JAPANESE MONOZUKURI - Tradition + Modernization
Have you ever heard about the word "monozukuri" before? Did you ever try to dig up more information about it? Have you ever wondered how Japanese companies and manufacturers produce products that could last a lifetime?
"Monozukuri" is a native Japanese term that comes from two root words: "mono"which means "things" and "zukuri" which means "process of making". Simply put, "monozukuri" means "the art of doing things". It is a deep Japanese term that it is nearly impossible to find any layman's term for it. Some say that it can also be understood as craftsmanship. Yet, there is a clear distinction between the two. Craftsmanship focuses more on the man and his skills. Monozukuri, on the other hand, refers to the product that man has produced through his skill. The word is often used as a unique Japanese manufacturing style.But monozukuri is more than just manufacturing. It is a philosophy, a driving force, a principle, a motivation for Japanese to constantly aim for perfection. It emphasizes the quality, the significance, and the appreciation that man has given its work and the origin of its work while unceasingly driving himself to innovate, to make things anew.
Before monozukuri, Japanese had used two words to refer to manufacturing and production: seizo and seisan. As it is written in Chinese characters, Japanese have coined the word monozukuri to refer to Japanese way of doing things, but the very person who coined the word is yet to be known. The use of monozukuri improved the image, standing, and self-value of industrial production. Suzuki, for example, probably used it around the year 1970 and onward to describe its production. Since then, a lot of modern manufacturing companies have adopted the philosophy of monozukuri. In leau, many Japanese philosophers and authors had written various books about monozukuri, which have been a foundation of every Japanese companies and manufacturers.
a monozukuri book by Japanese authors
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I really appreciate the japanese' ways of doing things.
We can always get lessons from it.