News - 2015

Tokyo (September 16, 2015)-Bridgestone Corporation held its sixth annual Bridgestone Group & Global Total Quality Management (TQM) Conference on September 15, in Kodaira, Tokyo, Japan.

The theme for the conference was "Standards Are Our Guiding Principle. Actively Implementing KAIZEN Through The Genbutsu-Genba Concept." Genbutsu-Genba or decision-making based on verified, on-site observations, is one of the four foundations of the Bridgestone Essence, the company's corporate philosophy.

Continuing a tradition that began in 2010, this year's conference was held with the goal of furthering improvement activities throughout the Bridgestone Group. Examples of improvement activities from various Bridgestone Group companies were shared, allowing attendees from around the world to learn from the efforts and accomplishments of fellow employees.

This conference was attended by approx. 240 Bridgestone employees from around the world, including Japan, the United States, Mexico, Spain, Poland, Turkey, China, Thailand, and Indonesia. A total of 16 improvement activities across various functions, such as production, sales and service were presented, and the activities were judged according to how well on-site needs were addressed. Four TQM Awards and three Impression Awards were handed out at the conference to employees whose improvement activities were deemed to be superior. And two earned the Grand Prize, which was founded last year to further invigorate activities of TQM.