Businesses Sharing Successful Experiences in Implementing 5S and Kaizen

Following the success of the previous conference, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ho Chi Minh City Branch (VCCI-HCM) has collaborated with the International Cooperation Agency of Japan (JICA) to organise the 2nd workshop on "Introduction to Improvement Activities: Experiences in the implementation of 5S (sort, set in order, shine, standardize and sustain) and Kaizen in the production and quality management at Vietnamese enterprises". The workshop is to help businesses gain insight about 5S and Kaizen activities in production management and quality management.

At the workshop, senior volunteers from the JICA presented problems concerning waste and productivity improvement, production cost reduction through 5S activities, and business innovation and development through the implementation of 5S. In addition, the JICA’s senior volunteers also advise companies on the implementation of 5S and Kaizen activities.

 

The highlight of the workshop is the sharing of successful experience implementing 5S and Kaizen by some companies, such as Ngo Han JSC, Hong Ky Engineering JSC, Hoang Minh Phuong Company Ltd. and Thien Hoa Owtex Company.

 

According to the representatives of Ngo Han Company, to successfully implement 5S and Kaizen, besides external support, requires strong needs and the commitment of the management board of the company. In addition, it needs employees who could promote the 5S model, follow and report the outputs of the implementation, design the training programs, and supervise, encourage and discipline to influence the perception of employees at each level.

 

The representatives of the Thien Hoa Owtex company shared that the company implemented 5S and Kaizen activities from the first quarter of 2012 with the primary purposes of cutting production costs by 5 percent after 3 months and 10 percent after 6 months. In the second quarter of 2012, the company had 6 percent of production costs (1 percent beyond the target) and 15 percent by the third quarter of 2012 (beyond the 5 percent target).

 

Particularly, the representative of Hoang Minh Phuong Company said, after improvement, the company's workplace is very clean and tidy. The employees are conscious of company discipline; especially, the workers are excited and strongly supporting the implementation of 5S. More importantly, Hoang Minh Phuong has created a good image, which builds customers' confidence in the company's products.