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- Quality Manufacturing and Reinforcement of Production Site Expertise
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Concept
The AGC Group is committed to "Quality Manufacturing and Reinforcement of Production Site Expertise, i.e. reinforcement and inheritance of technologies and skills." This commitment is the source of competitiveness for the entire Group in order to always provide products that are useful for society.
Pursuing Quality Manufacturing to Establish a Robust Corporate Structure
Baby boomers, who have been supporting manufacturing in
Japan, will retire en masse from 2007 onward. In addition, due
to the automation of equipment, it is becoming increasingly
difficult for workers to acquire a full understanding of the principles
of manufacturing technology, and due to changes in and the
rapid expansion of business, there is a shortage of skilled and
experienced workers. In the face of this, it is essential for the AGC
Group to pass down the manufacturing technologies and skills
developed by experienced and highly skilled engineers to the next
generation.
In 2004, the AGC Group listed “pursuing quality manufacturing
and reinforcing production site expertise” and “enhancing and
transferring technologies and skills” as one of the major items
in its management policy. To achieve these goals, we identified
the technologies and skills required at each workplace and are
developing talents based on the plans created for the education
and development of human resources.*1
*1 Based on the idea that people make the company, we value human resources as an important asset.
Expansion and enhancement of programmes
Training at the Practical Training Building
To reinforce production site expertise, the AGC Group completed the development of necessary systems and programmes based on the two pillars of “identifying technologies and skills” and“developing human resources” by fiscal 2006.
In fiscal 2007, we expanded the range of systems and programmes to include AGC Group companies in Japan and Asia.Each In-House Company/SBU and Group company has been planning and implementing measures for evaluating technologies and skills, training employees,utilizing human resources,and fostering a corporate culture conducive to quality manufacturing.
The AGC Group’s Measures for Enhancing and Transferring Technologies and Skills
Technologies, Skills, and Human Resources Necessary for Quality Manufacturing
It is people that support Quality Manufacturing, and the knowledge for Quality Manufacturing is born where manufacturing takes place. Therefore, the following technologies, skills and human resources are required for Quality Manufacturing.
Technologies and skills necessary for Quality Manufacturing
- Technologies and skills based on "genba (site), genbutsu (product itself), and genjitsu (fact)"
- "Technologies fused with skills" that can cope with increasingly complex and high-tech equipment; and "skills backed by technologies"
- Skills to find problems, propose solutions, and execute them
- Advanced technologies and skills that can cope with the development of new technologies and products and the development of fundamental technologies
Employees necessary for the above:
- Employees who have unique and competitive technologies and skills and use them to produce successful results
- Employees with "stick-to-itiveness," who can exert and develop worksite ingenuity for Quality Manufacturing
- Employees who have the production site expertise to find and solve problems and to identify and stick to what is right
- Employees who represent a high level of technologies and skills in specific fields and are versed in production technology essential for Quality Manufacturing
- Employees who can train and develop people
Training Materials for the Reinforcement and Inheritance of Technologies and Skills
Since many of the advanced technologies and skills are often supported by implicit knowledge, we converted such knowledge into explicit knowledge by using video and computers to make audiovisual teaching materials.
Preparation of Training Materials on Technologies and Skills, Including Implicit Knowledge
- Select an operation for which training materials will be prepared as well as a highly skilled worker engaged in that operation.
- From various angles, video-record how the skilled worker carries out his/her job.
- While watching the videotape, interview the skilled worker to analyze his/her operation, mainly focusing on technical intuition and knack.
- Translate the identified technical intuition and knack into words or figures, and edit the training materials, incorporating the translated intuition and knack. If it is difficult to translate them into words, transform them into animated or still images.
- Provide training using the completed training materials and follow up on the results to improve the materials.
AGC Monozukuri Training Center Ensures Quality Manufacturing
Training and Education Building
In July 2006, the AGC Group opened its Monozukuri Training Center within its Keihin Plant
located in Yokoyama City, Japan. The Center is designed to serve as a new base to promote quality
manufacturing across the AGC Group, where both new employees and managers will be trained to acquire advanced skills and technologies.
The Center comprises two buildings: the Training and Education Building and the Practical
Training Building. At the Practical Training Building, employees are trained based on the concept of “actual workplace,” “actual work,” and “reality of workplace conditions.” This building, equipped
with machines and equipment similar to those actually used in AGC Group plants, provides
trainees with hands-on learning opportunities. For example, they learn the structure of a furnace and
its troubleshooting methods, which they would not be able to learn in their daily work at plants. In the
seminars and practical training sessions provided at the Center, trainers interact and communicate
with trainees in such a way as to encourage trainees to gain the feel of the work, and to think independently and creatively.
Number of Trainees and Users at the Monozukuri Training Center
- Fiscal 2006 (opened in July) : 11,247
- Fiscal 2007 : 24,344
