Online Reporter
Judith Phiri Zimpapers Business Hub
THE Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI) has reintroduced the lean manufacturing/management initiative as one of its support areas for companies to drive enterprise-level competitiveness.
Lean manufacturing/management is a business philosophy focused on maximising value for the customer while minimising waste and inefficiencies in production processes.
It aims to improve productivity, quality, and lead times by identifying and eliminating various forms of waste, such as defects, overproduction, waiting and unnecessary motion.
This approach involves a systematic analysis of all aspects of a manufacturing process, from product design to final delivery and encourages continuous improvement through employee involvement.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), the country’s industrial lobby group said they re-introduced the initiative on Friday by hosting an introductory session.
“Mr Masashi Nomoto, Kaizen Senior Expert at Toyota Connected Corporation, shared some key principles and insights. These generated a vibrant question-and-answer session as manufacturing practitioners reflected on their current practices and challenges,” said CZI.
It said the Kaizen timeless principles were the centre of most of the discussion, with automation as standardisation, particularly useful where manual processes dominate and consistency is needed.
CZI said the bottom-up problem-solving initiative, empowers frontline workers to identify and address inefficiencies within their control, while a focus on controlling what is within reach, was relevant in resource-constrained environments.
The country’s industrial lobby group added: “The session attracted over 60 participants from across the sector, including executives, plant managers, engineers, supervisors and operations professionals. This represents an appetite for structured continuous improvement approaches in the local industry and we look forward to supporting our members to broaden and deepen this through the provision of expert assistance and building a community of practice.”
CZI said one highlight was the journey of Toyota Motor Corporation from its founding in 1937 through the diversification and pivots over the years and the rise of their subsidiary TOYOTA Connected, which is their pivot into the digital transition and artificial intelligence (AI).
