Ethiopia has been implementing Kaizen philosophy on manufacturing industries, which demonstrated its effectiveness by improving productivity and quality as well as minimizing wastage and cost.
ADDIS ABABA (ENA)–Ethiopia has become the leading country in terms of implementing Kaizen philosophy in Africa, Japanese Official said.
Kaizen has been developed further in Ethiopia over the past six years, making the country a model for the rest of Africa, Ryuichi Kato, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Director-General for Africa told ENA.
Founding that Kaizen is suitable to the economic and social development of the country, Ethiopia set up the Ethiopian Kaizen Institute (EKI) in November 2011 to promote the Japanese management philosophy.
Kaizen is a system of continuous improvement in quality, technology, processes, company culture, productivity, safety and leadership.
“Ethiopia has demonstrated its ownership to promote the Kaizen philosophy. So, Ethiopia could play an important role in sharing its best experiences with other African countries”, he said.
Japanese Ambassador to Ethiopia, Shinichi Saida told ENA that Ethiopia has confirmed its ownership to the technique through various activities.
“The Ethiopian government has demonstrated its ownership by making Kaizen its own project by establishing Kaizen institute, allocating its own budget and promoting the philosophy”, he said.
The Ambassador said, “I believe you can transform your country by further enhancing Kaizen to become the middle-income country by 2025”.
Ethiopia has been implementing the technique on manufacturing industries, which demonstrated its effectiveness by improving productivity and quality as well as minimizing wastage and cost.
These achievements have enabled Ethiopia to become the center of excellence for Kaizen philosophy. The country has started to train personnel from other African countries on Kaizen through various universities.
Up on its inauguration, the International Kaizen Institute being built in Ethiopia to provide training on Kaizen, will enable it to further strengthen its role as knowledge center of Kaizen philosophy in the continent, the Ambassador added.
Noting that the Kaizen technique has brought significant change in manufacturing industries, Tagese Chafo, Minister of Public Service and Human Resource Development, said Kaizen should also be applied in the services sector.
Implementing Kaizen in the services sector is important to ensure good governance, build efficient civil servant, and improve service provision, he added.
The technique has enabled Ethiopia to improve productivity and quality as well as minimize wastage and cost.
Since the establishment of Kaizen Institute in 2011, over 630 companies have implemented the Kaizen technique, which in turn help to save a total of 2.46 billion Birr from wastage.
Source: ENA
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