Suzaki Industries – Factory Tour
Suzaki Industries is a SME with approximately 60 employees that produces pressed, welded and assembled components for the automotive industry. The company’s major customers are Toyota Group companies including Gifu Auto Body but it also supplies other car manufacturing companies.
Corporate Information
- Company: Suzaki Industries
- Foundation: 1953
- Location: Gifu Prefecture
- Main Business: automotive parts manufacturing
Suzaki Industries – Lean Characteristics
TPS, Kanban, Poka-Yoke, SMED
A visit to this small auto parts supplier will showcase a great example of a successful lean transformation of a company that was once on the brink of bankruptcy when Japan’s bubble economy burst. Under the leadership of former Chairman Suzaki, the company had adopted TPS and made tireless continuous efforts to eliminate waste from their processes while implementing kaizen improvement measures in order to survive and turn around their business.
The former chairman will lead us on a factory visit and discussion focusing on improvements that have been made over the years that has brought them up to the level required to be retained as a supplier to the Toyota Group.
The visit will also include a detailed explanation of the kanban system used within the factory, excellent examples of poka-yoke, a technique used in a lean manufacturing process to prevent human errors to achieve zero defect quality control as well as to implement safety measures. Demonstration of their efforts with SMED as well as an example of layout and process improvement for a production cell will also be demonstrated and discussed.
The program was well organised and structured. The whole Shinka team were amazing and very accommodating. To be honest I was not certain that lean was the right fit for our business. But the refresher in Japan has opened up my eyes as to how it can be practically applied. The lean tour has prompted…
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I joined the tour with little understanding of lean. This tour opened my eyes to the possibilities of what can be achieved through continued focus on improvement and team work at all levels. The plant tours showcase the Kaizen and 5S principles perfectly. The surprising thing for me is that safety and quality were paramount…
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I have thoroughly enjoyed the lean tour to Japan. Not only have I learned lots of new concepts that I’m keen to implement in our business, but I also loved the cultural experiences and insight into the people of Japan. The tour organizers bent over backward to make us feel welcome and anticipate our every…
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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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Wonderful! I truly loved how we got a chance to see multiple tiers of the Toyota supply chain, and learned the true definition of some buzz words related to TPS. Getting a chance to see it all up-close was impactful.
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Paul, Eri and the Shinka Management team added significant value to our recent business tour in Japan. Well organised custom tour arranged in a short timeframe provided a great learning and cultural experience for our team!
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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.
Tour Inquiries
Interested in joining us in Japan? For additional information prior to registration please fill in the form provided or contact us.