Lean old master Hitoshi Takeda as a guest at the SAQ
The SAQ Swiss Association for Quality is currently celebrating its 60th anniversary. The Eastern Switzerland section had the honour of organizing an anniversary event and was able to attract Hitoshi Takeda, known as the «Lean Guru», as a prominent speaker.
Japan meets Switzerland: Hitoshi Takeda was clearly the focus of the anniversary event of the SAQ, held by the Eastern Switzerland Section on December 5, 2025 in SQUARE, the new building at the HSG - University of St.Gallen. The light-flooded building, which will open in 2022, was also designed by a Japanese architect: The star architect Sou Fujimoto. So you couldn't wish for a better setting for this event. And it is no coincidence that the SAQ Eastern Switzerland was the host: founded in 1976, it was the first regional section of the SAQ.
«People. Quality. Future»: this was the motto of the afternoon. Julian Mundl, President of SAQ Ostschweiz and CEO of Noventa Consulting, drew a link to the topics of effectiveness, efficiency and innovation. Without this triad, it would not be possible to overcome the challenges of today. Markus Bänziger, Director of IHK St.Gallen-Appenzell, emphasized the position of Eastern Switzerland's industry: «Quality is a survival strategy. It is the key to being globally competitive as a Swiss industrial location». With this in mind, Bänziger congratulated SAQ on its 60th anniversary.
Courage to make mistakes and a culture of change
This was followed by the presentation of keynote speaker Hitoshi Takeda. He showed that errors and disruptions are not disasters, but necessary triggers for improvements, and that downtimes offer opportunities to fundamentally optimize processes. He emphasized the courage to take risks and set high goals. «You don't lose anything through failure. Failure is just a way station» on the way to goals that should be set as high as possible, said Takeda. He also referred to the duty of top management to be visible, set an example and show appreciation. Hitoshi Takeda's key messages were also consistent change, the focus on «1 percent better» and the great importance of speed: it is better to act quickly and be willing to learn than to procrastinate perfectly.
In the context of AI, Takeda recommends quickly integrating digital technologies into the corporate culture and supporting routine work with AI agents, but warns against lazy thinking and the loss of analog skills. He advocates digital detox, handwritten notes and more humanity in the age of AI. And: «As long as you only look at your smartphone, your dreams will stay away,» Hitoshi Takeda told the audience at the end.
Insights into the practice of companies
In the second part, several short presentations delved deeper into the topics of strategy, change and speed in various sectors. Colonel i Gst Niklaus Jäger outlined the geopolitical situation, emphasizing power politics, uncertainty and the need for «uncertainty competence». Marcel Mettler (Elesta AG) described the path from silo to value stream organization and the importance of transparent communication and exemplary leadership for successful strategy implementation.
Jörg Ammann (Heiniger AG) reported on how his company was able to secure its technology leadership by radically shortening development cycles and a clearer distribution of tasks in the innovation process, with a focus on customer proximity and speed in global competition. Goar Hutter (HOCH Health Ostschweiz) used the example of a stroke to show how crucial rapid medical care is and appealed to people to call the emergency doctor quickly if they have typical symptoms, because «time is brain».
Creating sustainable organizations
Rolf Keller (Glatz AG) explained how just-in-time processes could be established and throughput times greatly reduced by focusing production on individual customer requirements and a flow production concept, which required intensive persuasion within the team. Philipp Amstutz (Schott Pharma) demonstrated how consistent store floor management enables quick reactions in the event of a crisis and increases the company's performance in the long term.
In the concluding discussion with all speakers, it became clear that an open error culture, employee involvement, clear goals and effective leadership are key to ensuring efficiency, effectiveness and quality at the same time. Hitoshi Takeda concluded by reiterating the importance of rapid learning and emphasizing that it is not extensive strategies, but speed, courage and a willingness to learn that make the difference for the future viability of organizations.
Further information on SAQ's 60th anniversary: https://saq.ch/de/saq_community/60-jahre-saq
