KRT Corporate Visit

I was privileged with the opportunity to tour the Kawasaki-Rikuso-Transportation (KRT) warehouse  in Toyko Japan. Higuchi-son and Yoshi-son are the two owners (and brothers) of this company. They were very hospital and helpful to us as guests. They welcomed us at the airport and also provided us with connections in Japan. During my visit to KRT I realized the value of land in Japan. I also learned that the Japanese demand high quality of products, I mean HIGH QUALITY PRODUCTS.

Being a supply chain major this visit was very interesting and intriguing. KRT is a third-party logistics (3PL) company, and they are good at what they do. KRT is similar to a hotel in the sense that they own space and then charge a service fee for value adding activities. 3PLs do not own any of the product. 3PLs only transport/store/upkeep products for many companies. Through their service towards many companies 3PLs are able to use economies of scale for smaller batches. I was fascinated to see how KRT operates on a typical day. I have been exposed to quite possibly the best 3PL warehouse and I will use this experience as a benchmark for my future exposure to other 3PLs.

KRT is very interactive with their customers. Japanese demand requires that there are NO defects in  products. KRT is able to accommodate these stringent rules set. KRT provides labeling service where workers unpack goods, then hand press labels onto product, check for any defects, and then repackage the goods for shipment. This may seem like a menial process (especially when workers are hired to do this by hand), but for the Japanese market being this delicate and precise with products is the norm.

Japanese consumers demand high quality, and because of this companies go to extreme measures to provide the utmost product. To meet this standard of high quality, KRT has room where workers must first enter into a chamber where they get all the dust off of their clothes by a vacuum process. I picture an astronaut entering a pressurizing room before heading into the space ship.

Overall, I deeply enjoyed the tour and visit at KRT. I was able to see that importance of value adding activities. These activities may seem un-important, but they make all the difference when the consumer uses the final product. Being exposed to some of these value adding activities will help me in my career of supply chain management.