Innovations come in waves. Each time a new wave of innovation comes roaring in, the environment must be flexible enough to adapt to it. People are innately tough customers when it comes to buying ideas that threaten the status quo. And in factories, the word "change" is virtually taboo.
Nevertheless, JIT improvement requires that all fixed ideas be cast aside so a new consciousness suitable for the new environment may be cultivated. Achieving this task takes much longer than merely improving operations or equipment. I demands that the very same things be done again and again.
From the company president down to the factory workers, the subject of improvement has to be openly discussed During such discussions, we are bound to run into negative comments, such as, "There's no way that JIT stuff is going to work in our factory. There is also the idea that the people responsible for JIT improvement are not qualified for the job. In such cases, they can prove their point by asking the disgruntled factory people a few pointed questions, such as :
"Look at your factory. Defects are out of control, shipments are always late, and warehouse inventory seems to have no limit. What are you going to do about it? What specific plans do you have to solve these problems?"
The response to that is usually dead silence. Sometimes you have to challenge fixed ideas directly.
People are not going to unleash themselves from their gut feelings of resistance and their fixed ideas unless they are instilled with the basic spirit of improvement. Figure 2.4 shows a policy statement illustrating this basic spirit at a kitchenware company. Figure 2.5 shows a manifestation of this spirit at a fishing equipment manufacturer.
These signboards usually measure about one square meter and are made of vellum. They can be either hung from ceilings or posted on walls. It is a good idea to display these signboards not only in management meeting rooms, but also