I am Yoshida, president of Yamada Shusei Ltd., a professional apparel garment repair group in Nagaoka City, Niigata Prefecture.
Yamada Shusei's keyword for 2024 was “Labo. We used the word “Labo” a lot, such as “Sales Labo” and “Tidying Up Labo,” to encourage people to take on challenges. Looking back on the year, here is what I felt.
The purpose of the project was to encourage people to take on new challenges without fear of failure.
As a result, we have had some customers who appreciate our willingness to take on challenges, and we have also had some brands suggest that they post a link to Yamada Shusei on their websites in the context of the SDGs and sustainable fashion.
On the other hand, I regret that we were not thorough enough in terms of balancing the company's income and expenditures, focusing on “Do” in the PDCA cycle, which resulted in a lack of evaluation of individual results and stagnation in improvement actions. As a result, it is undeniable that overall motivation has declined, to a greater or lesser extent.
However, there are still two months left in this fiscal year, and we will address this issue by taking what improvements we can.
It may seem too obvious and embarrassing to put it into words, but “commitmnet to the basics” is the key to growth, so we will consciously improve the following points.
1) Conduct periodic reviews
We will set aside time to review results on a regular basis and evaluate the effectiveness of the measures implemented. This will clarify what was successful and what needs improvement.
2) Set specific improvement goals
Based on the results of the checks, specific improvement targets are reviewed in order to link them to the next actions.
3) Instill reflection and sharing
Including the transition to corporatism, we will encourage the formation of a culture in which each member voluntarily performs checks and improvements. To this end, we would like to share not only successful cases but also those that did not go as expected, and increase opportunities for other members to use them as references to improve overall performance.
We will challenge ourselves to make the last spurt and prepare for the next term so that we can achieve results through “Labo”.
