| Suggestion System by Masaaki Imai Chairman, KAIZEN Institute One of the most frequently discussed aspects of KAIZEN, as it is practiced in Japan, is the suggestion system. During the mid to late 70's, many Western businesspersons visited Japan to see suggestion systems in progress and, upon returning home, immediately rejuvenated their company's individual suggestion system or started QC circles. Unfortunately, I have found that many companies undertaking such programs have failed to successfully institutionalize the suggestion system. This article is not aimed at pointing out what may have "gone wrong" with such efforts; rather, I will try to explain some points that might help readers better understand typical Japanese systems and be able to do KAIZEN on your existing system to make it work. T o begin, I believe it is important to understand that each company has its own type of suggestion system. There are three major types of company systems: Individual suggestion systems and no QC circles; QC circles and no individual suggestion systems; and QC circles and individual suggestion systems. Many people do not realize the differences, with resulting confusion and conflict of information. The main thing to remember is that these systems must be compatible with each other, and with other systems in the company. A companyís total system for KAIZEN must always be held in perspective, and equal attention must be paid to the process and the results. Suggestion System Results In Japan there are two ways to handle the results of suggestion systems. The first is to reward people monetarily for their financial contribution to the company, and the second is to recognize people for their efforts in making improvement. Western companies tend to reward for results quite frequently, but do not pay much attention to the efforts people put into their KAIZEN process. The Japanese, on the other hand, think it is important to promote small improvements that focus on improving one's own work area. Safety is first, then quality, productivity, etc. To do this, small rewards (about $1.00 each) are generally given for every suggestion that has been implemented. This is done quickly so employees see the result of their effort right away. I would estimate perhaps as much as 99 percent of the suggestions do not have much economic impact on their own, but they do collectively. For example, an employee might approach his/her boss and say, I have an idea for improvement." The boss will respond, ìI agree, why don't we try it and see if it works." Then after a couple of weeks have passed and the suggestion seems to have worked, the boss will ask the subordinate to fill out the suggestion form and submit it for the monetary reward. Any idea is good even if it saves a fraction of a second in process time; especially since those fractions add up. I know of one instance where a young couple made enough suggestions and received enough rewards to fully purchase their kitchen appliances prior to their wedding. That's a lot of cumulative improvement, and recognition for efforts well spent. Do not take this idea as absolute certainly if an individual or group comes up with an idea that saves the company a lot of money, they can be rewarded accordingly. Individual Suggestion Systems vs. Quality Circles There is a different focus in individual suggestion systems than in QC Circles. A suggestion system generally tries to tap the individual's understanding of his/her own job. This can be enhanced by making employees much more aware of wastes or inefficiencies. People are taught in detail how to find these things by training in the simple checklists of KAIZEN, the "5S," the "3Mu," reversing, eliminating, etc. QC Circles, on the other hand, usually involve problem-solving with various tools such as the Basic 7 or the New 7 tools. Recognition of QC Circles is usually done by awarding gold, silver, or bronze medals to teams which meet the proper process-oriented criteria. The following list is an example of such criteria; each element is assigned a certain number of points (total of 100), and the teams scoring the most points win the medals. Number of meetings Participation rate Number of intermediate reports or QC Stories Use of Basic 7 or New 7 tools The extent that company policy was used in selecting projects Originality of approach Uniqueness of presentation Standardization and prevention of a problem's recurrence Amount of money saved Other kinds of recognition are given by managers and executives sitting in and observing a QC Circle meeting. It is important, however, that managers and executives do not participate in the meeting; otherwise the team will be too controlled. After a project is complete, it is expected that a QC Circle will make at least one management presentation. Another kind of recognition is to have the QC Circle activities revolve around a sports theme; this is where the gold, silver, and bronze medal ideas are from. For example, in one of the plants of Tokyo Juki (an industrial sewing machine manufacturer), there is a large poster depicting a nine-hole golf course. Each of the holes stands for one of the nine steps that workers have identified as important for the QC Circle problem-solving sequence. Each QC Circle has a symbol which shows which hole it is on, charting that team's progress. This adds an element of friendly competition as teams work their way through the golf course. Contrary to what many Westerners think, suggestion systems are not easy to implement in Japan. Most companies have been struggling to refine their suggestion systems for the last 20 to 30 years. Even with this high level of attention, however, full participation is generally an unrealistic goal. In fact, most Japanese companies feel excellence is attained when participation includes a third of employees highly involved, a third slightly involved, and a third uninvolved. My challenge to the reader is this: Examine your suggestion systems. Are you balanced in your approach to process as well as results? Is your system integrated with other improvement systems in the company? Do you suspend judgment when people are showing their improvement projects? Do your actions and practices match your KAIZEN principles? To effectively utilize the suggestion system, it helps to remember this KAIZEN saying: "Where there is no perceived problem, there can be no Improvement." |