TOKYO: If you’re blind and rely only on the sound of your surroundings, it would be difficult for you to distinguish between Disneyland and a car manufacturing plant. I discovered this when I visited Toyota’s Motomachi plant in Nagoya where the factory workers are in high spirit as they work to their heart’s content while listening to the background music of what appears to be “It’s a Small World After All” or its derivative.

No, I’m not joking. I wish I can prove it to you except that cameras, mobile phones, and recording devices are not allowed inside the Motomachi factory. You should understand that cardinal rule. But trust me. The Motomachi plant is an example of a powerhouse gemba kaizen (continuous improvement in the workplace). You should go there if you want to be convinced of the power of what is known in the U.S. and Europe as “lean production.”

This is my 10th visit to Japan in a span of 18 years. Every time I visit my second home country, it never fails to satisfy my curiosity for a healthy natto (fermented bean paste). I mean, this time, Japan has continued to supply me once again with new, vivid, and graphic examples on how gemba kaizen is done after the catastrophic 3/11 up to the time when the scandal-hit camera-maker Olympus was exposed (pun intended).

You should view the hundreds of photos that I took outside of Motomachi. They’re always in plain view, practical, and patently excellent examples of common-sense ideas that you’ll run the risk of ignoring them only if you’ll allow yourself to be distracted by the Cos Players, including the ubiquitous Gundam here in Tokyo, unless I explain to you their hidden meaning.

If you’re within my age range (Forever 51), probably you could have also outgrown your fear of Godzilla which became famous for committing the first known acts of mass destruction, like knocking over a crowded JR commuter train in those days. Back then, even if Godzilla was shown on flea-infested movie houses, you’ll readily form loyalty to the Japanese for creating such unimaginable fiction made realistic with rice paste and cardboards.

Actually, I don’t think there were many important mechanical differences among American and Japanese films back then. One big difference was Brain Kaizen for the Japanese. What’s that? Probably, nothing to many of us, but that is exactly the essence of kaizen that follows the thinking of Toyota management icon—Taiichi Ohno (1912-1990) who said to his engineers: “Use your brain, not your money!” in solving problems.

Brain Kaizen is “Operation Kaizen” when I heard the explanation of Susumu Minegishi, a gemba kaizen top gun and former Toyota superintendent at the Motomachi plant. “Operation Kaizen is better than anything, including all the high-technology gadgets in this planet,” says Minegishi who learned much from Ohno when he was alive.

“This mind set teaches you to use all the available resources of the company to eliminate all the wasteful work practices in any factory set-up, including the use of conveyors that cause delay, work stations that are not ergonomically-sound and even the unnecessary hand and foot movement of the workers.”

Using scrap wood panels, cardboards, and ordinary tools, Minegishi demonstrated how he was able to dramatically improve the system of a simulated radiator assembly.

Minegishi is right in contrasting Operation Kaizen with Machine Kaizen which requires one to spend money on new equipment. In my study of gemba kaizen since close to 20 years ago, I’ve long advocated the use of “creativity before capital” technique in problem-solving.

Instead of “Machine Kaizen,” I’m using the term—“Capital Kaizen” to cover not only the purchase of new factory equipment but also the hiring of additional employees (even temps), replacing old with new raw materials, or even doing another method that creates an unforeseen, but bigger problem in the future.

Obviously, we should avoid “Capital Kaizen” at all costs (pun not intended). This is plain common-sense. But then we wonder: Why is common-sense, not a common practice? I’ve a ready answer for you—it is often caused by blindness by proximity.

Rey Elbo is a management consultant with a fused interest in human resources and total quality management. Send feedback to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or follow him on Facebook or Twitter for his random management thoughts.