The Sunday Mail
So we have learnt from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce that they have engaged the Japanese government with a view to adopting the Lean business model.
Behold — Fools’ Day is but three weeks away and don’t dare think that Multichoice will be fooling you when they increase their bouquet prices on that day.
The past few years, Multichoice has proven that April 1 ain’t fooling day, with what they call an “annual price increase”.
This year’s edition of their price increase is running under the theme “increases in satellite costs, channel costs, as well as the devaluation of currencies against the US dollar”.
Are the challenges facing Multichoice peculiar to those besetting just about any other corporate citizen in the Republic?
I can tell you that I remember reading a convincing argument from bakers, giving a billion valid reasons why the price of bread should be above a dollar. But, to my surprise, some bakers have actually lowered their bread prices, with those that have not still maintaining it at dollar – despite the existence of those “insurmountable” problems.
Which local company, for instance, is immune to the devaluation of currencies against the US dollar?
Anyway, perhaps it’s also high time Multichoice started giving the single choice of billing based on the time one spends viewing? Like what the mobile telecoms did with per second billing! We need to bring a fair deal to the consumer, the king.
I am sure it will also allow Multichoice to not only reap what they sow but to foster optimal competitiveness within their operations.
Anyway, heads up, dear Multichoice, for the imminent digitalisation exercise (migration from analogue to digital transmission of television signals) will see the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation increasing the number of channels that will be accessible through subscription, and here’s assuming that quality will also improve.
Let’s hope that the envisaged ZBC competition will bring sanity to this madness called “annual price increase”.
We are operating in an ecosystem where prices of local goods and services are really going down – talk of mobile voice tariffs, beer, soft drinks, you name it!
Government is also talking about wage freeze, and which employee will buy the idea of having his salary either frozen or slashed fully knowing that prices of goods have the liberty to go as high as they like, compromising his already compromised spending power?
We are a low-income economy, with the latest edition of the Finscope Consumer Survey telling us that 76 percent of the adult population earn US$200 per month or less; including the 7 percent who do not have an income at all. The money that folks commit from their little incomes to support Multichoice, by subscribing to luxuries such as DStv, must therefore not be taken for granted.
My apologies for taking much of your time on things that have nothing to do with the topic above. I hope it’s not too late to start talking about it – lean manufacturing. I won’t say much, I will just cut to the chase.
So we have learnt from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce that they have engaged the Japanese government with a view to adopting the Lean business model.
The Secretary for Industry and Commerce, Mrs Abigail Shonhiwa, is on record as saying: “Efforts are underway to get assistance to adopt Lean strategies in business operations.”
Lean manufacturing was pioneered by a Japanese company, Toyota, and has grown to be implemented in just about every sector world over. The main goals of this system are to eliminate waste, reduce the need for managing large inventories, and provide optimum quality at the least cost by making quality control decisions an immediate part of the manufacturing process. The system also monitors, examines and eliminates waste at each level.
There are, however, things we should keep in mind beforehand as we think along the lines of lean manufacturing. Firstly, this exercise, in most exercises, is tantamount to totally disassembling the current plant and machinery set-up in the manufacturing sector. It also means retraining employees. All these come at a cost that we have to be prepared to pay. Are we prepared to dismantle the manufacturing sector and bring this new paradigm?
The message coming from other countries that have implemented lean manufacturing is that its emphasis on waste elimination may become a preoccupation that causes stress in the workforce. Is our workforce going to be compatible to the relentless pressure to improve operations?
We have already been told by the Industrial Psychology Consultants’ Distress and other Mental Health Problems in the Zimbabwean Working Population study that 43 percent of the working Zimbabweans already experience symptoms of distress.
The study noted 27,2 percent of the working population is depressed to the extent of “feeling that things are meaningless, and they can’t see a way of escaping from their situation, life is not worthwhile, they would be better if they were dead, they can’t enjoy anything anymore, wishing they were dead”.
The report further indicated that the manufacturing sector has the highest prevalence of depression symptoms.
Implementing lean manufacturing to employees who are already in this dire kind of situation means that we have to first take measures to deal with their stress levels. Otherwise we will push them to the edge.
We must understand that lean manufacturing requires that a small amount of raw materials is kept in stock, a move that has its own challenges in our country. There are many manufacturing establishments who are importing raw materials from abroad, and the Global Competitiveness Report has already told us that it takes almost forever to import goods.
Do we have reliable local suppliers who can provide materials just-in-time? Lean is premised in such a way that any disruption in the supply chain will affect production, which might also inconvenience the customers in the event of any supply hiccups – which are really inevitable in our situation.
And for that supply inconvenience created, there will be an imported substitute conveniently shelved at a marginally cheaper price too. How about the state of our road infrastructure? It also means that many trips have to be done from suppliers to manufacturers, which also increases transportation costs.
A study by Alix Partners LLP, a New York-based management consultancy, in 2011 also brought remarkable outcomes about lean production.
The study surveyed not less than 100 manufacturing firms which implemented lean manufacturing between 2009 and 2011 and established depressing results.
The study discovered that 70 percent of those companies actually failed to cut their costs by 5 percent. The study also discovered that where savings were accrued, they were noted to be just temporary.
Against the above background, it is my humble submission that we have to come up with our own home-brewed solution with regards to cutting costs in the manufacturing sector.
A solution that takes into account all the aspects of the status quo. Other than that, we might risk overlooking factors that will come to haunt us seven days later.
We should utilise local institutions such as the recently established National Competitiveness Commission to chart cost-solutions for our economic sectors.
