About this Presentation
This presentation is organized as follows: corporate profile, products, the production 50 project, why TOC, TOC’s effect, example-drill project, summary and TOC next step: the 7 days production. Hitachi manufactures and sells tips, cutting tools, wear-resistant products, tools for urban development and various machine tools made of special steels, carbide alloys, etc. End mills account for about 60-70% of sales, drills and lathe turning tools are also produced. Hitachi has 2.5% of the world market; however profits are very high. The supply chain in Japan was described. Even if you reduce the tool costs, then you see only a little effect on the customer. Though we charge a higher price production 50 allowed us to reduce processing time for the customer by 50%. The journey of applying TOC to the drill bit market is explained; the product is a low-priced, low-margin product; the plant lost money for a couple years after entering the market. We looked at the solution for sales (SFS) and found that drill breakage while in the drill hole was the biggest pain point for the customer. We focused on those customers that have this pain point. We rehearsed the role play. We held a sales promotion meeting for our staff. We gave the staff the Mafia offer. Sales increased rapidly. Sales tripled in 2007. In this recession our production line is still busy. The business became profitable in 2007; now exporting to Europe. The unrefusable offer (URO) was the basis for selling to the customer. TOC also taught us how to reduce lead time and more importantly how to think. Our next goal is to produce the product in 7 days; before production lead time was 60 days.
What Will You Learn
To help you get the most value from this session, we’ve highlighted a few key points. These takeaways capture the main ideas and practical insights from the presentation, making it easier for you to review, reflect, and apply what you’ve learned.
Instructor(s)
Takeshi Matsuno
Ms Alka Wadhwa
Alka Wadhwa is an experienced consultant and process improvement expert with over 24 years of expertise in the Theory of Constraints (TOC), Lean Six Sigma, and organizational performance optimization. She has successfully led projects in healthcare, financial services, and manufacturing, driving significant improvements such as a 67% boost in hospital operations and a 140% increase in outpatient visits.
Previously, Alka Wadhwa spent 17+ years at GE Global Research Center, where she led initiatives to enhance various GE businesses through advanced technologies, process redesign, and system optimization. Founder of Better Solutions Consulting, LLC, she specializes in using TOC, Six Sigma, and data analytics to streamline operations and build high-performance teams.
Her work has earned her multiple accolades, including the Empire State Award of Excellence in healthcare.
Dr Gary Wadhwa
Dr. Gary Wadhwa is a Board Certified Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon with extensive experience in the field. He completed his Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery training at Montefiore Hospital, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in Bronx, NY, and has served as an Attending at prestigious institutions like St. Peters Hospitals, Ellis Hospital, and Beth Israel Hospital in NY. With a career spanning over two decades, he was the former CEO and President of a group specialty practice in NY from 1994 to 2015. Dr. Wadhwa holds an MBA from UT at Knoxville, TN, and has undergone additional training in System Dynamics at MIT, Health System Management at Harvard Business School, and Entrepreneurship and healthcare innovations at Columbia Business School. Committed to expanding access to Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery care, he is currently engaged in a meaningful project to provide healthcare services to underserved populations in inner city and rural areas through non-profit Community Health Centers.