Motivation
There have been several reasons for me to participate in the GSE program. The main reason was the opportunity to experience the Japanese way of life over a period of 6 weeks. This gave the opportunity to broaden my knowledge about topics outside my professional scope, like the social, cultural and business aspects of Japan. A more professional reason was the opportunity to determine the Japanese approach for identifying value creation opportunities in the supply chain by visiting Japanese institutions and by talking to their logistics executives. Another important fact was the opportunity to intensively interact with a group of people with different jobs and different personal goals during the trip. Last but not least the opportunity to travel to this part of Asia and to discover the natural beauties of Japan.
Host families
During our 6 weeks stay in Japan I have had the opportunity to live together with some Japanese families and to join the very interesting family discussions about various subjects. The hospitality of these families has been really incredible. They were fantastic hosts and they made me feel at home immediately upon arrival. Tremendous effort has been made by them to make my stay a success. I will never forget the efforts to prepare the fantastic breakfasts and delicious dinners like Sukiyaki, Tempura, Shabu Shabu and the different sushi's. They arranged all my transportation needs, laundry, etc. and offered a private place in their home for which I would like to thank them very much.
Experiences
During my 6 week stay I had many opportunities to experience the Japanese way of life, like the visits to shrines and temples, the women on the street dressed in kimono's, the visit to a sumo wrestling game, the crowded but very efficient and punctual railway system, the beautiful decorated but expensive shops, the cherry blossom (Sakura) picnics, the ability of the Japanese to plan and organize everything perfectly, the electronic shops with state of the art technology, the impressive art collections, the relaxing hot springs and many more things. The visit to Hiroshima made a big impression on me. The travel part with the Shinkansen was a very nice experience with beautiful views on the sea and the mountains. However the visit to the monument and the museum make you realize what kind of a disaster has happened here.
The visits to the Rotary clubs were very special and a good occasion to practice my presentation techniques, singing skills and a place to meet many kind and interesting Rotarians. The Rotary meetings were often held at very nice locations with a delicious lunch. Another very positive thing was our team spirit. During the 6 weeks we had a lot of fun together. Especially in the weekend we shared a lot of experiences during a delicious dinner in the New Otani hotel or during an early Sunday morning breakfast after a heavy night of Japanese nightlife.
Vocational days
During the GSE trip I visited many companies like: Asahi Beer, Asahi Newspaper, Daihatsu, Matsushita / Panasonic, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ricoh, S/A line (Transportation), Sanyo, Seibu Department Store and Shiseido. In this section I have described my experiences regarding the supply chain related characteristics that I found typical during my company visits and some other logistic oriented aspects that I found very typical for Japan. I want to state that the points I have mentioned are based on the companies I have visited and their executives I have interviewed. It is possible that the remarks are not applicable for the whole industry.
Some legislations limit the trigger to implement logistic innovations and improvements.
In some Japanese industries (for instance retail) it is currently forbidden to skip a channel in the supply chain. It is for instance not allowed to deliver beer directly from the brewery to the retail outlet. The goods have to be distributed to the wholesaler who takes care of the distribution to the retail outlet. This is different from the situation in Europe and the USA, where you see a trend to reduce the overall channel costs by distributing directly from the production site to the retail chains (and bypass the wholesaler). Another example has to do with selling beer by vending machines. Currently much beer in Japan is sold by using vending machines. Due to planned changes in legislation this will be forbidden in the near future (approx. in 2002). This has to do with the fact that young children are able to purchase the beer by the vending machine. When the new legislation becomes applicable the current amount of (can) beer sold by vending machines should be sold through other channels that will probably increase the logistics costs. Given the fact that the logistics costs associated by selling can beer in vending machines are often lower than the costs associated by selling beer by other retail channels this could increase the cost structure of the beer breweries.
Automation versus headcount reduction
It seems that companies don't want to automate processes with the objective to reduce the headcount. When new projects are initiated for which additional labour force has to be searched latest innovations are used in the design. During my visit to SA Line (transportation company) we went to one of the big container terminals in Osaka. The process was still very labour intensive. The containers are still transported with counterbalance trucks and overhead cranes instead of automatic guided vehicles (like at ECT in Rotterdam). The logistics executive of this container terminal told us that they did not want to automate this facility because it would be a threat to their existing employees. At the same time this company is planning to use the state of the art technologies for one of their new projects; the development of a new container terminal in Osaka.
Automation in retail companies seems to be less far than Europe and the USA. A lot of paper-based operations are still common in retail companies like for instance department stores. Initiatives are taken now to close the gap. Enterprise Resource Systems are currently implemented to store the information on one central server. The advantage of these systems is that the latest information can be obtained online. When paper based systems are used it is difficult to obtain accurate information. In Europe and the USA many retail companies have already implemented ERP systems in the past and they are currently investigating the opportunity to implement supply chain integration packages like Manugistics or I2.
Consulting firms are not frequently used in Japan.
In Japan it is not common practice to pay for consulting activities. Consulting services are often seen as an additional service which are provided by the system suppliers. When for instance a logistic system like a conveyor belt has to be implemented the supplier provides one or more consultants to determine the requirements of the client. The danger of this situation could be that there is not an objective advice because the consulting services are not independent. On the other hand long-term relationships between companies are very important in Japan, which could mean that suppliers put a lot of energy in the process of selecting the best solution for their client.
Parking carousels.
In Japan you can find a lot of inventive solutions for the creation of parking spaces. Due to the fact that building space is very expensive you can find a lot of high buildings in which cars are parked. The storage and retrieval of these cars happens fully automatic. Carousels or elevators are used to store the cars in the appropriate location. When the cars are retrieved from there location and brought down again to the floor level you can find a round plate which turns the car 180 degrees so the nose of the car is facing the street which makes it easy and safe to leave the parking lot.
Conclusion
This program has given me the opportunity to experience the Japanese way of life, their delicious food, the beautiful architecture and many Japanese traditions. Japan is a beautiful country with many beautiful mountains, lakes and scenery places. The hospitality of the host families and other Japanese people I have met I will never forget.
I got a very good and valuable opportunity to visit Japanese institutions and to talk to some of their executives. A lot of effort has been made by the GSE committee to select appropriate supply chain related companies and to arrange meetings with their logistic executives. The Japanese executives are very interested in the Western approach regarding supply chain aspects. There is a lot of logistics knowledge available in Japan which seems logical due to the fact that Japan is often one of the first countries where new logistic concepts are developed (like Just In Time (JIT), KANBAN and Zero Defects).
I have found it a privilege to participate in this GSE program and it has been a great experience that I will never forget.
Ronald van Lienden
