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More and more like a robot, to some extent, but more and more skilled. This, I believe, instills a sense of pride and accomplishment. And when the same worker i
by kumarvvr 9y ago
More and more like a robot, to some extent, but more and more skilled. This, I believe, instills a sense of pride and accomplishment. And when the same worker is rotated to another job, there again, he builds his skills. Of course, some may be unhappy, but I don't see any particularly negative aspect to being process oriented.
Moreover, even with the process automated, often, a finishing touch is given by the operator. And, often, Japanese manufacturing facilities, depend on human skill and ingenuity to extract maximum quality from the process, even if the process is heavily automated.
In addition to all the above, one unique aspect of the Japanese workforce and management, and I have seen this first hand, is that even the lowest level worker can freely give his inputs regarding a process and then the upper level workers, engineers and managers actually listen and discuss the inputs.
In the plants that I have been to, engineering, design and workers are all located on the factory shop floor and are expected to work together in unison.
- sametmax 9y agoYet, given the choice, would you rather learn to turn a screw perfectly 10000 times or learn programming ? If so can I hire you to do just that ? One seems way more satisfying than the other, not matter how good one can become at turning the screw.
- kumarvvr 9y agoTo be fair, most processes are slightly more complicated than turning a screw. Most processes maybe monotonous but are sufficiently complicated to require concentrated effort to get right. For example a turning operation or a milling operation.
- sametmax 9y agoSure. But I worked in a factory making screws for 2 years, that's why I'm taking about screws. Even this simple product has numerous subtle steps in its production. Yet on operator may very well do one to three different move, 10000 times a day. It's very tedious. Perfecting that is certainly satisfying, but it's hard for me to grasp how it can counteract the crushing experience of it all.
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]