MUJI: Fear Of Shortages Is Only A Psychological Blind Spot.

1999, Japan MUJI A good result of a profit of 13 billion 300 million yen has been achieved, resulting in a reversal of the situation in 2001 and even a loss of 3 billion 800 million yen in the coming year.

At the most severe time, Matsui Chusan, who was in danger of giving orders to become president, made a major decision in the face of goods sold in the warehouse full of grains and grains: "burn up the stock of 10 billion yen in value!"

He and his colleagues went to the incineration plant in little thousand Valley City, Niigata, Japan. There were all kinds of cartons in front of them. For the Muji workers, the clothes in the box were just like their children. When a large crane lifted the cartons one by one, they threw them into the flames one by one, watching the merchandise burn in the fire. Many people's eyes were wet.

Matsui looked at the smoke rising from the chimney and told himself, "this is the status of Muji." The new product management system, which is so impacted on the screen, is precisely his determination to announce reform to all his colleagues. "In doing so, we should be able to squeeze all the pus out." However, half a year later, the company has accumulated a lot of stock!

　　 People fail to learn lessons once. They must remember two times.

This dumb fact makes Matsui understand that "if people fail only once, they will not learn lessons and fail to learn lessons two times." He analyzed that the first failure failed to improve the situation, and most of them felt that it could not be improved and gave up directly. But if it failed again, it would really recognize the seriousness of the problem and show the determination of the bottom line.

After second large inventories, Matsui led the staff to analyze why "why things can't be sold". This time, Muji finally cleaned up the organization's purse. It also allowed profits to pick up in 2002, and even recovered in 2005.

　　 Question 1: psychological blindness of "fear of shortage"

When the boom is better, or brand It is also full of freshness. In the past, Muji would have to produce 150 products before it could successfully sell 100 products without being out of stock, but when sales changed and sales fell to 75% of original value, more than half of the garments produced could not be sold. In addition, in order to create the "sales of 100 pieces" performance, we must produce more points, otherwise we may not be able to create so many results because of factors such as clearing.

Maybe a lot of people would think that it would be nice to invite the procurement staff inside the company not to enter so many goods. But people intuitively attach more importance to "problems directly visible in the front" than "problems that will happen in the future". When experience comes to customers, things are out of stock or they sell a little more to achieve performance goals. The memory of "insufficient goods" is absolutely greater than that of "too much surplus at the end of the year", so that people will not follow the company's original instructions.

　　 Question 2: the ability of people to refuse to accumulate in the past is denied.

Especially after Matsui's investigation, it is discovered that outstanding salesmen actually make their own forms to manage product sales information, which can be accumulated into personal wisdom. It is very difficult for a company to change the original practice with a single order.

Matsui found that even if the company opened the basic form of managing sales information, but Purchase The staff simply resisted and did not want to use it. They feel that the company's request to change the way it has been gradually accumulated is equivalent to years of hard work being negated.

Visualize numbers and use evidence to change your intuition.

Matsui decided to take a more direct approach so that purchasers are willing to use the new system.

First of all, he set up a team directly responsible to the president, who confiscated all the forms of the purchasing staff and forced them to take the practice of the head office.

At the same time, the company has also implemented the new system synchronously. After 3 weeks of the launch, the sales situation must be confirmed immediately: if the sales exceed the expected 30%, the output will be increased; otherwise, the design will be changed and the surplus materials will be used.

This approach transforms all of the original product development and procurement operations that instincts are doing to a set of real-time management systems.

In this way, Muji is still 5 billion 500 million yen at the end of 2000. Clothes & Accessories And grocery inventories fell to 1 billion 700 million yen in 2003. This also lets Matsui understand: once the system is functioning smoothly, the front-line employees will no longer resist.

　　 Small story, great inspiration

Matsui emphasized that it is important to communicate with and explain carefully to employees, but if they are too late to understand, they must act decisively.

If you encounter obstacles, just look at the face of employees or clerks, and they will become superficial reforms. Leaders should have the courage to execute decisively.