Remembering Sensei Ohashi san

Clang Clang Clang…………………………..

That was the sound, the coffee tumbler made when thrown on the floor.

Let me fill you in a bit.

This is a real life experience and took place at Bengaluru, India. I was then working as a General Manager at a Stamping plant.

Mr. Ichiro Ohashi, was our Sensei and also a Senior General Manager at our Plant. He is my Guru on 5S and was a tough as nails taskmaster. Although he was hard and demanding on the exterior he was a soft and caring person on the inside.

I have been associated with TPS since 1995 and have used many of the methods and tools of TPS either by interest or as a basic requirement of the Job. So I was under the impression that I knew 5S, the most basic of Lean tools, fairly well. But Ohashi san took it to another level. We started off by going around the plant, like any normal 5S round (We did not audit 5S, hence I am not using that word). The first one or two times Ohashi san was in the Lead and showed me where all to look. I did acknowledge with a pinch of salt, out of respect for his age and experience, while I was under the impression that I did know about 5S.

Then on the 3rd such round, out of the blue he said ‘Raghavan san, you are in lead. Go ahead’. Now that I had the controls, I wanted to show my skills and started with gusto. However, my enthusiasm was short lived. Ohashi san asked me to stop at the Coil storage area after barely 10 min and asked me what my observation was. I rattled off a few things and looked at him expecting approval and maybe praise. Instead, a barrage of questions were fired away at me by the sensei.

‘Did you look at that wooden piece, did you look at the broken fixture behind the cupboard, what about the broom under the pallet, why is there cobweb on the fixture, where is the hammer stick as I see only the hammer, why is there a half filled oil can here, …………………..

I was hit with a ton of bricks and sheepishly jotted down the points along with the few points, which I had observed. They ran into 140 points to be precise. I called my Managers, other staff and delegated the points according to the area of responsibilities. They all nodded and scurried away. However, nothing moved and I had to push them once again and then began the Lead by Example routine and I ended up staying until 1 AM in the plant for a few weeks and drove the Layout Change project simultaneously. Once the team saw my involvement then slowly the wheels started to turn and we were slowly changing the plant. I have to mention the solid support of my younger colleague Lokesh who stood with me like a rock during this phase. More about Lokesh and the project in another blog.

The 5S rounds took place each Monday and Ohashi sensei coached me in this fashion and after a few such rounds, he put his hands on my shoulder and said ‘Now you know how to do 5S. Good’. He offered me a cigarette and showed his appreciation!!

At our plant, coffee and tea were served twice during a shift. Our operators would gather at tables near their production area and take their cups. They were to drink and then put them all into a bucket kept for collecting. Nevertheless, blissfully a few of them would take it out of the plant, for a quick smoke, and forget to bring the cup inside later. That was when Ohashi sensei would lose his cool and throw them furiously on the floor. After many efforts, coaching, cajoling and teaching, our boys finally fell in line and abided by the rules. That was the reference in the beginning of the article.

I have often reflected at this method of coaching by the Sensei’s and in my opinion, there is no other better way to teach a method. Initially the Sensei was in the Lead, taught the student the method, then stepped back and allowed the pupil to do, gave prompt feedback and kept pushing till the student came close to what the master had taught. We call it learning by Doing.

I have had the chance of later doing 5S workshops hundreds of times at many plants around the world and on many occasions the Plant Managers or their staff grumble about it, saying it’s too demanding. In fact, on one occasion one Director said, Hev Mr. Rao, your standard of 5S is 7 star. We would be happy with 3 star’. I then just fondly think of Ohashi san and pass the credit on to him. Because he trained me to his exacting standards, I too follow his footsteps.

The views expressed are that of the author only and not of AGCO GmbH.