2024 “China Health Monthly” Issue No. 4

General Ye led the delegation to attend the Uzbekistan exhibition.

From late March to early April 2024, at the invitation of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region’s Council for the Promotion of International Trade, General Ye and his colleagues from the Sales Department traveled to Uzbekistan to participate in the Uzbekistan-China Xinjiang Products Exhibition. This exhibition was directly organized in collaboration between the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region and the Uzbek government, giving it a high-level political profile. Many of the visitors were business leaders from various regions. Moreover, through local contacts, we paid a visit to the leadership of the Tashkent City Health Bureau and received their positive endorsement. Going forward, we can explore the possibility of being included on the Uzbek government’s list of approved suppliers for government procurement projects. The successful holding of this exhibition has enabled more people to become aware of our products, laying a solid foundation for Zhongjian Company to expand its business into the landlocked countries surrounding China and providing a strong basis for the future development of Xinjiang Zhongjian Company.

A Glimpse of the Uzbekistan Exhibition

Trade Union Organizes “Red Education – Qingming Journey” Thematic Activity

Chongyang County People's Hospital came to our company to provide free screening services for two types of cancer to our female employees.

Director Wang convened the logistics staff for an on-site quality analysis meeting.

At 7:30 a.m. on April 15, 2024, the Chairman convened all logistics personnel for an on-site quality analysis meeting in the Smart Sewing Workshop to discuss the quality issues arising with the abdominal pads. To begin with, at the start of the meeting, the Chairman handed out several abdominal pads to everyone, asking them to carefully examine the product’s quality defects—such as black spots and yellow discoloration—issues that have long been a major pain point for our company’s product quality. These problems—black spots and yellow discoloration—could have been entirely avoided. The Chairman then focused on explaining to the employees the specific points of the Smart Sewing “One-to-Three” equipment that are prone to causing yellow discoloration, guiding them on which areas to pay particular attention to during daily work and emphasizing the importance of timely equipment maintenance to minimize product quality issues. Next, Zeng Yanwen, the quality control specialist from the abdominal pad workshop, pointed out that during inspections, they had discovered serious quality problems involving parts from the production equipment itself. After working closely with the maintenance staff to thoroughly inspect the production equipment, the root cause of the problem became clear: many components of the equipment were severely worn, and the shafts and wheels were clogged with cotton fluff and yarn fibers. Therefore, the Chairman stressed that maintenance personnel must follow operational standards when inspecting and repairing machinery, while those responsible for equipment supervision must carry out their duties diligently and ensure that every step is properly implemented. Only then can we significantly improve product quality. Finally, the Chairman and the Deputy General Manager summarized the meeting, reminding employees that while working at the company, they must deliver real results. As stated in the employee handbook: “If the company hires you, it’s to solve problems; if there’s no problem, you’ll lose your job immediately. If you enjoy honors and income, you must also shoulder the corresponding responsibilities and endure any hardships that come with them. Criticizing the company behind closed doors while still working here only shows that you’re selling your soul.”

Logistics personnel attend the on-site quality analysis meeting.

The Six Principles of Kanban Management in the Production Area

Kanban management is a tool used to effectively manage the shop floor. Its purpose is to ensure rapid communication of production information and facilitate information sharing among various production units. Below are the six principles of Kanban management.

Principle 1: The next process is your customer. Never pass defective products to the next process. Manufacturing defective products means investing capital, equipment, and labor into items that cannot be sold. This represents the ultimate form of waste—and runs directly counter to a company’s goal of reducing costs. Therefore, once a defective product is identified, production must immediately stop, and measures must first be put in place to prevent such defects from recurring. To implement this defect-elimination activity more thoroughly, it is crucial to “never pass defective products to the next process.” The reasons are as follows: 1) The process that produced the defective item can immediately detect its occurrence; 2) If defective products are left unattended, the subsequent processes will have to halt, or defective items will pile up within the current process, making process problems immediately apparent. As a result, managers will be compelled to unanimously develop countermeasures to prevent recurrence. Therefore, to ensure strict implementation of this principle, any machine or operation must automatically stop as soon as a defective product is detected. This is precisely where the concept of automation comes into play. Should a defective product inadvertently find its way into the production line, it must be promptly removed and replaced. Any shortage of products caused by defective items at each process must be prioritized for immediate replenishment. If defective items are discovered among supplies received from suppliers, they must be replaced as quickly as possible. Although this may be challenging, it is absolutely essential—otherwise, a flow production system simply cannot run smoothly. No matter which process it is, if 100% qualified products cannot be guaranteed, the Kanban system itself will collapse.

Principle Two: Pull-System from the Next Process. The second principle is that the next process pulls the necessary quantity of products at the required time. If non-essential items are manufactured and supplied to the next process when they’re not needed, this will lead to losses in many ways—such as operators being forced to work overtime unnecessarily, losses arising from excess inventory buildup, additional equipment being purchased simply because its capacity isn’t fully understood even though existing equipment has spare capacity, and failure to take timely countermeasures due to a lack of awareness about bottleneck equipment—all of which ultimately result in missed opportunities. Of course, the greatest loss occurs when we manufacture items that aren’t needed, thereby preventing the production of items that actually are required. The second principle is crucial for eliminating these kinds of losses. So how can we effectively adhere to this principle? Here’s the key point: if we strictly follow the first principle—that is, “don’t allow defective products to flow into the next process”—we’ll be able to identify any defective products generated in our own process. As a result, there’s no need to obtain information from other sources, and we can reliably supply the next process with products of the required quality. By contrast, the next process cannot itself determine the timing or quantity of items it needs. In other words, the preceding process must rely on other channels to obtain this information. Therefore, we need to shift our perspective from “supplying” to “pulling”: the next process should pull only the exact quantity it needs from the preceding process at the right time—a simple way of saying, “the next process pulls.” By transforming the concept of “supplying” into “pulling,” we’ve found a straightforward solution to even the most challenging problems. This firmly establishes the second principle: “the next process pulls.” To prevent the next process from arbitrarily pulling whatever it wants, however, we must specify the principle more concretely. 1) Prohibit pulling without a Kanban card; 2) Prohibit pulling quantities exceeding the amount indicated on the Kanban card; 3) Be sure to install Kanban cards on all items on the shop floor.

Principle 3: Only pick up the quantity required for the subsequent process after production.

As an extension of the second principle, a third principle emerges: “Produce only the quantity required by the subsequent process.” The importance of this principle has already been fully understood through our study of the second principle. Of course, there is one additional condition: namely, keeping inventory at your own process to a minimum. To achieve this, you should follow the practices outlined below:

1) Production of products exceeding the kanban quantity is prohibited.

2) Produce according to the Kanban sequence.

Only by adhering to these principles of application can the third principle fully exert its effectiveness.

More importantly, by adhering to the second and third principles, all production processes will function as if linked together by a single conveyor belt—effectively achieving synchronization. When we consider the tremendous power that introducing a conveyor belt can exert in standardizing operations and reducing costs, we can fully appreciate the extraordinary significance of synchronization.

Principle Four: Average Production

To comply with Principle Three—“produce only the quantity required by the subsequent process”—it is essential to effectively manage both equipment and personnel, ensuring that each process produces exactly the necessary quantity of products at the right time. In such a scenario, if the timing and quantities requested by the subsequent process are highly fragmented, the preceding processes must have sufficient capacity in terms of both manpower and equipment. The further upstream a process is, the greater its need for extra capacity will be.

However, it goes without saying that we must never simply accept this view. If you truly believe that the above argument makes sense—that is, if you think that, in order to meet the demands of the subsequent process, you’ll have to carve out extra time from the preceding process which already has no room for additional capacity—then this would directly contradict the third principle: “Produce only the quantity required by the subsequent process.” Therefore, we must dispel this way of thinking.

Principle Five: The Kanban is a means for fine-tuning.

One of the Kanban functions is the “automatic signaling device, which provides operational instructions to workers.”

Therefore, when using kanban management, there is no need to provide additional information such as work schedules or material-handling plans. Instead, the kanban itself serves as the sole source of information for production and material handling, and operators rely exclusively on the kanban to carry out their tasks. For this reason, smoothing out production levels is particularly important. The kanban can only handle minor adjustments in production; it is employed precisely as a tool for fine-tuning, and only by doing so can it fully unleash its powerful effectiveness.

Principle Six: Stabilize and Rationalize Each Process.

To achieve both ensuring a stable supply for subsequent processes and minimizing manufacturing costs as much as possible, we have become familiar with the fourth principle—leveling production. However, let’s not forget that there’s also a sixth principle here: stabilizing and rationalizing each individual process.

By studying the first principle—“Do not pass on nonconforming products to the next process”—we have come to appreciate the importance of “automation.” However, the meaning of “nonconformity” is not limited solely to defective parts. If we extend this concept to the level of “nonconforming operations,” the sixth principle becomes much easier to understand. So-called nonconforming operations arise from insufficient standardization and rationalization of work procedures, leading to waste and inefficiencies in both work methods and task durations—and ultimately contributing to the generation of defective parts. Unless we eliminate these undesirable practices, even if we can ensure a steady supply to the next process, we still won’t be able to achieve production at the lowest possible cost. Through efforts aimed at stabilizing and rationalizing processes, we must strive for automation. It is precisely because “production leveling” carries this deeper meaning that it can fully realize its value.

Adhering to any one of the six principles outlined above requires considerable effort. However, if these principles are not followed—even if kanban management is introduced—it will never achieve its intended effect and will fail to drive activities aimed at reducing costs. As long as we recognize the effectiveness of kanban management as a frontline tool for cost reduction, we must overcome any difficulties and strictly adhere to these principles.