OLYMPUS TECHNOZONE Vol.51 2001-09
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INDEX
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Reforms
Initiated from the Optical Equipment Sector Because of Its Suitable
Size
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Examples of GPO
log search screens.
(Click
on image to expand it) |
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----The implementation of SCM has started with the optical
equipment sector. Why is this?
The optical equipment
sector, which manufactures microscopes and semiconductor/liquid
crystal inspection equipment, constitutes the backbone of Oympus.
There is no way the company can be allowed to stumble in this area.
Promoting the
introduction of SCM is accompanied by risk because it inevitably
involves major changes in conventional systems. No matter how much
it may be a top-down affair, in the end individual employees have
to change the way they do business. As a result, operational structures
can only be altered through the accumulation of such changes. I
suspect this is what causes everyone so much trouble.
As for why Olympus started promoting these efforts from the optical equipment
sector, well, we chose the sector because it was of an appropriate size from
our company's point of view and we thought it was ideal for delivering a successful
example as quickly as possible.
I also think
the way the optical equipment division does business is an important
factor. With cameras, we can make a business out of simply manufacturing
a product and selling it. With optical equipment, however, there
is no such concept as a fixed product set. It is a typical example
of multi-product, small-lot manufacturing, not of mass-production
of a single product. Sometimes, component manufacturing also involves
purchases of other companies' products. This makes it extremely
difficult to make an overall judgment about the size of the inventories
we should hold. That's the sort of business the optical equipment
sector is doing.
It is very important
to succeed from the first attempt. We concluded that since the
optical equipment sector was of an appropriate size, it would be
quite easy to see the results.
----Did you in any way use other companies
as models, for example?
At a time when
many companies are tackling the issue of SCM, we thought it would
be more appropriate to focus on our own company's characteristics
than to look to other companies. Among manufacturers, for example,
there are some companies that house many manufacturing functions
within their head offices, and others that transfer their manufacturing
functions to subsidiaries that are independently managed with almost
full responsibility for their own financial affairs. Even though
the initials "SCM" are the same, there are many differences
in the way companies tackle the issue. |
