Hoshin Kanri and agreeing on your destination
Jul 23 2008 By David Wright
A few weeks ago I said there were two personal learning points I brought back from Japan.
I shared my thoughts about Kaizen, Continuous Improvement, in my last column, so this time I’m going to focus on Hoshin Kanri, or Policy Deployment as we often refer to it in the UK.
Essentially Hoshin Kanri is a management tool, or approach, which aligns what the company does on a daily basis with the longer term strategic objectives of the company. Sounds blindingly obvious, doesn’t it? Much of what Japanese business does seems blindingly obvious; where they differ is they actually do it!
One of the popular misconceptions of Japanese manufacturing is improvements via Kaizen happen ad hoc, because good ideas can come from anywhere; this is only partially true. No good ideas are rejected, but imagine what the impact would be if the focus of everyone’s creative improvement thinking is in the same direction; this is part of Hoshin Kanri.
The key word is ‘direction’. Before you can hope to have everyone pulling in the same direction, it helps if it has been identified. It is, of course, the responsibility of senior management to address strategy, to define the journey the business is embarking upon, and to lead to that destination.
Be under no illusion the route tothat destination might vary, as unforeseen rock-falls force us to take a diversion – sometimes a significant one; the Kyoto earthquake was no walk in the park!
Having determined strategy and medium term goals, leaders will select a small number of significant projects that deliver those goals and begin to cascade those through the organisation into various functional areas. In the functional areas the same thing happens in its work areas, work teams and even down to individuals.
One of the keys is that this is not just a top down process, but also a bottom up process; the plans don’t need to go all the way to the bottom before returning to the top – I prefer to think of it like a rubber ball bouncing down a flight of stairs, going back up a little way before taking the next step.
Having done this, do Japanese companies hide the business plan in the Chief Executive’s bottom drawer, never to see the light of day again, like too many British companies I could mention? Of course not. They make it visual, and oh boy, do they make it visual!
One risks the danger of becoming blasé about this sort of thing, because you see it everywhere, even in the best UK companies. I don’t think I shall ever forget, however, the willingness with which the average Japanese shop floor employee is prepared to reveal their personal quality and productivity performance right by their place of work, including their photograph and their personal pledge to achieving the company’s goals.
I really do believe that the strength of the Hoshin Kanri approach and the way in which it is deployed with total two-way trust between management and shop floor employees for each to do what they promised, is one of the main reasons for Japan’s continuing success in manufacturing, despite the current climate.
Can we do the same? Of course we can, but we have to be serious about it; no fads, no short-term initiatives; just good, old fashioned commitment and determination and a willingness to ask for and accept good quality help.
Remember, Business As Usual Is Not An Option, so go on, phone a friend – you know you want to.
* David Wright is chief executive of Manufacturing Advisory Service: West Midlands
