Japanese 5S/Kaizen Curriculum to be introduced in Indian MSME Training centers by FY end
Deliberations to finalise the curriculum have taken off and feedback is being collected jointly by AOTS and Indian MSME ministry from various training centers across India.
New Delhi: Japan’s Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships (AOTS) and Indian ministry of micro small and medium enterprises are preparing to implement powerful Japanese workplace methodology by introducing 5S/Kaizen Curriculum in India’s MSME sector. For this, both sides have started conducting meetings with the MSME training centres across India to collect their feedback to give final shape to the curriculum.
One such inaugural meeting of the 5S/Kaizen Curriculum Development under the India-Japan collaboration began on Wednesday at the MSME-DFO Extension Centre in New Delhi. Representatives of more than 18 MSME training centers and extension centers from across India participated in this 2-day meeting in in-person and virtual mode.
The cities these training centers represented included Bhiwadi, Puducherry, Aurangabad, Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad, and also states including Chhattisgarh and Uttarakhand, and others.
Shinichiro Tashiro, AOTS Expert from Osaka, Japan also joined the meeting. He also made a presentation on ‘Introduction of 5S/Kaizen and Proposed Curriculum Draft’.
The Association for Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnerships (AOTS) is an organization for human resources development in Japan and developing countries like India to promote technical cooperation through training, experts dispatch and other programs.
According to Eiji Teshima, General Manager at AOTS, New Delhi office, there were four such meetings planned across India for collecting feedback from various MSME training centers before finally launching the 5S/Kaizen curriculum sometime by the end of the current financial year around February or March 2025.
The meeting commenced with welcome remarks from Ms. Mercy Epao, Joint Secretary of MSME, who set the tone for the discussions. This was followed by Yuta Hikichi, First Secretary at the Embassy of Japan, who spoke on the collaborative efforts between India and Japan.
Eiji Teshima, General Manager at AOTS, New Delhi office, then provided insights from the Association for the Overseas Technical Cooperation and Sustainable Partnership, and interacted intensively with the participants to collect their feedback especially from some of the training centers which have introduced 5S/Kaizen.
Participants were introduced and engaged in discussions, setting the stage for collaborative curriculum development. A key presentation on the 5S/Kaizen methodology and the proposed curriculum draft was delivered by Shinichiro Tashiro, an AOTS expert. This was followed by an interactive session with inputs from Japanese companies, facilitated by Tashiro and AOTS.
The day’s proceedings concluded with a wrap-up and closing remarks from MSME representatives, encapsulating a productive start to this important bilateral initiative. Vivek Kumar Malik, Manager Technical Training & Technical Support Services & Engineering Center, Canon India was also present.
The next day on Thursday, there was a review of the previous discussion by Dr. Sunil Kumar Newar, Joint Director, Office of the Development Commissioner, and a discussion facilitated by Mr. Tashiro and AOTS.
The key discussion and feedback points included teaching hours, frequency of teaching, contents of the textbook, supplementary materials (Exercises, movies) , other necessary contents, future tasks and responsibilities of the participants, and next expert dispatch plan.
