Recently, our company's human resource development program, "F-Ken (Foreman Training)," celebrated its 50th anniversary, and a commemorative ceremony was held.

I also attended the training and once again realized the importance of this training in supporting our company's manufacturing.

The “F-ken” was established with the aim of training supervisors who will promote quality control in production sites.

What remains consistent is the idea of developing the capability to face facts through “Genchi-Genbutstu,” identify issues by themselves, and lead to improvements. Currently, the program has evolved to develop personnel who can drive Kaizen activities on-site while adapting to changing times.

The training focuses on important issues in actual business divisions, and participants leave their own departments for approximately three to four months to focus on their Kaizen activities.

The trainees will enter the production site, grasp the facts, clarify the issues, and implement solutions.
Through this practical training, we have brushed up our problem-finding and problem-solving skills.

These accumulated experiences have led to concrete results in the form of improved quality and productivity.

The Importance of the 50th Anniversary~
The Passing-On Method of Technical Transfer and the Ability to Adapt to Change

I have heard from past F-Ken trainees that "everything you see and hear on-site can be the seed for discovering problems."

The importance of "observing carefully" and "listening carefully" is emphasized during the training. This is because the starting point for improvement is to thoroughly examine the facts.

Since the training began in 1976, more than 5,000 people have participated.

I believe the reason the training has continued is because it has nurtured people who are not just trained in know-how, but who have the ability to discern facts and put them into practice.
As society and the business environment change, digital transformation also progresses, and thanks to the ingenuity of the administrative office, such as the introduction of observation and analysis tools, we are always incorporating the latest tools and making sure we can use them effectively. These tools are then applied to everyday on-site kaizen by the people nurtured at F-Ken, and are continuing to evolve.

Global expansion: Fusion of Japanese Monozukuri (manufacturing) and local culture and characteristics

The kaizen mechanisms and cutting-edge tools cultivated in this way have spread to group companies both domestically and internationally, and are already being implemented at overseas bases.
In such cases, rather than simply applying Japanese methods, we adapt them to suit the culture and characteristics of each workplace.

By doing so, improvement activities take root steadily and lead to results.

2026.03