Real example of tough problem with easy solution

Problem One of the most memorable case studies on

Japanese management was the case of the empty

soap box, which happened in one of Japan's

biggest cosmetics companies. The company

received a complaint that a consumer had bought

a soap box that was empty. Immediately the

thorities isolated the problem to the assembly

line, which transported all the packaged boxes

of soap to the delivery department. For some

reason, one soap box went through the assembly

line empty. Management asked its engineers to

solve the problem. Post-haste,

Solution A the engineers worked hard to devise an

X-ray machine with high-resolution monitors

manned by two people to watch all the soap boxes that passed through the line to make sure they were not empty. No doubt, they worked hard and they worked fast but they spent whoopee amount to do so

Solution B But when a smart employee in a

Small company was posed with the same problem

He did not get into complications of X-rays, etc

but instead came out with another solution. He

bought a strong industrial electric fan and

Pointed it at the assembly line. He switched the

fan on, and as each soap box passed the fan, it

simply blew the empty boxes out of the line.

Moral of the story: " Keep It Short & Simple" !!

i.e. always look for simple solutions. Devise

The simplest possible solution that solves the

Problem.