Keys to Successful Digitalization for Promoting TPM

Konica Minolta Technoproduct Co., Ltd.

#Production, Manufacturing, and Quality

#Digital Transformation (DX) and Digital Initiatives

2020.10.27

Konica Minolta Technoproduct successfully utilizes IoT and digital tools for loss prevention in their TPM activities. What are the key success factors? They lie in the "fusion of digital and analog." Let's look at their approach.

Challenges and Missions

01. Inventory and analyze tasks

02. Thoroughly reduce energy loss

03. Eliminate waste and create new value

04. Promote "Ideal Automation"

Achieving our vision--"A Profitable Company! Become the world's No. 1 healthcare manufacturing plant"-- requires a workplace environment where every employee can unleash their creativity and work with energy. Loss reduction through TPM is essential for promoting workstyle reform.

Profit Contribution through Administrative and Office TPM

TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) is a company-wide activity to eliminate and prevent all losses that hinder profit. This company defines TPM as "Total Production Management" to place it at the core of their management strategy. IoT and digital technologies significantly help reduce work hours and "visualize" losses to improve production efficiency. With many affordable digital tools now available, many companies are exploring how to integrate them into improvement activities like TPM.

The key is to have a clear purpose--how to use technology for specific challenges--rather than promoting digitalization by mandate. This mindset significantly influences the progress of TPM. "The goal is to use the time saved through loss reduction for tasks that create new value. Digital tools are partners that help eliminate losses," says Satoshi Honda, Director of the Production Engineering Department.

Front row (left): Satoshi Honda, Director, Production Engineering Dept.; (right): Masami Hasegawa, Manager, Corporate Planning Office, Back row (left): Nobuaki Masumo, Assistant Manager, 3rd Technical Group, Production Engineering Dept.; (center): Teruo Yamada, 3rd Technical Group; (right): Yasushi Imaizumi, Group Leader, 3rd Technical Group

Konica Minolta Technoproduct has effectively introduced digital tools as part of their "developing people" initiative. More importantly, their true goal is to realize the management policy: "Commit to No. 1, develop vibrant talent, and create a workplace where individuals shine." For them, it is never about just using IoT technologies by mandate.

In 2013, the TPM initiative kicked off amid the transition from manual assembly to equipment-based production, while the digitalization of medical devices was accelerating. This company-wide rollout aimed to establish loss-prevention mechanisms and foster an inclusive environment where every employee could easily participate. By promoting TPM simultaneously on the production floor and in administrative departments, Konica Minolta Technoproduct built powerful momentum for collective transformation.

The goal of Office TPM was to strengthen the management foundation by enhancing the information and services provided to the production floor. "I believed that Office TPM held great value and could significantly contribute to the company's profitability," says Masami Hasegawa, Manager of the Corporate Planning Office.

Unlocking RPA Success through Preliminary "Makigami Analysis"

Makigami Analysis = A visual improvement method designed to reduce man-hours and streamline workflows by mapping end-to-end processes on a long roll of paper. By visualizing hidden losses--such as bottlenecks and redundant tasks--it serves as a critical foundation for Digital Transformation (DX). This "process-first" approach ensures that only optimized workflows are digitized, maximizing the ROI of RPA and other digital tools.

A prime example of Office TPM is 'Makigami Analysis.' Circles were formed within departments--such as HR and Accounting--to systematically document tasks and man-hours. The teams organized actual forms and feedback from various members onto large sheets of paper. This process "visualized" wasted effort and information gaps that hadn't been shared even among team members, clarifying which losses to eliminate and how to optimize workflows.

Meanwhile, in 2017, the Konica Minolta Group established a policy to utilize RPA (Robotic Process Automation) as a key tool for its "Work-style Reform" initiative. The fundamental goal of RPA was to eliminate the 'dependency risk' of over-relying on individual experience and to overhaul time-consuming, low-value-added tasks. By doing so, we aimed to reallocate the newly created time to the core tasks where it truly belongs.　(Mr. Honda)

At this stage, Konica Minolta Technoproduct benefited from the fact that their TPM Makigami Analysis had already identified workflows targeted for waste reduction. "The successful integration of the advancing wave of digitalization with the analog approach of Makigami Analysis allowed us to achieve truly significant results." (Mr. Honda)

Beyond merely providing internal training and workshops, the company promoted autonomous implementation, where members in each department discussed and decided how to best utilize RPA themselves. As a result, they established a direction for "Ideal Automation" with a clear sense of purpose, rather than treating it as a mere automation by mandate. Many employees feel that it was precisely the steady TPM Makigami Analysis that allowed RPA to yield such significant gains in productivity.

Let's look at a specific case study from the Accounting Group. First, they defined three core objectives for their "Ideal State":

1) minimizing time spent on data creation

2) ensuring necessary information is automatically shared with stakeholders

3) focusing on the analytical tasks that accounting should inherently perform

An inventory of business man-hours revealed that the most time-consuming task was the creation of "P&L Statements by SBU (Strategic Business Unit)."

Workflows were re-examined to identify specific challenges, followed by an analysis of which tasks required human judgment versus those that could be streamlined through RPA.

As a result, a task that previously required eight hours per month was reduced to just one hour, resulting in an annual saving of 84 hours. This improvement enabled faster reporting and allowed the team to devote more time to high-value tasks, such as further analysis. Furthermore, the standardization of the process ensured that the work could be handled by any team member, reducing dependency on specific individuals.

To further focus on analytical tasks--one of the core objectives for the Accounting Department's "Ideal State"--the department introduced Tableau, a BI (Business Intelligence) tool that enables quick and easy data analysis and visualization. This allowed for multi-faceted "visualization" of manufacturing costs, eliminating manual graph creation across various departments and making data sharing faster and easier. This initiative alone has resulted in an additional reduction of four hours per month, totaling 48 hours annually.

As the driving force behind the Accounting Group's TPM activities, Ms. Yoshie Oshima (Administration Department) shares the process behind these results.

Revitalizing stalled Energy-Saving measures

Uncovering hidden losses through IoT integration

Real-time power usage visualization through the BI tool exposed inefficiencies that were once hidden.

Digitalization also successfully revitalized energy-saving efforts. While Konica Minolta Technoproduct had long implemented standard initiatives -such as installing energy-efficient equipment and shutting down production lines during holidays--, they felt that visible results had stalled in recent years.

As a new approach, the company installed IoT sensors in cleanrooms and air conditioning units to collect data and gain a clear understanding of their operational status. This gathered data was then visualized using "Tableau"--as with their other initiatives--to analyze and identify any potential losses.

As a result, power consumption in the production process and the effects of energy-saving measures--which were previously unknown--could now be captured in real-time. For example, it was discovered that cooling and dehumidification were being performed within the cleanrooms even during the winter, allowing the team to implement measures to eliminate this waste. Despite the belief that every possible energy-saving step had been taken, air conditioning power consumption in the cleanrooms was reduced by approximately 30%. This objective data brought unnoticed "assumptions" to light.

These substantial achievements fostered a mindset that "there is still room for further energy-saving measures". This mindset has reinforced the promotion of energy conservation and boosted employee motivation.

By analyzing the power usage status of the cleanrooms, the company achieved further energy savings.

Advancing "Talent (Asset) Empowerment" through TPM and IoT

The "No. 1" Declaration

By leveraging each individual's unique "No. 1" strengths, Konica Minolta Technoproduct tackles problem-solving with confidence. These achievements in process improvement have earned high acclaim at various internal and external Kaizen Competitions.

The FY2019 management policy outlines the "strengthening of production engineering capabilities" through promoting digital manufacturing, the "efficiency improvement of indirect operations" through utilizing IT tools such as RPA, and "Talent (Asset) empowerment" through promoting "No. 1 Manufacturing."

"No. 1 represents the individual strengths of each member. Some humble people say they don't have any, but they can be No. 1 by combining three of thier own strengths. These strengths create value through problem-solving, which resonates with Konica Minolta's management philosophy: 'The Creation of New Value'." (Mr. Hasegawa)

However, instilling a shared vision across the entire workforce is a long-term journey rather than a quick fix. To this end, the company established a year-by-year roadmap starting in 2018 to drive the 'No. 1' initiative. While 2018 served as the awareness phase, 2019 was designated as the year to understand 'Committing to No. 1' as a way to embody the management philosophy, 'The Creation of New Value,' with each employee making their own 'No. 1 Declaration'. For 2020, the goal is to move toward the stage of application (demonstrating No. 1), action, and internalization.

On the other hand, to improve labor productivity, it is essential for every employee to keep up with changes and continue delivering results. To achieve this, the company focuses not only on providing education but also on supporting those who invest in themselves and take on the challenge of self-transformation. Specifically, a self-improvement support program was established for both staff and management, with the company subsidizing the majority of expenses such as seminar fees.

"Each member makes a self-declaration regarding the area in which they aim to be No. 1 and the kind of person they want to become. We are creating the ground for everyone to invest in their own growth. The collective power of these empowered individuals makes the company realize No.1."  (Mr. Hasegawa)

In 2019, Work-style Reform made steady progress through the establishment of an hourly paid leave system and an increase in the number of annual holidays. Starting from FY2020, the number of annual holidays will increase from the previous 120 days to 125 days.

The driving force behind "Talent (Asset) Empowerment" was the elimination of loss and the generation of time through TPM initiatives. The fact that improvement cases are recognized and awarded at both internal and external conferences has directly contributed to boosting employee motivation.

However, as long as manufacturing operations are ongoing, the battle against loss never truly ends. Konica Minolta Technoproduct will continue its commitment to problem-solving through TPM.

Reprinted from Business Insights Vol.72.

Company names, job titles, and other details are current as of the time of the interview.

JMAC Consultant's Insight:

Digitalization without Purpose is Meaningless

While cost-effective digital tools are more accessible than ever, the focus should never be on "introduction" alone. Instead, it is crucial to rigorously evaluate how to utilize these tools to achieve specific objectives. From this perspective, the initiatives at Konica Minolta Technoproduct serve as an excellent benchmark. They successfully reduced losses not only on the production floor but also across administrative departments. By reallocating talent to high-value, creative tasks and stabilizing their production system through thorough standardization, they have demonstrated the true power of purpose-driven digital transformation.

Katsunori Kanegae, Chief TPM Consultant, Director of TPM Consulting Business

After working as a production engineer at an electrical manufacturer, Katsunori became a consultant. As an expert in production strategy, production methods, and equipment management, he has been supporting domestic and international manufacturing companies in productivity improvement, cost management, defect reduction, inventory reduction, and lead time improvement projects. His expertise extends to researching advanced equipment maintenance technology and working on digital transformation in equipment maintenance. He also has authored numerous articles on digital transformation.