Miss P and Kaizen – episode 2

“Good morning Suzuki San “ , Miss P said , “what a surprise I thought you would return back from Lusaka after a few weeks only “

Suzuki San responded “ Good morning , Miss P , I was attending a Kaizen training program in Lusaka this week , and thought I will do some article on Kaizen success stories from a few companies, but since they were busy with office , I thought I better use my time visit here “ 

“Last week you mentioned about six sigma ,Suzuki San .Can you tell something about it “ 

“ Before we talk of six sigma , I want to ask you a question “ Suzuki San continued “ What do Excellent companies do “

Miss P thought for a few seconds before responding “ I presume they do high end brain storming , Develop complicate strategies , have a huge capital budget layout to execute their expansion plans , something like this … “ 

“May be , Miss P  , but do you know that Excellent companies work very hard to ensure basic things are done properly and consistently ¹   “ 

“Can you elaborate further Suzuki San “ 

“ Yes , for example , may I ask you what time your work starts and what time you reach to office every morning “ 

“ Well , my work starts at 08:00 hrs in the morning , and I generally reach between 7:55 to 8:00 , and maybe some days I may come in by 08:10 hrs “ 

“ Good , but Miss .P don’t you feel that 08:00hrs is the start of work and not the time you are expected to arrive in office “ 

A confused Miss P “ yes, very true  , I have never actually thought about this “ 

Suzuki San asked “ Miss P , do you fly in aircraft frequently “ . 

“ Yes , I do , when I go for meetings in Johanesburg or for trainings , why do you ask that , Suzuki San” 

“ Have you ever reached the airport 5 minutes before the aircraft is to depart , Miss P “ 

“ Oh , I see the point , Suzuki San “ Miss P said smilingly “ you are pointing out , when we can exercise discipline when we want to achieve something , why show a different attitude in work “ 

“Exactly , the first step to Kaizen and doing simple things right is to start arriving atleast 15-20 minutes before , and start your work at 08:00 hrs , Do you agree to that “ 

Suzuki San continued “ what happens generally is that we all tend to arrive at around 08:00 hrs , then take some time to settle down , and by the time one starts working , its already 08:30 hrs . As an individual , it may or may not be ok , but collectively , if you have 50 staff ,  we lose 50no.s x 0.5 hrs = 25 man hours per day already “ 

Miss P cheerfully added “ and if this time were saved , it will eventually increase productivity over a period of time . Wow , what a simple thing and I just never even thought about it , Thanks a lot Suzuki San for pointing this out , I will share with my team immediately  , what else do you think can we improve up on “ 

Suzuki San said “ I am happy that you got the point so fast , Miss P . This is suffice  for this week , I shall share my experiences with my friend KJ who publishes a Kaizen blog , so that many more Kaizen club members can read and benefit . In the coming weeks , we will gradually discuss more serious issues on continuous improvement , See you later then “ 

“ Thanks Suzuki San . Have a great weekend “

*¹  - In search of excellence , Tom Peters & Robert Waterman Jr.

Note: The case study is developed by KJ and has no relevance to any particular processes/situation  that may be followed in the concerned industry , All names are fictitious and do not represent any individual or organisation . All mention are purely for illustration purpose of the central theme of the case and are personal opinions unless cited and shall have no recourse of consequences to author . Readers are invited to express their views on this continuing case study series .