AUBURN – Formed Fiber Technologies Inc. has added Minoru Shiraishi, a process improvement specialist, to its staff.

Shiraishi is a seasoned manufacturing professional with expertise in Kaizen, a Japanese philosophy that centers on the pursuit of continual improvement.

Shiraishi has more than three decades of work experience at Kasai Kogyo, a Japanese supplier of automotive interior components for major carmakers such as Nissan, Honda and Toyota. Shiraishi comes to Formed Fiber through the company’s long-term business relationship with Kasai Kogyo.

Formed Fiber President and CEO David MacMahon said Shiraishi’s job is to conduct critical analyses of the company’s detailed operations – to dissect them – and to identify ways that operations can be modified to hone efficiency, reduce waste and improve quality. The basic premise of the Kaizen approach is that any process, product, or service can be taken apart then put back together a better way.

“Constantly working better, smarter, is the key to competitiveness,” said MacMahon.

By implementing certain changes, a business can achieve important improvements, according to Shiraishi. “Of course, not all improvements are large or tangible,” he said. “Some, in fact, are very hard to pinpoint, but do contribute importantly to the refinement process.”

Shiraishi has extensive experience in sales and marketing, as well as purchasing. Shiraishi is a graduate of the Industrial High School in Hokkaido, Japan. He belongs to the Japan Management Association, Industrial Accounting Association and the Small Business Consultant Association.

Shiraishi and his wife, Katsue, live in Auburn. In his free time, Shiraishi enjoys golf.