Kyoryoku Kai is, as the name suggests, a Japanese phrase that is used to describe any supplier association or groups of suppliers\u2019 associations. A supplier association is used within the Lean business philosophy. In effect it is a group of the most important or vital suppliers to any particular company, who work jointly and together to develop more efficient supply methods with a base line aim of reducing production costs.<\/p>\n
The concept originated within Japan and was and indeed still is used within the Toyota Production System. It has taken some time to develop and then refine these associations, some 50 years in the case of Toyota, but it is a strategy that offers tangible reward.<\/p>\n
Structure of Kyoryoku Kai Joint Working In Practice Detailed Objectives of Kyoryoku Kai Kyoryoku Kai is, as the name suggests, a Japanese phrase that is used to describe any supplier association or groups of suppliers\u2019 associations. A supplier association is used within the Lean business philosophy. In effect it is a group of the most important or vital suppliers to any particular company, who work jointly and together […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[75],"class_list":["post-108","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","tag-management"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7Ittq-1K","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/supplychain-mechanic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/supplychain-mechanic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/supplychain-mechanic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/supplychain-mechanic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/supplychain-mechanic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=108"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/supplychain-mechanic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":665,"href":"https:\/\/supplychain-mechanic.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/108\/revisions\/665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/supplychain-mechanic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=108"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/supplychain-mechanic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=108"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/supplychain-mechanic.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=108"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\n<\/strong>
\nWithin any Kyoryoku Kai membership can be either direct or indirect suppliers. Although this may seem odd, can be important to include indirect suppliers sometimes, simply because they may be able to give input about parts they supply to other direct suppliers and how they interact or interface with each other.
\nUsually there are various levels of Kyoryoku Kai, with a very senior management team overseeing the whole framework. Then there may be an executive level, with a regional or more local section below that. Each level has more members, so the local or regional sections are the biggest.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nIn practice, the process of working together is much less daunting than it may seem to potential members. The Kyoryoku Kai facilitates for members to work on the basis of co-operation and trust, so members do not have to worry about other members being able to gain a competitive edge over them.<\/p>\n
\n<\/strong>
\nAlthough the overall aim of Kyoryoku Kai is to drive down the costs of production, there are several other objectives, all of which are important.
\n\u2022\tUse the Kyoryoku Kai to make sure that waste is eliminated from all aspects of the supply chain, simply through increased communication between suppliers and the customer.
\n\u2022\tCreate a stable supply chain. The Kyoryoku Kai can ensure that the supply chain is made secure and less volatile than if the suppliers are simply left to work independently.
\n\u2022\tShare best practices \u2013 facilitate sharing best practice and efficiency throughout the supply chain.
\n\u2022\tSpeed up the production process. Through a more stable and secure supply chain, combined with suppliers working together there can be less operational hold ups in the production process, because the \u2018flow\u2019 of supplies is not interrupted at any stage.
\n\u2022\tSupply feedback to the customer. This is important because the supplier can actually help the customer do things slightly differently, in a manner that is more cost effective or more productive. It also highlights the way that the Kyoryoku Kai is a two-way process and this is fundamental to its success. If the Kyoryoku Kai is to succeed the customer has to listen to what the suppliers say. It is not a means whereby the customer can dictate to suppliers; this is a dialogue, not a monologue….<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"