EKAC 2024 held at KEC

Speaking at the opening ceremony, the Chief Executive Officer of Kaizen Excellence Center, Mr. Mindaye Yirga After saying ”Welcome!” he addressed that the purpose of the conference is not only to award but to share different experiences with others and draw from others.

He added that in order for Ethiopia’s economy to become the leading economic driver in Africa, it is necessary to make the industry a leading economic driver and establish a greater industrial culture for this.

The Centre is also building an industry-led economy that reduces waste, noting that six institutions recently represented Ethiopia in Tunisia and won the Kaizen Prize in various sectors. According to Mr. Mindaye Yirga, the center has done a lot of work to make the manufacturing industry sector globally competitive.

In particular, he stressed the importance of working with industries in coordination, monitoring and support, and identifying the best and ensuring that industries are recognized at national and African levels. He added that the Centre has provided Kaizen training to more than 200,000 employees in more than 1,500 industries. With this monitoring and support, in 2016, more than 5 billion birr of waste saving work has been done in the industrial sector.

Four companies [Awash Melkasa Chemicals, Ethio-AgriCeft Tea processing and packing factory from manufacturing sector and Sheno Poly technic college and Ethiopian pharmaceutical supply service Jima branch from service sector delivered their best practices to the audience. the four companies addresses their success stories and achieved results. then after each presenter sat for Q&A session where participants forwarded their reflections.

Manufacturing Industry Development Institute Director Dr. Milkesa Jagema,

In his closing remarks on the day, said that Kaizen Excellence Center has done a lot of work over the past 15 years and we have become successful in the area of production and productivity. It is also a great opportunity to build the capacity of the manufacturing industry sector and to make a name for our country.

However, while Kaizen’s implementation has not yielded as much results as we would have liked, we have already pledged to work together in a more robust manner as we have a lot of work ahead of us in the future with the expansion of manufacturing industries.

Finally, he noted that the program will continue tomorrow and a recognition and award ceremony will be held for institutions that have achieved outstanding performance in the implementation of Kaizen.