The course consisted of lectures on how to manage and improve areas such as management‚ quality‚ productivity‚ safety‚ and facility maintenance‚ and field trips to see actual kaizen initiatives in practice. Many companies were kind enough to cooperate with us in this.

There are many Japanese companies active in Central and South America‚ so I had thought the participants would already understand basic matters such as kaizen. However‚ it seemed that much of what they learned was new to them; they asked many questions and studied enthusiastically. Feedback from the participants included the following comments: “I could gain an in-depth understanding of practical applications via the visits to companies‚” "I was able to study perspectives that I had overlooked before‚” and “I was able to learn about Japanese approaches such as the 5S‚ PDCA‚ and TPM.”

The participants this time were not all directly connected with monozukuri‚ but also included a management consultant‚ a university professor‚ and a member of an egg transportation division. Their responses to the course made me keenly aware that subjects such as the monozukuri ethos and kaizen are of use to the participants regardless of their line of work.

An introduction to kendo and Japanese swords was included in the course‚ and the participants were lucky enough to have an opportunity to experience Japanese culture at first-hand‚ and try their hand at kendo‚ on a visit to the Budokan during their field trip to Mitsubishi Chemical. As of this year‚ a field trip to Hiroshima has been added to the course; the participants were able to look round the Mazda Museum‚ and also visit the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum and Miyajima. The time they spent visiting Itsukushima Shrine and looking around the shops selling local specialties seems to have been a good opportunity to learn more about Japan. It was the first time for one of the participants to see the sea‚ and he went down for a stroll on the beach.

Although it was a short course of around two weeks‚ all the participants were able to create an action plan based on kaizen techniques to tackle their particular challenges‚ and to create a protocol for its implementation. They were also delighted to have come into contact with Japanese culture‚ which is part of their roots. I expect them to play an active role in their homelands upon their return.