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Kaizen

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This article is about the continuous improvement philosophy. For the fantasy currency invented by Kaizen Games with symbol "$K", see Priston Tale.
Look up kaizen in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Kaizen (改善), Japanese for "improvement", or "change for the better" refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, game development, and business management. It has been applied in healthcare,[1] psychotherapy,[2] life-coaching, government, banking, and other industries. When used in the business sense and applied to the workplace, kaizen refers to activities that continually improve all functions, and involves all employees from the CEO to the assembly line workers. It also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics, that cross organizational boundaries into the supply chain.[3] By improving standardized activities and processes, kaizen aims to eliminate waste (see lean manufacturing). Kaizen was first implemented in several Japanese businesses after the Second World War, influenced in part by American business and quality management teachers who visited the country. It has since spread throughout the world[4] and is now being implemented in many other venues besides just business and productivity.

Introduction

Kaizen is a daily process, the purpose of which goes beyond simple productivity improvement. It is also a process that, when done correctly, humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly hard work ("muri"), and teaches people how to perform experiments on their work using the scientific method and how to learn to spot and eliminate waste in business processes. In all, the process suggests a humanized approach to workers and to increasing productivity: "The idea is to nurture the company's human resources as much as it is to praise and encourage participation in kaizen activities."[5] Successful implementation requires "the participation of workers in the improvement."[6] People at all levels of an organization participate in kaizen, from the CEO down to janitorial staff, as well as external stakeholders when applicable. The format for kaizen can be individual, suggestion system, small group, or large group. At Toyota, it is usually a local improvement within a workstation or local area and involves a small group in improving their own work environment and productivity. This group is often guided through the kaizen process by a line supervisor; sometimes this is the line supervisor's key role. Kaizen on a broad, cross-departmental scale in companies, generates total quality management, and frees human efforts through improving productivity using machines and computing power.[citation needed]

While kaizen (at Toyota) usually delivers small improvements, the culture of continual aligned small improvements and standardization yields large results in the form of compound productivity improvement. This philosophy differs from the "command and control" improvement programs of the mid-twentieth century. Kaizen methodology includes making changes and monitoring results, then adjusting. Large-scale pre-planning and extensive project scheduling are replaced by smaller experiments, which can be rapidly adapted as new improvements are suggested.[citation needed]

In modern usage, it is designed to address a particular issue over the course of a week and is referred to as a "kaizen blitz" or "kaizen event". These are limited in scope, and issues that arise from them are typically used in later blitzes.[citation needed]

History

After WWII, to help restore Japan, American occupation forces brought in American experts to help with the rebuilding of Japanese industry while The Civil Communications Section (CCS) developed a Management Training Program that taught statistical control methods as part of the overall material. This course was developed and taught by Homer Sarasohn and Charles Protzman in 1949-50. Sarasohn recommended W. Edwards Deming for further training in Statistical Methods.

The Economic and Scientific Section (ESS) group was also tasked with improving Japanese management skills and Edgar McVoy was instrumental in bringing Lowell Mellen to Japan to properly install the Training Within Industry (TWI) programs in 1951.

Prior to the arrival of Mellen in 1951, the ESS group had a training film to introduce the three TWI "J" programs (Job Instruction, Job Methods and Job Relations)---the film was titled "Improvement in 4 Steps" (Kaizen eno Yon Dankai). Thus the original introduction of "Kaizen" to Japan. For the pioneering, introduction, and implementation of Kaizen in Japan, the Emperor of Japan awarded the 2nd Order Medal of the Sacred Treasure to Dr. Deming in 1960. Consequently, the Union of Japanese Science and Engineering (JUSE) instituted the annual Deming Prizes for achievement in quality and dependability of products.

On October 18, 1989, JUSE awarded the Deming Prize to Florida Power & Light Co. (FPL), based in the US, for its exceptional accomplishments in process and quality control management. FPL was the first company outside Japan to win the Deming Prize.

Reference: US National Archives - SCAP collection - PR NewsWire

Implementation

The Toyota Production System is known for kaizen, where all line personnel are expected to stop their moving production line in case of any abnormality and, along with their supervisor, suggest an improvement to resolve the abnormality which may initiate a kaizen.

The PDCA cycles[7]

The cycle of kaizen activity can be defined as:

  • Standardize an operation and activities.
  • Measure the standardized operation (find cycle time and amount of in-process inventory)
  • Gauge measurements against requirements
  • Innovate to meet requirements and increase productivity
  • Standardize the new, improved operations
  • Continue cycle ad infinitum

This is also known as the Shewhart cycle, Deming cycle, or PDCA. Other techniques used in conjunction with PDCA include 5 Whys, which is a form of root cause analysis in which the user asks "why" to a problem and its answer five successive times. There are normally a series of root causes stemming from one problem,[8] and they can be visualized using fishbone diagrams or tables.

Masaaki Imai made the term famous in his book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success.

Apart from business applications of the method, both Anthony Robbins[citation needed] and Robert Maurer have popularized the kaizen principles into personal development principles. In the book One Small Step Can Change Your life: The Kaizen Way, and CD set The Kaizen Way to Success, Maurer looks at how individuals can take a kaizen approach in both their personal and professional lives.[9][10]

In the Toyota Way Fieldbook, Liker and Meier discuss the kaizen blitz and kaizen burst (or kaizen event) approaches to continuous improvement. A kaizen blitz, or rapid improvement, is a focused activity on a particular process or activity. The basic concept is to identify and quickly remove waste. Another approach is that of the kaizen burst, a specific kaizen activity on a particular process in the value stream.[11]

WebKaizen Events, written by Kate Cornell, condenses the philosophies of kaizen events into a one-day, problem solving method that leads to prioritized solutions. This method combines Kaizen Event tools with PMP concepts. It introduces the Focused Affinity Matrix and the Cascading Impact Analysis. The Impact/Constraint Diagram and the Dual Constraint Diagram are tools used in this method.[12]

Key elements of kaizen are quality, effort, involvement of all employees, willingness to change, and communication.

The five main elements of kaizen

  • Teamwork
  • Personal discipline
  • Improved morale
  • Quality circles
  • Suggestions for improvement

See also

References

  1. ^ Julie Weed (July 10, 2010). "Factory Efficiency Comes to the Hospital". The New York Times.
  2. ^ M. M. Feldman. "Kaizen in Psychotherapy" (PDF).
  3. ^ Imai, Masaaki (1986). Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success. New York, NY, US: Random House.
  4. ^ Europe Japan Centre, Kaizen Strategies for Improving Team Performance, Ed. Michael Colenso, London: Pearson Education Limited, 2000
  5. ^ Tozawa, Bunji (1995). The improvement engine: creativity & innovation through employee involvement: the Kaizen teian system. Productivity Press. p. 34. ISBN 978-1-56327-010-9. Retrieved 6 February 2010. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  6. ^ Laraia, Anthony C. (1999). The Kaizen Blitz: accelerating breakthroughs in productivity and performance. John Wiley and Sons. p. 26. ISBN 978-0-471-24648-0. Retrieved 6 February 2010. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  7. ^ "Taking the First Step with PDCA". 2 February 2009. Retrieved 17 March 2011.
  8. ^ "An Introduction to 5-Why". 2 April 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  9. ^ Maurer, Robert (2004). One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way. Workman. ISBN 978-0-7611-2923-3.
  10. ^ Maurer, Robert. "One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way".
  11. ^ Liker, Jeffrey; Meier, David (2006). The Toyota Way Fieldbook. New York: McGraw-Hill.
  12. ^ Cornell, Kate (2010). WebKaizen Events. Omaha, NE, US: Prevail Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9831102-1-7.

Further reading

  • Cooper, Mary Pat (2008). Kaizen Sketchbook: The Comprehensive Illustrated Field Guide to Kaizen. Moffitt Associates. ISBN 978-0-615-19011-2.
  • Dinero, Donald (2005). Training Within Industry: The Foundation of. Productivity Press. ISBN 1-56327-307-1.
  • Emiliani, B. (2007). Better Thinking, Better Results: Case Study and Analysis of an Enterprise-Wide Lean Transformation (2e. ed.). Kensington, CT, US: The CLBM, LLC. ISBN 978-0-9722591-2-5. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
  • Hanebuth, D. (2002). Rethinking Kaizen: An empirical approach to the employee perspective. In J. Felfe (Ed.), Organizational Development and Leadership (Vol. 11, pp. 59-85). Frankfurt a. M.: Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-38624-8.
  • Imai, Masaaki (1986). Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. ISBN 0-07-554332-X.
  • Imai, Masaaki (1997-03-01). Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management (1e. ed.). McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-031446-2.
  • Scotchmer, Andrew (2008). 5S Kaizen in 90 Minutes. Management Books 2000 Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85252-547-7. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |years= ignored (help)
  • Cornell, Kate (2010). WebKaizen Events. Prevail Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9831102-1-7.
  • Bodek, Norman (2010). How to do Kaizen: A new path to innovation - Empowering everyone to be a problem solver. Vancouver, WA, US: PCS Press. ISBN 978-0-9712436-7-5.
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