Monozukuri

The Japanese word Monozukuri is a combination of 'Mono', meaning thing and 'Zukuri', meaning the act of making, some-times translated as manufacturing or craftsmanship. Monozukuri describes the gap between the end result and the process that leads to that end result. Yet, there is so much meaning lost in just translating the word, because it literally does not cover the meaning of the philosophy at all. It is a mindset, a spirit, a philosophy. If Japanese want to talk only about manufacturing, they would use Seizo (manufacturing) or Seizan (production). Monozukuri is a typical Japanese concept and therefore is difficult to place in our Western culture. Before we can apply the concept, we first have to understand the essence of it.