Sekisui Heim Chubu – Factory Tour
Sekisui Heim is a renowned and trusted housing brand in Japan that is owned by Sekisui Chemical Group. The group conducts its business operations in the fields of chemical solutions and housing industrialization. As a member of the Sekisui Chemical group, Sekisui Heim Chubu produces high-quality prefabricated steel frame and wooden modular houses. The company also designs, constructs, manages and sells unit residential buildings and calls itself a “total housing supplier”.

Corporate Information
- Company: Sekisui Heim Chubu Co. Ltd.,
- Foundation: 1985
- Location: Headquartered in Aichi Prefecture
- Main Business: Manufacturing and building of prefabricated houses

Sekisui Heim Chubu – Lean Characteristics
Visual Management, Optimal Utilization of Manual and Machine Labor
Sekisui Heim produces prefabricated houses across their eight factories in Japan using a production technique based on the concept of an automotive assembly line. Eighty percent of the house is completed by the time it leaves the factory. It only takes one day to assemble the multiple “units” of a house on the construction site once the foundations have been laid.
A customer can receive the keys to their home in as little as 60 days upon signing a contract thanks to the production lead time and sophisticated supply chain ordering system that Sekisui Heim have developed internally.
Their ability to manufacture most of the house inside the factory eliminates the loss of construction days through inclement weather and improves the quality of the house through dedicating skilled operators to cyclical and controlled tasks within processes along the line. Furthermore, workers can work more comfortably in a less stressed posture in the factory compared to on-site, which helps minimize errors made at work.
Sekisui Heim continues to innovate the ability of their homes to withstand fire, temperature extremes and (very importantly in Japan) earthquakes.
The visit to the Chubu factory shop floor showcases how Sekisui Heim has effectively applied practices developed within the automotive industry to its housing construction operations. On display are effective visual management examples, and visitors will appreciate how skilled manual work and the use of high-tech machine tools and equipment complement each other to produce high performance houses in a safe, high quality and productive manner.

I attended the Shinka Management / Ai Group / JMAC Lean Japan Study Tour in 2010 – outstanding, highly recommended. (I don’t have this much fun when I go on holiday.) To see the cultural home of Lean Manufacturing is an experience you will never forget. Ride on a bullet train, walk the factory floor…
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Paul, I just wanted to reach out and give my sincere thanks for an amazing week in Japan. You and your team of experts across all areas of business and language gave me an unforgettable experience and reminded me of so many aspects of lean that I had put to one side or taken for…
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Amazing Tour. Great experience to see and share with Japanese managers. I learned a lot about their culture, their way to think, to work and to improve by themselves. Great moments during training and after work. Thanks a lot. We will return back home with a new eye and mindset.
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I would highly recommend the tour to anyone who is in the business of improving people. The ideas stimulated through this tour have helped me reform our entire vision of what improvement means for our business.
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Businesses need every weapon at their disposal to help compete in a global market. This tour opens up more ideas and opportunities and is highly recommended to manufacturers, engineering or service related industries. Everyone can learn something on this tour! Paul and Ben have done a marvelous job of putting together an action-packed week, which…
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Amazing experience, exceptional learning. If you want to learn about Lean go on this tour!
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The Shinka Management Lean Japan Tour is a professional development program run several times annually. The program includes a mix of lean and kaizen seminars, hands-on lean training and visits to several benchmark lean companies. For further information and program dates, see the lean tour overview page.
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Interested in joining us in Japan? For additional information prior to registration please fill in the form provided or contact us.