Kaizen methodology originated in the automotive industry. It was here that Toyota re-wrote the rulebook of supply chain management and, in so doing, laid down a blueprint not only for automotive manufacturers, but for all industry and service sectors to follow.
Through our relationship with Abdul Latif Jameel, not only the largest vehicle distribution network in Saudi Arabia but a key player in the MENA region, Four Principles are genealogically related to Toyota – Lean thinking is hardwired into our corporate DNA.
By distilling Toyota's broad Kaizen philosophy down to four key fundamentals – Pull, One Piece Flow, Takt and Zero Defects – Four Principles have developed a template that is not only simple to assimilate and implement, but applicable across all sectors of service and industry. The beauty of our model is that everyone – from the shop floor and the front line up to the board room – can not only relate to the philosophy but, by working with its tools and applying its methodologies, can appreciate its benefits, buy into its process and share in the success it inevitably brings.
In this way, regardless of sector, service or industry, Four Principles effect not only a change in working practices, but a change in mindset. This is crucial. By opening minds and proving its worth, Lean is not just a short term strategy or a quick fix. Instead, it is a sea change in the corporate mindset – a solid, fixed platform upon which long term, sustainable growth and profitability can be built.
Far from the exclusive preserve of the automotive and manufacturing sectors, Lean has become democratised across every facet of today's commercial and corporate landscape. In a rapidly changing world, Four Principles are altering the way people work and the way corporations behave – from distribution, aviation and electronics to health care, government and finance. More than that, with principles that apply equally well across every sector imaginable, Lean is redefining the very modus operandi, the ground rules of business to enable organisations of every size, sector and geography to face the future with confidence.