The word kaizen, which means improvement in Japanese, is the key to Fuji Xerox (Hong Kong)'s win in the Productivity and Quality category at the Hong Kong Awards for Industries. That is because, more broadly, it also denotes the simple but effective system, inspired by the corporate head office, which each year requires functional heads in operating companies around the region to identify and effect specific improvements in one or two areas of the business.
'We form different kaizen teams, and each one has to say in which areas and in what magnitude they want to improve,' says managing director Joseph Yu Shu-cheung, who oversees an 800-strong team handling sales, marketing and after-sales service mainly for printers and multifunction machines. 'They have to quantify it as a percentage or with a dollar sign to show increases in revenue or customer satisfaction. There is a very clear process governing the entire activity, and each year we pick the winning team.'
He explains that in Hong Kong a particular focus has been the level of customer satisfaction. There had been indications, for instance, that hotline services were not always up to expected standards. To deal with this, a kaizen team was formed to look into the issues, identify the root causes of any problems, implement an action plan, and monitor results.
'We have to keep asking what else we can do to improve productivity and provide better quality for customers. We see that as the biggest challenge, since those are key contributory factors to the success of the company and to getting customer loyalty.'
In this case, the action plan centres on the role of in-house customer training officers (CTOs). Their prime responsibility is to visit clients and offer advice and instruction on the use of new equipment and software.
This has to be done in a way that is timely, convenient for the customer, and takes due account of delivery and installation status. It is also important for the CTO to have the right background information and to know, for example, which models customers have used previously and what training they have received.