants to export this philosophy, and it advocates this Japanese idea as an example for manufacturers across the globe. The export of monozukuri is pursued from the conviction that if other manufacturers excel as well, products will improve worldwide. It is supposed that this will eventually benefit Japan. 9

The art of making things

It is not easy to clearly describe monozukuri. The concept has such a broad meaning that it means different things to different people. 10 Moreover, it is difficult to translate. The English ‘craftsmanship’ only partly covers it. This concept focuses on the maker while monozukuri addresses the product and the process of making. 11

Some say that the actual meaning is much more ‘intense’ than the western synonyms: ‘Monozukuri means having the spirit to produce excellence products and the ability to constantly improve a production system and process.’ 12 It could only be understood by people who speak Japanese: ‘no English word can be associated with

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a broad meaning that may include development, production, procurement and service, as well as both tangible and intangible qualities. (…) After all, the Japanese term monozukuri sounds most suitable’. 13

The art of making – which is the definition we will use – is also ‘the art of teaching people to make those things.’ 14 Kozo Saito therefore ties monozukuri to the concept of hitozukuri, where hito means ‘people’. According to him, Monozukuri cannot be disconnected from the ‘making of people’ or in other words: education in the broad sense. Saito sees hitozukuri as a continuous process that is more than just education and training. It is a life-long process and is strongly tied to craftsmanship and personal development. Saito explains this by using a story of Confucius: ‘when I (Con-fucius) was fifteen years old, I decided to study; at thirty I became independent; at forty I focused; at fifty I realized my mission in my life; at sixty I became able to listen to people without bias and prejudice; finally at seventy I attained the stage that my thinking and action are harmonized with nature.’ 16

Professional intuition

It is no coincidence that Kozo Saito refers to Confucius. He calls monozukuri ‘a phi-losophy rather than technique or method’, a philosophy which is deeply rooted in Zen and Confucianism. 17 It is the ‘process of making things with spirituality’, in which, according to Saito, in an interview from 2011, the spirituality is a combination of Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism, and the practice of Shinto. 18 Saito combines this spirituality with the concept of kufu. 19 This is most often used in Zen Buddhism, where it means ‘to struggle to pass through a blind alley.’ 20 Kufu is deep, intuitive, and spiritual knowledge. This cannot be taught and has to come from inside – it must originate from a person’s innermost core. To gain access to kufu, a person must let go of his or her individuality. Ego must yield to allow spiritual rebirth, which is paired with intense spiritual labor pains. In the context of monozukuri, kufu is a professional intuition which craftsmen use to solve a problem. It is closer to art than to science. According to Saito, kufu leads to breakthroughs in labor- and production processes (and thus supplements the kaizen) by ‘thinking outside-the-box’ and using ‘paradigm shifts’. Saito sees kufu and science as two ways of thinking which lead to different, complementary results. Western thinking is focused on self-interest, on logical, linear, and analytical thinking while eastern thinking is holistic, team-oriented, dialectical, and non-linear. 21

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Kozo Saito calls monozukuri an Eastern philosophy and more than just a word: ‘the word means more than simply making something; it has overtones of excellence, skill, spirit, zest, and pride in the ability to make things very well.’ 22 Another definition is by Professor Takahiro Fujimoto who described monozukuri it as ‘copying design parame-ters to a material’. 23 Because of its broad nature, monozukuri can easily be combined with other concepts. A Japanese artists- and craftsmen collective regards sustainability and ‘going back to nature’ as central elements of monozukuri. 24 Companies often mold the concept to meet their own needs. Mazda write in their annual report for 2008: ‘for us, monozukuri means creating products that deliver new value, and includes concept building, technological development, and manufacturing and supplying vehicles.’ 25

Core values

Monozukuri can be seen as an all-encompassing concept for a characteristically Japanese approach to product design and production. In principle, it focuses on adding as much value for the end consumer as possible. Monozukuri provides a philosophical basis for ‘lean production’, which focuses on using a minimum amount of resources and materials, and on reducing inefficiency. Several traditional Japanese values and principles are central to the concept of monozukuri. Group needs are regarded as more important than the needs of the individual. The long term is more important than the short term, and because of this there is more attention for long term invest-ments in equipment and personnel then for short term profit. Core values in monozukuri are excellence, cooperation, and trust.

Core value 1: ExcellenceMonozukuri is inextricably linked to the concept of ‘kaizen’, which refers to the aspiration to constantly improve the production process and the product. The continuous striving for improvement is necessary in order to produce products of the highest quality. New developments in science and technology keep raising the bar for ‘excellence’. Aspiring to attain top quality is therefore an endless, evolutionary process which demands teamwork and large investments in human resources as well as research & development. In order to produce ‘monozukuri quality’ products, it is crucial to have well-trained and motivated personnel. This requires a strong emphasis on the development of talent in the workforce. The monozukuri philosophy feels that craftsmanship cannot be taught in schools but requires lengthy training and experience on the factory floor. This emphasis on craftsmanship does not mean that knowledge from books is taboo. On the contrary, extensive knowledge of science

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and engineering is important and goes hand in hand with craftsmanship. This is why it is important for businesses to attract and retain talent from the universities and colleges. 26

Core value 2: Cooperation and IntegrationAlthough monozukuri can be adapted to individual labor, many products are made by more than one individual. Not only is teamwork unavoidable but it is seen as the driving force behind the monozukuri way of producing and designing. The design process according to the monozukuri method often has an integrated character. By involving the entire production supply chain in the design process, it will become clear at an early stage how the production phases have to be attuned to each other. This vertically integrated design process is not limited to the factory itself but also extends to the suppliers and clients, with whom a close cooperation is established as early in the research & development phase as possible. This integration of medium and small supplier and client businesses into a larger corporation is sometimes referred to as keiretsu. The goal is that the suppliers of semi-manufactured goods as well as customers remain focused on the end-product. This approach differs fundamentally from the American modular production principles. In a modular approach, each company works for its own, direct customers, without considering the end-user. The modular approach leads to the production of large quantities of nonspecific semi-manufactured goods, against low costs, which can be used to produce a large variety of products. The monozukuri approach is much more suited to customization and just-in-time production. The supplier focuses on the value which a part can have for the end-product (and therefore for the end-user), and actively contributes to increasing the quality and profit margin. In monozukuri production, suppliers develop specialized parts for specific products at a relatively high frequency. 28

Interdisciplinary cooperation in the company and in the supply chain demands an active effort of the employees to work on the improvement of the cooperation processes. They must be willing to keep each other sharp, address others about their work and give each other feedback on their achievements. 29 Teamwork is thus an important element of monozukuri. This element originates from the concept of Small Group Activities (or Quality Circles) in which small teams are responsible for the production of the entire product and are mandated to implement improvements in the production process. 30 This responsibility gives employees authority and a sense of fulfillment. They feel involved and motivated to work harder to achieve their quantitative and qualitative goals. 31 The organizational structure of a company

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with SGA’s requires less hierarchy than other companies and initiatives will come from both the top and the bottom. The individual is in the service of the team, and because there is a limit to what an individual can accomplish, knowledge and capabilities must be shared. 32

Core value 3: Trust and loyaltyAttaining monozukuri quality requires a long term vision. As mentioned earlier, the monozukuri philosophy regards it as important to invest in talent in order to build long term knowledge and employee skills. Cheap mass production in the American or Chinese style would not require such investments. Monozukuri’s focus on long term commitment is reflected by comprehensive in-house training programs and in the prospect of lifetime employment for good employees. According to the monozukuri philosophy, this approach will lead to better solutions to problems because employees will not choose easy options but go for the best solution. 33

A strong bond between the company and the employees should, according to the monozukuri philosophy, go hand in hand with trust-based management. If ‘trust comes first, contract becomes secondary’. By trusting its employees and giving them with room for their own initiative, the company hopes to gain loyalty, engagement and creativity, and receive high quality in return. 34

Trust is also important between companies in the supply chain. Companies who base their supply lines on trust usually regard long term relationships as more important than getting the lowest price. Trust and loyalty as a basis for transactions between businesses may be costly in the short term but, in the long term, can improve quality, cost levels, and delivery time. This is possible because trust allows for better cooperation. The idea is that through action and reaction (reciprocity), a loop will emerge in which the supplier and the customer gradually get in tune with each other. As mentioned earlier this is important for the integration of the production processes throughout the supply chain. 35

A value which is closely related to trust and loyalty is pride, both in working on the product and in the product itself. A product is good if the maker stands by it and someone is only able to put in a 100 percent of his energy (excel) if he/she is proud of his/her work. A positive corporate culture and an attractive work place will inspire young people to strive for craftsmanship and will connect all employees, young and old, personally to the products they make. 36

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Monozukuri in (Japanese) practice

Many large Japanese companies present themselves as followers of the monozukuri philosophy in their brochures and annual reports. The term is also used frequently by smaller companies, by museums, in competitions and contests, and by foreign car manufacturers. 37 It will be no surprise that Toyota, which inspired many with its TPS, has embraced monozukuri as its main philosophy. Other Japanese car manufacturers have done so too. Mazda uses the philosophy to combine the advantages of mass production with those of flexibility and has designed a production line on which many different models can be produced. Nissan (in which Renault has a large stake) sees it as an important tool for competitiveness. Focusing on the entire chain of value creation will bring the ultimate goal – reduced costs and increased quality – closer, Nissan believes. 38

On their website, Sony shows what monozukuri looked like in 1954. A photo, showing laborers working on a product, is accompanied by the caption: ‘you can feel the quiet energy and the sense of accomplishment in seeing the product being completed and shipped off to consumers.’ This ‘energy’ is regarded as timeless and ‘has always been powered by monozukuri.’ 39 Toshiba’s web pages about its company philosophy describe monozukuri in terms of the creation of products with pride and passion and as a continuous process of establishing new values which are expressed through the application of superior proprietary technology and knowledge and will result in quality products and services, which will not just meet the expectations of the clients but even transcend those expectations. At all times, the company wants to keep its clients in mind. This means that products should be user-friendly, that corporate responsibility is taken seriously, and that the company cares for the environment, while corporate value is maximized. 40

The spirit of manufacturing

Because monozukuri and hitozukuri are closely related, there is a lot of attention in Japan for inspiring children to love for craftsmanship and engineering. The Setagaya Monozukuri Gakko in Tokyo, which is established in a school, organizes regular workshops and exhibitions, and in the Kyoto Tool Company Monozukuri Museum one can experience the ‘spirit of manufacturing’. Toy museums also pay attention to monozukuri. Hitozukuri is promoted in education projects. Technical schools teach monozukuri classes, in which the focus lies on the transfer of techniques and knowledge by older pupils to younger children. The Nissan Monozukuri Caravan

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visits Japanese primary schools and organizes lectures and workshops ‘to share its passion in manufacturing to elementary school children’ and to get kids interested in craftsmanship from an early age. The purpose is to get pupils acquainted with the manufacturing (‘making’) industry and with the monozukuri philosophy. The program of the workshop has two parts. The production process is simulated by using a type of LEGO to construct cars. This is to show that creativity and teamwork can lead to improvements in efficiency. The second part deals with craftsmanship. Pupils, under the guidance of craftsmen from the Nissan factories, can try their hand at producing some simple automotive parts. 42

There are also competitions for promoting the monozukuri philosophy. The Youth Monozukuri Skills Competition focuses on vocational skills dealing with craftsmanship and production, and tries to interest young people for this type of skills. Each year, the Japanese Ministry for Economy, Trade and Industry awards a Monozukuri Nippon Grand Award. The purpose of this award is ‘to support the economic growth of the country and ensure that monozukuri techniques are developed and passed on to future generations.’ The Technical University of Tsubaka awards a RS Components Monozukuri Award to promote the creation of new inventions or products. 43

Monozukuri as an export product

According to Kozo Saito, monozukuri is a unique product of Japanese culture, as it is linked to a mixture of Eastern spirituality. Michael Laczynski calls monozukuri a Japanese ‘national talent’, and according to Boyé Lafayette De Mente it is a ‘deeply ingrained cultural characteristic’. This raises the question whether Monozukuri is suited for exportation to Western countries. Saito finds this difficult to answer, but believes it to be possible. An example of a successful transfer abroad can be found in Suzuki’s Pakistani factories. The Japanese management had to deal with the Islamic prayer times (which might hamper the production schedules) and with the Pakistani tendency to focus only on one’s own task and not help other workers. Suzuki sent trainees to Japan so they could see how monozukuri works in practice. In order to really understand the philosophy the employees, according to Deputy Executive General Manager Kenichi Ayukawa, had to learn some Japanese. So a certain background knowledge of the Japanese culture seems important for a successful adaptation of monozukuri. 44

Western companies may find it difficult to accept – especially during periods in which profit margins are under pressure – that monozukuri demands large investments in

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education, personnel, the work environment, research & development and advanced technology. In fact, the implementation of monozukuri and its corresponding techniques will generate large scale cost reductions and increased revenues, both through rapid improvement in the short term and through greater efficiency and higher quality in the long term. 45 The case of Fujitsu and its Human Centered-Design, which regards the functionality of the product for the end-user as the main focus of the design pro-cess, proves that monozukuri is certainly not a static and traditional philosophy. As monozukuri seems to be making the leap to western industries, the philosophy itself will undoubtedly receive new impulses and because of its kinship to familiar western concepts such as ‘tradesmanship’ and ‘craftsmanship’ – it may prove to be less exclusively Japanese than the Japanese themselves may currently think. 46

MonozukuriThe art of m

akingSteven Blom

Many companies have introduced Lean, WCM and 6 Sigma, trying to realize the promise of

these techniques: twice as much production at half the costs. But in the West we are less

successful in achieving these goals than the Japanese. In this book, Steven Blom explains why

and proposes ideas and methods to make real progress in increasing productivity.

According to Blom balancing out the Technical and the Social System of a company is crucial.

Finding the right balance between these two systems requires that top management pays

continuous attention to both the production processes and the employees who do the job.

This book is a must-read for every manager who works with Lean, WCM and 6 Sigma and

wants a) to put a major step forward in improving the e�ciency and e�ectiveness of his/her

company, and b) to create a stimulating and enjoyable workplace for his/her employees.

Not only top managers will appreciate the book, it is also written for middle management,

sta� members and workers.

Steven Blom is a mechanical engineer who made his career at Mars, Johnson & Johnson and Fuji. He was the �rst production manager of the Fuji Photo Film plant in Tilburg, The Netherlands. Twenty years ago he founded Blom Consultancy.

Steven Blom was the �rst to introduce methods like TPM (Total Productive Maintenance), WCM (World Class Manufacturing) and Lean in The Netherlands. He has helped hundreds of companies to implement Lean.

Steven Blom also wrote ‘Long Live Dutch Manufacturing’, a book in which he makes a plea for keeping the manufacturing industry in The Netherlands vital by introducing WCM and Lean.

The art of making

The art of making

T h e M o n o z u k u r i C o m p a n y

MonozukuriMonozukuri

C O N S U L T A N C Y

T H E M O N O Z U K U R I W A Y

Interested in buying the complete book?You can order it at:

http://www.blomconsultancy.nl/buy-monozukuri/

C O N S U L T A N C Y

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