Peter Ranyard looks at the impact of a Japanese quality model on businesses large and small.
Many large businesses, Toyota, Honda, General Motors, Philips etc., have adopted some of the philosophies coming out of Japan. When you think of the stereotypical Japanese people, you think of them being humble, organised and successful – although this is a generalisation. However, if you think of Japan 20 or 30 years ago, it was, in fact, the original low-cost producer, i.e. the “Made in Japan” label, used to bring a myriad of thoughts about cheap and cheerful products of variable quality.
Nowadays, however, we see Japan as a leader in so many fields of production, manufacturing and business.
Philosophies like Kaizen, 5S and so forth have their place in small to medium businesses also, maybe not to the same extent as multi-nationals, but certainly, there are elements of these strategies that can have an enormous impact upon the success, organisation and processes in a smaller business in need of improvement.
Taguchi, a Japanese Engineer in the 1950s, developed statistical methods for measuring and gradually improving the quality of products in manufacturing processes and thereby accounting for the impact quality can have on the business.
Some small business owners are probably being forced to think more about the quality of our products, our carbon footprints and the impact we make on a much wider audience than just our customers.
Imagine for a moment that you could apply one single principle or philosophy to your business that could improve quality and lower costs. If nothing else, it could enable you to measure quality and costs and the impact these could have on your business success. As the saying goes, “What you measure, you can fix”. If it isn’t being measured, the likelihood is that you may not know the cost impact it is having on your business.
Simple philosophies, coupled with simple strategies, can add enormous value to your business. To find out more about Taguchi, read this blog or this article dating from way back in 1987.