Consulting in general

Q

What is the difference between HIRAYAMA Consulting and other consulting companies?

A

We have been offering the manufacturing outsourcing service and have thousands of employees working at shop floor of our customers around the world. We have educated those thousands of employees and improved the contracted workplaces, so HIRAYAMA Consulting has accumulated various know-how.

When we proceed with consulting, we eliminate the distance between consultants and the shop floor that may occur in conventional consulting styles, and provide consulting from the same perspective as the shop floor so that the shop floor workers can acknowledge our superiority, trust us, and be pleased. We also find “points to improve” in a concrete way, instead of “finding fault” like a critic, solve problems together, and improve management figures.
Our motto is “Genchi, Genbutsu, and Gemba principle”.

Q

What is Gemba Kaizen Consulting?

A

We provide guidance and support to “make a unique production system that suits the customer’s actual situation in order to realize the customer’s management strategy”.
The purpose of the consulting is to lead to the following things.
  • “Quality improvement, Improvement of cost competitiveness, Performance improvement”
  • “Human resource development”
  • “Continuous improvement”
  • Consulting schedule

    Q

    What is the content of the consulting contract?

    A

    First, we conduct the “factory diagnosis” to understand the needs of our customer and problems they have, and then submit a consulting proposal.
    There are various patterns in the consulting process, but the most of contracts in Japan are for 6 months to 1 year, with the pattern of visit to the factory for 2 to 4 days a month.

    Consulting merit

    Q

    We have continued improvement on our own, but we feel stuck without any significant effect.

    A

    If you feel stuck in your own improvement activities, it is better to ask experts like us.
    We will investigate your shop floor with the objective and fresh perspective and find problems based on our extensive experience.
    Our professional Gemba Kaizen consultants are able to find “Muda (waste)” that is directly linked to management.
    We basically propose improvement plans that increase productivity by 30% or more from the current situation.

    Cases and achievements of our consulting

    Q

    When did HIRAYAMA Consulting start consulting service?

    A

    Our company has been offering the manufacturing outsourcing service, and in 2005, we established the current Consulting Division for Gemba Kaizen to provide HIRAYAMA Consulting as one of our services to customers of manufacturing industry in Japan. Currently, we receive requests from not only by domestic customers but also by overseas customers, and we are expanding it all over the world.

    Our consultants, including former employees of Toyota Motor Corporation, have extensive experience of technique and shop floor improvement in various manufacturing industries, and have constantly solved problems in a wide range of manufacturing and service industries in Japan and overseas.

    Consulting fee

    Q

    What is the consulting fee system?

    A

    The fee will be the total of the consulting fee and expenses such as consultant’s transportation and accommodation expenses. The payment is made monthly.
    Consulting fee varies depending on the number of days the consultant provides guidance.

    (Example: Consulting fee of one month 200,000 yen / day x number of guidance days)

    Consultants

    Q

    What are the characteristics of HIRAYAMA consulting’s consultants?

    A

    The strength of our consultants is that they have experience of improvement and guidance based on the TPS (Toyota Production System), which is the ultimate method of improvement, in various industries other than TOYOTA.
    In addition, our consulting is always conducted from the perspective of the shop floor.

    Consulting process

    Q

    What is the process from making an inquiry to the start of consulting?

    A

    After receiving inquiries from our website or telephone, we will visit or conduct the factory diagnosis, and submit a proposal of improvement schedule and a quotation.
    Next, we will select a consultant.
    Then, we will conclude a contract etc. and start consulting.

    *Remote explanation and negotiation using ZOOM etc. is possible. Please feel free to contact us.

    Other

    Q

    What about the interpreter overseas?

    A

    The consultant will be decided depending on the contents of the shop floor improvement.
    An interpreter is not required if the shop floor workers understand English and the consultant has a wealth of experience in providing guidance in English.
    We usually hire an interpreter for the local language/Japanese (or English) locally. Depending on the situation, we may dispatch a consultant from our local partner consulting company and manage the project from Japan.

    Consultants from major companies
    with experience in over 40 countries will respond.
    Please feel free to contact us.

    If you are in a hurry, please call us.

    +81-3-5783-3571
    (Japan time)
    Open 08:30 – 17:30
    Except for Saturday, Sunday, holidays, Year-End and New-Year holidays