Solution on KAIZEN and 5S application at Ha Long Trade Union Hotel Tourism Company Limited

KAIZEN at the system level (system or flow kKAIZEN) focuses on the entire value chain, implemented at the management level and KAIZEN at the process level focuses on processes, implemented at the operational level (such as departments, workshops).

Two basic elements of Kaizen

KAIZEN is built on two basic elements: improvement (change for the better) and continuity (maintenance). Without either of these two elements, it cannot be considered KAIZEN. For example, the Western idiom “business as usual” means “everything will be as it should be” implies continuity without improvement; “breakthrough” means “breakthrough” implies change or improvement without continuity. KAIZEN contains both of these elements.

KAIZEN Event

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KAIZEN is a common word used by Japanese people in daily communication with each other, with the normal meaning of “make it better”. In daily life, we encounter many difficulties, inconveniences, waste and even unsafe conditions. Japanese people are always concerned about these problems and try to solve them in a better way. They call this activity KAIZEN and it always takes place in daily life as well as in the workplace, production area… In the company, KAIZEN activity is carried out within a certain period of time and is called KAIZEN Event. The above activity is carried out by a quality group of 8 to 10 people, with the purpose of detecting and solving problems related to product quality, preventing waste and improving productivity. KAIZEN Events usually last 5-7 days and are implemented in the following cases: (1) a solution is needed to meet customer requirements or to surpass other competitors; (2) an impression of sales or profits is needed and (3) an undesirable situation cannot be maintained.

2. Kaizen implementation steps

Kaizen is implemented in 8 steps, following the PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, Act) quality management cycle of William Edwards Deming introduced in 1950. Steps 1 to 4 are Plan, step 5 is Do, step 6 is Check and steps 7 and 8 are Act (corrective or improvement action).

Based on data analysis, we will solve the problem through 8 standardized steps as follows:

- Step 1: Select a topic (for the job, department, etc.). The selection begins with the reason why the topic is selected. Usually, the topic is decided in conjunction with management policies or based on priority, importance, urgency, or current economic situation.

- Step 2: Understand the current state and define goals. Before starting a project, the current state must be understood and reviewed. One way to do this is for people to go directly to the work site (i.e. Gemba) and follow the 5 basic principles of Gemba. Another way is to collect data.

- Step 3: Analyze the collected data to determine the root cause

- Step 4: Determine implementation measures based on data analysis

- Step 5: Take action

- Step 6: Confirm the results of the implementation of the measure

- Step 7: Develop or correct standards to prevent recurrence

- Step 8: Review the above processes and identify next projects

The above steps will help managers visualize and approach the process of solving difficulties. This is also an effective way to record KAIZEN activities. Each stage of the Deming circle often uses separate support techniques. For example, in the planning or topic selection stage, the tools used are: control charts, Pareto charts, bar charts... The Deming circle is continuously applied in quality management to gradually improve and enhance product quality and work quality. The initial step (P) of the new circle is based on the results of the previous circle to continue solving existing problems... and so after many times of applying the Deming circle, product quality will gradually and continuously improve. At the same time, KAIZEN activities are also further improved and continue to be implemented.

Factors determining the success of KAIZEN activities

Kaizen is known as a business philosophy and management method of the Japanese. On the other hand, KAIZEN is a system of continuous improvement in quality,

technology, methods, company culture, productivity, safety and leadership. KAIZEN is a system that involves everyone – from top management to the rank-and-file. Everyone is encouraged to make suggestions for improvement on a regular basis. This is not just once a month or once a year, but continuously. In Japanese companies like Toyota and Canon, each employee contributes an average of 60 to 70 suggestions per year. These suggestions are shared with everyone and implemented. In most cases, the suggestions do not lead to major changes. KAIZEN is based on small changes that follow the principle: always improve productivity, safety and efficiency while reducing waste.

KAIZEN is based on changes wherever improvement is made. The suggestions are not limited to a particular area such as production or marketing. The Western philosophy can be summarized as follows: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. The KAIZEN philosophy is “Make it better, make it better, push it even if it ain’t broke, because if we don’t, we can’t compete with what others do”. Therefore, the attitude towards the KAIZEN philosophy, the understanding and correct application of KAIZEN play an important role in the successful implementation of this philosophy. Only when we understand the KAIZEN philosophy can we build an effective KAIZEN system, apply KAIZEN thoroughly, carry out KAIZEN continuously and reap many good results.

In 1950, Toyota was in bankruptcy. Around 1960, they sent hundreds of cars to the US for sale and were sent back 60 to be remade. At that time, Americans considered Japanese-made goods to be of poor quality. So how did Toyota continue to produce luxury Lexus cars and become one of the largest and most successful car manufacturers in the world? Because they improved every day, continuously over time. The chairman of Toyota Corporation expressed this message by saying: "I want everyone in Toyota to change and at least they do not hinder anyone who wants to change."

For KAIZEN to be successful, the attitudes of workers – from senior managers to lower level employees – will need to change. KAIZEN needs to become

something that all employees do because they want to do it and because they know that this philosophy is not only good for them but also for their company. KAIZEN cannot be something that employees do when their leaders tell them to. This means that if the leader is not willing to practice KAIZEN by example, it will not be implemented effectively. Therefore, the top leader must understand Kaizen and demonstrate a strong commitment to applying KAIZEN in the company. Most employees are afraid of change, so the leader, the boss, needs to have more influence and power over them. The fact that Toyota's top managers are constantly present in the production area of the factory to solve problems is Gemba KAIZEN. Top leaders must seriously participate in Gemba KAIZEN - Continuous Improvement in the workplace. Otherwise, the benefits will be small and they will end up complaining that KAIZEN is not working. The manager's job is to create structure and promote change. At first, change is encouraged, but if necessary, they will make rules mandatory.

As of June 2008, Toyota sold 300,000 more vehicles than its rival General Motors (GM) in the global market. And it may not be long before the Japanese automaker ends its American rival's 77-year reign as the world's largest automaker. For more than half a century, Toyota has been steadily improving productivity, quality, safety, faster delivery, lower costs, and customer satisfaction. Key to these successes are the Kaizen Teian, KAIZEN Event, and Process Kaizen systems. At Toyota, any employee who finds a defective product can press the stop button on the entire production line. Instead of reprimanding individuals for making mistakes, the company conducts improvement activities and then disseminates the new experiences throughout the organization. Toyota has become a learning organization through continuous self-criticism (Hansei) and continuous improvement (KAIZEN). At Toyota, 99% of employee suggestions through Kaizen Teian are implemented. Supervisors and managers not only encourage but also require their employees to contribute ideas. Training and motivating employees to regularly contribute ideas is considered part of the job.

KAIZEN is an indispensable tool for managers and team leaders to help their teams, groups, and groups think about their work to find better ways to do it. Furthermore, a key feature of KAIZEN activities is the high demand for teamwork, so the ability of managers and team leaders to complete tasks is a decisive factor in the success of KAIZEN.

In 1949, the Americans introduced their ESS (Employee Suggestion System) to Japanese companies. The Japanese then applied, improved and developed their own system, named KAIZEN Teian or Implemented KAIZEN Reporting System. They called it Implemented because they wanted to make it clear that the proposer was the one who implemented the idea, not the one who proposed the idea for others to implement. They named it Reporting because they wanted to emphasize the importance of writing down suggestions and reporting on the implementation of improvement ideas. Most Japanese companies today have established KAIZEN Teian to collect and implement improvement suggestions. Because they clearly understand: "If you want to manage well, the company needs to manage well the most important asset - human resources". The financial benefits gained from this system are only a small result of the manager's purpose. More importantly, it creates a daily habit for all employees to think about improving their own work and attracts a large number of people to participate. All employees contribute ideas and implement KAIZEN, creating an interesting and attractive working environment and giving employees more opportunities to satisfy their need for self-expression. When this is met, the tasks of the top leaders and managers are also completed. This is the final factor that determines the success of KAIZEN activities.

3. Benefits of the KAIZEN system

In the 1980s and early 1990s, many large Japanese companies established manufacturing facilities in the northern United States. As they acquired major North American companies (Bridgestone's acquisition of Firestone, Sony's acquisition of Columbia Pictures), Japanese corporate leaders also spread their management methods to their subsidiaries and foreign companies.

different. At this time, KAIZEN is also known as the key to success of Japanese enterprises in global competitive strategy. Currently, many companies in the world are trying to effectively apply the Japanese philosophy of CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT to cope with the challenges of harsh competitive environment, increasing economic difficulties, continuous development of technology and changes in culture and society.

Toyota is a leader in applying KAIZEN in its business strategy. Toyota has about 9 factories in North America and at the end of 2007, it continued to open a new factory in Mississippi, producing cars with American workers who earn equal or higher wages than other car manufacturers. Of those, 75% of cars assembled in North America have parts and materials produced here. Only about 25% of cars are imported from Japan and other places. Yet, Toyota still earned more than 14 billion USD in 2006 while American car manufacturers had to move to China and India to save costs?

Toyota’s secret here is KAIZEN – reducing waste in areas such as inventory, waiting time, transportation, worker travel, worker skills and overproduction. With the KAIZEN system, every worker in the factory always performs the job easily and simply. By using plastic baskets to sort spare parts by car model, workers do not waste time sorting by characteristics. By making their own transport vehicles within the factory from available parts on the line and adding engines, Toyota can save nearly $3,000 on the cost of purchasing a transport vehicle. Applying KAIZEN helps to provide reasonable raw materials depending on the consumed volume, minimizing work in the process and the arrangement of goods in stock. Therefore, workers only have to stock a small volume of each product and regularly replenish them based on what customers actually take. This reduces redundant operations of workers and machinery, helping to increase labor productivity, improve work quality, and reduce product costs.

Kaizen attracts and develops people who are creative and maintain high performance. By its very nature, KAIZEN attracts people from the

Enthusiastic – people who constantly make a difference, perfect everything. These people focus on their work, minimize waste and are satisfied with the opportunity to improve what they have advantages. Their continued implementation of this philosophy will attract many people to participate, forming a movement in the company. The practical results of applying KAIZEN create a comfortable working environment, motivating them to constantly come up with many innovative initiatives that benefit the company. Proposing innovative ideas is a process of self-learning and improving employees' working skills, helping them raise awareness and develop themselves as well as the group. Therefore, employees feel more interested in their work, unite and help each other. All of that further motivates individuals to have innovative ideas, creates a spirit of teamwork, solidarity and creates awareness to always aim to minimize waste.

Managers and all employees need to understand and believe in the KAIZEN philosophy and strive to implement it continuously. Only then will all employees and leaders be imbued with the philosophy of CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT in their thinking and actions. When a philosophy is effectively applied, it will form a culture within the company. The editor-in-chief of AutoWeek magazine commented: “Saving is not just Toyota’s culture. It is a culture that the Japanese brought to America, or at least in their factories.”

At Toyota, Kaizen has helped shape the company culture: the culture of behavior between leaders and employees, between employees; thrift; protecting the company's brand; making every effort for work; the spirit of learning from each other. The spirit of KAIZEN is also expressed through two important philosophies of Toyota: "Developing People First" and "Respect for People". Assembly department director John Robinson said: "At Toyota, any problem is taken seriously and thoroughly resolved. That is why not just the manager, even a "lowly" worker can stop the entire line if he discovers a mistake".

When realizing the importance of Kaizen, managers and employees can work together to build a corporate culture according to the KAIZEN strategy: (1)

Not a day goes by without improvements being proposed and implemented in the company; (2) KAIZEN is applied in a customer-oriented strategy, while ensuring all management activities and increasing customer satisfaction; (3) The top priority is quality, not profit, a business will prosper when and only when customers buy products and services that they are satisfied with; (4) Recognizing that every company has shortcomings, it is necessary to build a corporate culture so that all employees are comfortable with their own shortcomings, and are willing to come up with improvement ideas; (5) Solving work in a coordinated and cross-functional system; (6) Emphasizing the process and establishing a thinking method oriented towards improving processes; and (7) Establishing a management system, encouraging and rewarding everyone's efforts to contribute improvement ideas.

4. Basic KAIZEN programs

a. 5S - This is the basic foundation for implementing the Japanese quality assurance system, including the following words:

Seiri (整理Sort), that is, filter out unnecessary items in the workplace.

and remove them. Different workplaces and different objects will have different standards. For example, in the production line, just reserve the amount needed for daily operations, starting from 1 day, then reduce to ½ day… For small items, you can leave more than necessary so as not to affect the production line and work. Workers can use “red labels” to clearly identify unnecessary items and classify them.

Seiton (整頓Sort), means to arrange necessary things neatly and orderly.

so that they can be easily retrieved for use. This is to arrange necessary items in a “good condition” (ready to use), “safe” (not misused to prevent accidents) and “easy to follow” at all times. For example, in a document folder, when someone is using a document, no one knows who is using it. By isolating the document in use and labeling the user’s name above it, anyone can know who is using it.

Solution on KAIZEN and 5S application at Ha Long Trade Union Hotel Tourism Company Limited - 20

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