Strive for productivity: CZI

Michael Tome and Kudakwashe Mhundwa
MANUFACTURING companies should strive to maximise productivity and enhance competitiveness using internal resources before complaining about the policy environment, an industry expert has said.

Local companies are increasingly embracing the lean management model, a business leadership style being promoted by the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), to improve customer value and enhancement of industry’s competitiveness.

In an interview on the sidelines of the lean management executives’ breakfast meeting last week, CZI national committee member, Mr Edson Padya, challenged companies to utilise their internal structures effectively to turn around operations.

Mr Padya said effort was being directed at issues, which are out of the production matrix hence the meeting was aimed at redirecting the energy to productivity and efficiency.

“From CZI perspective I think we have been focusing a lot on outer things like what is the policy environment, what are the incentives, what are the issues in terms of the cost of doing business and these are things industry has no direct control over, we rely on Government response,” said Mr Padya.

Lean Institute of Africa chief executive, Dr Anton Grutter, said companies that adopted lean management have achieved quick gains adding what was critical to maintain structural changes that have better efficiency in the long term.

According to case studies with some leading international companies like Nike, Intel, Toyota and BMW, adopting the lean concept can improve productivity by as much as 162 percent

In the same vein Scientific and Industrial Research and Development Centre principal engineer, Mr Edwin Zimunga, said the objectives of the lean management workshop are in line with Rapid Response Initiative, which aims to improve competitiveness of the local industry to match international levels.

“Lean management is closely related to the Rapid Response Initiative and ease of doing business by Government, which aims to improve competitiveness of the local industry,” said Mr Zimunga.