During the first week in March, I will be visiting Japan. I was invited on a tour being conducted by Norman Bodek. Norman has been to Japan over 80 times and is responsible for bringing many of the books on lean published in Japan back to the United States. Nick (my boss) had been invited on the trip by Paul Akers. This is a fairly large group so I will get to meet a bunch of new people!
We are starting off in Tokyo. We will be there for a couple of days and then move on to Nagoya. In Nagoya we will visit Toyota and Mitsubishi. We then move down to Kobe where we will visit the Mazda plant. Our final stop is in Kyoto.
During this tour, we will be learning the Harada method from Norman. Mr. Takashi Harada created a method of self development that speaks to the human side of lean. It is a way to instill self reliance in each person by helping them achieve their goals. I am in the middle of reading The Harada Method book and establishing my goal for the trip.
I will go into detail on my blog about my experience in Japan. Since many people will not have this opportunity to go to Japan or spend a week with this amazing group of people, I hope to document my trip here on my blog and share the things I learn and see.
