Connecting All 160,000 Associates Through Workplace Engagement Reform

How can we create a workplace where frontline factory associates can work more comfortably?
Because of the nature of production work, it is difficult to significantly change how and where they work — such as through shorter hours or remote work.
DENSO therefore took a different approach. Instead of changing working hours or locations, they launched workplace engagement reform aimed at increasing motivation and work satisfaction.

Leading this effort, Kidokoro, Deputy Head of IT Digital Center, and the person overseeing the project since 2021, describes the essence of the initiative as ensuring all 160,000 associates are digitally connected to the company.

“In 2019, DENSO established Transforming How We Work as one of the five pillars of management reform. However, when we looked at the actual initiatives, most targeted office workers; we needed to consider DX in factories and how frontline workers could work differently as well.

While office workers were connecting through digital devices and improving operational efficiency, frontline workers were still engaged in people-centric work. There was a clear divide between office and factory workers.
So we asked: Could we digitally connect all 160,000 associates worldwide — in a way that leaves no one behind — enabling better performance and new value creation as a global team? That question became the starting point for this project.”
— Kidokoro

Kidokoro had long recognized issues in factory working environments. Historically, manufacturing has been labeled a 3K industry — kitsui (demanding), kitanai (dirty), and kiken (dangerous) — discouraging younger generations. He believed a fundamental transformation was necessary to make manufacturing a career young people want to pursue, and that improving workplace engagement through digital technology would be essential.

To improve workplace engagement among frontline employees, DENSO formed a cross-functional team. The Production Innovation Planning Division led workplace environment improvements, the Human Resources Division developed career-training programs, and the IT Infrastructure Promotion Division advanced the deployment of digital devices.

In pursuit of creating mechanisms that draw out each factory employee’s sense of connection and fulfillment in their work, each division worked toward specific goals: Creating spaces where people connect through environments that naturally encourage dialogue; freeing up capacity for employees to chart their own future career paths through efficiency gains from digitalization; and enabling global connectivity and freedom in information access and communication through One Device deployment.

1. Creating Spaces Where Dialogue Naturally Happens — Communication Area Enhancements

The Production Innovation Planning Division renovated break rooms and communication areas in factories, transforming dark, enclosed spaces into bright, open environments that encourage casual interaction.

Frontline associates were involved from the planning stage, allowing their needs to be carefully reflected and helping create spaces they would feel comfortable using over time.

Kobayashi from the division had long felt that factory workers were being left behind compared with the head office workers and wanted to create spaces where they could truly relax.

“Making space look nice is not the goal, how they are utilized is what matters. We still have challenges for further utilization while maintaining relaxation function, and will keep collaborating closely with the Manufacturing Division to analyze improving points for next years activity.”
— Kobayashi

2. Empowering Frontline Associates to Design Their Own Careers — Career Design Support

The Human Resources Division launched career development training specifically for frontline factory associates. Previously, career training had been available only to administrative and technical staff. Frontline associates were expected to focus on honing their skills to ensure quality and productivity aligned with workplace objectives, and there had been no formal opportunities or systems in place for them to think about their own futures.

To help each associate proactively shape their own future plans, HR started by focusing on supervisor training, helping them develop skills to listen empathetically and understand their team members' aspirations. With that foundation in place, they then introduced career development training and regular one-on-one meetings for frontline associates.

Amano, from HR, who led the development of the training programs, says frontline associates have too few opportunities to consider future growth and challenges.

“With the industry undergoing a once-in-a-century transformation, we felt a genuine sense of crisis—unless each associate could think autonomously and actively help shape our future, the company simply wouldn't survive.

Our factory floor associas have always contributed tremendously by dedicating themselves to daily process improvements to maintain quality and productivity. But because that had been their everyday reality, many aren't naturally inclined to think proactively about their own future or adapt independently to change.
That's exactly why we decided to introduce career development training for frontline associates—so that each person could take ownership of their own career path and continue growing.”
— Amano

3. Making Information Access and Communication Easy — Deploying One Device

The IT Infrastructure Promotion Division drove what’s called the One Device Activity. Although most frontline associates routinely used digital devices in their private lives, they had almost no opportunity to utilize them during work hours.

The division therefore deployed digital devices to every single factory associate, including temporary workers, establishing an IT infrastructure that enables frontline associates to enjoy the same digital environment as office workers. The proliferation of one device has advanced the development and use of business applications that simplify tasks such as attendance registration and information viewing, while facilitating smoother internal communication — significantly improving workplace operations.

Yoda from the IT Infrastructure Promotion Division, who had just transferred from manufacturing at the time, had personally experienced the lag in IT tool deployment on the factory floor.

“Today’s office workers take digital devices for granted. Everyone has one; they can carry them anywhere and communicate regardless of time or location.
But factories still operate largely in a paper-based world. The IT infrastructure was behind, and associates had few opportunities to learn how to use these tools effectively.
I felt it was as though time had stopped on the factory floor.
So when the decision was made to deploy digital devices equally to everyone working in factories, I understood the necessity immediately — leaving no one behind to improve workplace engagement fairly.”
— Yoda

These three initiatives, led by the Production Innovation Planning Division, Human Resources Division, and IT Infrastructure Promotion Division, were designed not as independent measures but as an integrated approach, with each reinforcing the others to improve workplace engagement in manufacturing workplaces.

Through their collective efforts, these three divisions brought significant change to the factory floor. For example, in the annual workplace survey, the average job engagement score among skills-based associates rose by 12% over the two years since 2022, reaching a level comparable to that of clerical and technical staff.

The One Device approach has also streamlined operations by letting teams share equipment issues in real time and respond on the spot.

Yoda reflects on the impact:

“At first, we assumed devices would mainly be used to check company information or communicate during breaks. But there weren’t places where associates could sit comfortably while browsing information. With communication areas now available, we can say, ‘There’s a comfortable break area where you can sit and access information.’”
— Yoda

Amano has also seen the benefits from an HR perspective:

“When we began planning remote career training connecting the head office and factories, there were no suitable spaces at individual sites where people could gather, making it difficult to decide where to hold the sessions.
However, the new communication areas made it possible to set up PCs and monitors and conduct the training there.
Without these environments, training programs on a scale of more than 10,000 participants would not have been possible.”
— Amano

Digital tools, comfortable spaces in which to use them, and a mindset that embraces digitalization — together, these three elements have opened new possibilities on the factory floor.

In advancing the workplace engagement reform project, the team encountered a number of challenges. However, by consistently prioritizing a frontline-led approach and maintaining a strong determination to see the project through, they addressed each issue one by one.

What specific challenges did the team face?
First, resistance to change from those who wanted to keep existing work practices as they were. Second, anxiety, felt by the new challenges being taken on by the project’s core members.

To address these concerns, team members who transferred from the manufacturing division were stationed on the factory floor, where they carefully built relationships with frontline managers. Working together with forward-thinking associates, they verified the impact of operational reforms. Ultimately, by demonstrating tangible results to senior management, they secured investment approval and paved the way for company-wide rollout.

“What mattered most was not imposing headquarters-driven initiatives on the front lines, but creating mechanisms where the front lines could lead and experience results firsthand. The strategy of starting small, steadily delivering results, creating advocates on the floor, and then expanding and embedding the changes using those advocates as champions, proved highly effective.”
— Kidokoro

Looking back on the three-year journey, Kidokoro describes the medium-to long-term vision:

“Over the medium to long term, elevating associate well-being will be the greatest benefit. It’s not only about productivity gains and value creation through digitalization — if employees feel that the company genuinely values them, they will continue contributing to manufacturing excellence and social progress over many years.”
— Kidokoro

Each division also shares its view of the future.

“Making spaces look nice is not the goal—how they are used is what matters.
We still have challenges to ensure they remain places of relaxation while expanding their effective use.
We will continue collaborating closely with the Manufacturing Division to analyze areas for improvement and apply those insights in the years ahead.”
— Kobayashi

“As factory automation advances, frontline associates will need to shift toward skills such as equipment programming and maintenance.
Supporting future-oriented career design will be a key challenge — along with creating everyday access to career consultation.”
— Amano

“There are three major phases ahead: expansion to group companies, greater utilization within DENSO’s domestic sites, and ongoing operational improvements. DENSO is currently the only company in the manufacturing industry to provide a personal digital device to every frontline associates. As a result, we’ve received multiple inquiries from other companies asking how we made this possible. By sharing our experience, I hope we can help support transformation across the industry.”
— Yoda

DENSO’s workplace engagement reform for frontline associates goes beyond digitalization.
It focuses on creating mechanisms that strengthen each individual’s sense of connection and fulfillment at work.
From an era when manufacturing was labeled as 3K to a future in which young people actively choose to work in factories, DENSO’s initiative to keep all 160,000 associates connected to the company will continue to evolve through ongoing dialogue with the front line.