Can Japanese business philosophy help Serbia become a new economic tiger? – Second Kaizen congress held in Belgrade

(Congress participants) The road from a cat to a tiger leads through Japanese companies in Serbia. That is the message sent from the second Kaizen (TM) congress in Belgrade, held on September 24. The congress, dedicated to Japanese business culture and philosophy, is organized by the Kaizen Institute and the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia.

Which sectors are the most attractive to Japanese investors, how to improve your company's operations with the Kaizen principles and whether it's possible for Serbs to be more efficient than the Japanese, are some of the questions discussed by the speakers at the second Kaizen congress.

Panelists Goran Pekez of JTI, Dirk Bantel of Panasonic, Naoki Tsukada of Mitshubishi, Shigeo Hashimoto of Itochu Corporation and Rados Gazdic of the Development Agency of Serbia agreed that the crucial factors in choosing Serbia as the investment destination were its geographic position, political and economic stability, as well as an educated and hard-working populace.

The Japanese panelists explained how their businesses analyze markets very carefully, but once a country wins their trust, they come to stay. Although people here believe that Serbian workers can't measure up to those in Japan, the participants in this congress expressed great satisfaction with the enthusiasm, hard work, curiosity and competences of Serbian workers.

At the moment, 32 Japanese companies with 3,000 employees operate in Serbia. Danijela Cabarkapa, Executive Director of the Japanese Business Alliance in Serbia, explains for eKapija that many companies nowadays use the kaizen principle without being aware of it and that the philosophy can be implemented in everyday life.

– Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement. Kai means change, zen means good, so it's a change for the better. The point of this philosophy is to increase efficiency, primarily in production processes, which entails the most efficient use of the resources you already have.

Using a concrete example, Cabarkapa explains that “on the production line, you can mark a different path by which the material is transported and save three minutes you might have used to install the next machine.” – These things may seem small and banal, but their effect is great – she says.

When it comes to Japanese investments in Serbia, Japanese companies mostly invest in the mechanical and the car industries, whereas, when it comes to trade and bilateral cooperation, the food industry and IT stand out in the trade between Serbia and Japan.

When is the time right for Kaizen?

The importance of knowing the best moment for the implementation of kaizen was emphasized by Milos Vasic, Business Excellence Manager at Beverage Packing Europe.

He says for our portal that Ball Packaging started implementing kaizen in 2014.

– I believe that we recognized that we needed kaizen when we realized that the complexity of the market and the demands of our clients were changing at such a rate that we couldn't respond to them within a single working season. We need to approach change in such a way that it has a positive effect on the company. In 2014, we expanded our capacities, changed the size of the cans and had to respond to 65 client requests, which is really not easy. We now produce 1.6 billion cans a year, all of which have to meet the quality standards of our clients, such as Heineken, Coca Cola etc.

He adds that, when it comes to such companies, the complexity doesn't drop with time, it only grows. “Our employees need to be very skilled in this methodology, capable of recognizing operating losses and turning them into gains in some way”, Vasic says.

Amatek has also been implementing this Japanese philosophy in its operations for a number of years now. Slobodan Anic, Country Manager of Amatek, which operates in Subotica, explains for eKapija that kaizen is a general atmosphere which later produces efficient results and optimal efficiency when it comes to production, waste and quality.

– It is often erroneously believed that, if we focus on the quality, the productivity will drop. This is not true, as we've shown on our personal example – Anic said.

When it comes to the question of where kaizen should be implemented first, Anic says that the change needs to start at the highest level in the factory “and then gradually go down to the level of medium management and workers, where time, money energy, in the form of training, constant work and perseverance in the project are needed”.

Dusan Antonijevic, the director of Henkel Serbia in Krusevac, started implementing kaizen 3 years ago, he says.

– Regarding the process itself, it's very interesting that you are sometimes implementing kaizen without being aware of it. The introduction of the discipline and the tools needs to be consistent for 12 months or so in order to implement the principle, and then it continues and it becomes easier to finish the formal part and give it to the people. When you look at how much you've shortened the period between two production cycles, it's 30-40%, and you gain a lot – Antonijevic says.

The conclusion made at this year's congress is that, with a predictable economic and tax policy and enough motivated and adequately educated workers, Serbia may not turn into an economic lion overnight, but Japanese managers are noticing that the “Serbian cat” is awaking.

About kaizen

Kaizen is a business philosophy which originated in Toyota 50 years ago, which is why it was initially associated with the car industry and factories.

It is now implemented in 50 countries, and not just in the auto-industry either, but also in non-production organizations, state administration and IT sector. Kaizen entails process organization through daily improvements, which continuously involve all employees, and which eventually produces great results in terms of business efficiency, process upgrade and work organization.

S.P.

Japanska Poslovna Alijansa u Srbiji Beograd

Kaizen Institut d.o.o. Beograd

Mitsubishi Corporation Tokyo

ITOCHU Corporation

Panasonic Corporation

Japan Tobacco

Ball Packaging Europe

AMETEK, Inc Berwyn USA

Henkel Srbija d.o.o. Beograd

Razvojna agencija Srbije

Kaizen

Kaizen congress

Japanese investments in Serbia

Serbia and Japan business operations

Goran Pekez

Dirk Bantel

Naoki Tsukada

Shigeo Hashimoto

Rados Gazdic

Milos Vasic

Slobodan Anic

Dusan Antonijevic