Kaizen

Gradual, continuous (incremental) change (improvement). Explanation of Kaizen.

Kaizen 5S frameworkKaizenWhat is Kaizen? Definition

The Kaizen method of continuous incremental improvements is an originally Japanese management concept for gradual, continuous (incremental) change (improvement).

 

Kaizen is actually a way of life philosophy. It assumes that every aspect of our life deserves to be constantly improved. The Kaizen philosophy lies behind many Japanese management concepts such as: Total Quality Control, Quality Control circles, small group activities, labor relations.

 

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

 

Japanese companies distinguish between: Innovation, a radical form of change, and Kaizen, a continuous form of change. Kaizen means literally: change (kai) to become good (zen).

 

The five foundation elements of Kaizen

  1. Teamwork.
  2. Personal discipline.
  3. Improved morale.
  4. Quality circles.
  5. Suggestions for improvement.

Out of this foundation, three key factors in Kaizen arise

  • Elimination of waste (muda) and inefficiency.
  • The Kaizen five-S framework for good housekeeping.
  •       1. Seiri - tidiness
  •       2. Seiton - orderliness
  •       3. Seiso - cleanliness
  •       4. Seiketsu - standardized clean-up
  •       5. Shitsuke - discipline
  • Standardization.

When should the Kaizen philosophy be applied? Although it is difficult to give generic advice it is clear that it fits well in gradual, incremental change situations that require long-term change and in collective cultures. More individual cultures that are more focused on short-term success are often more conducive to concepts such as Business Process Reengineering.

 

Kaizen compared to Business Process Reengineering

When Kaizen is compared with the BPR method it is clear the Kaizen philosophy is more people-oriented, more easy to implement, but requires long-term discipline and provides only a small pace of change. The Business Process Reengineering approach on the other hand is harder, technology-oriented, it enables radical change but it requires considerable change management skills.

 

Book: Masaaki Imai - Kaizen -

 

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Recent User Comments
Jjuuko Joseph - Uganda Kaizen vs Business Process Reengineering "In ideas companies like film production, television etc, business process re-engineering has been found very applicable because it involves the fundamental realignment of resources and rethinking the organizational processes to enable it move in tandem with the fast moving global industrial requirements. The application of Kaizen has always proved to like laggards as compared to the BPR/innovation model."    0
 - Brazil Kaizen, 5S,TWI, improve Lean - 6 Sigma results "According to my experience here in Santa Catarina, south of Brazil, Kaizen, 5S and TWI strongly improve results on Lean - 6 Sigma projects."    1
Nduati Mbugua - Kenya Kaizen and Organisational Culture "Kaizen is indisputably one of the best methods of increasing efficiency and of introducing organizational change in an organization. However it requires organizational cultural change before it is implemented for people to be disciplined and to embrace teamwork."    1
 - Nederland Standardization "Your Kaizen action must be followed by standardization so you can see your improvement in the process. My trigger for a kaizen project is the result of my visual management what is based on the 6 big losses in a process."    2
 - NL Comparison Kaizen vs. Innovation "In 1992, A. Meckel made this useful comparison of Kaizen (K) versus Innovation (I):
1. EFFECT - K: long term and continuous, but not dramatic; I: short term, but dramatic.
2. TEMPO - K: small steps; I: big steps
3. TIME WINDOW - K: continuous and increasing; I: unbroken and temporary
4. CHANCE OF SUCCESS - K: steady high; I: abrupt and not constant
5. PROTAGONISTS - K: every employee; I: few selected
6. HOW THINGS HAPPEN - K: collective spirit, teamwork, systematically; I: me first, individual ideas and efforts
7. MOTTO - K: maintain and improve; I: break down and build new
8. RECIPE FOR SUCCESS - K: conventional know-how and current technology; I: technological achievements, new inventions and theories
9. PRACTICAL PREREQUISITES - K: small investments, big maintenance effort; I: big investments, small maintenance effort
10. SUCCESS ORIENTATION - K: people; I: technology
11. ASSESSMENT CRITERIA - K: performance and procedure for better results; I: profits
12. ADVANTAGE - K: well suited for slow, steady growing economy; I: mainly suited for fast growing economy
Source: A. Meckel, Kaizen - Vorschlagswesen in Japan, Betriebliches Vorschlagswesen, Nr. 4, 1992, p. 177-181"		    3
Best User Comments
Editor - NL Quotes on Kaizen "Do you know some deep, famous or funny quotes on Kaizen? Quotations? Proverbs? Please share them as a reaction to this posting and mention the author. To get started, here's my favorite: 'Constant dripping hollows out a stone.' - Lucretius 98-55 BC, Roman poet"    53
Anthony - India Building blocks of Kaizen: QCD "Imai mentions three main building blocks of Kaizen, known as QCD:
1. A continually improving Quality assurance system;
2. A continually improving Cost management system;
3. A continually improving Delivery system."		    5
William - US First stabilize the process "There is a key element to the Kaizen method that is missing in your synopsis. Kaizen should not occur until the process is stable as is. Many make the mistake of Kaizen'ing before the process has stabilized and that created problems with the process and those trying to do the right thing. It ends up back firing on the change implementor and destroying the Kaizen Philosophy in the eyes of those that need to embrace it."    1

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Compare with: Deming Cycle  |  Hoshin Kanri - Policy Deployment  |  Training Within Industry  |  8D Problem Solving  |  Six Sigma  |  Quality Function Deployment  |  Forget Borrow Learn  |  Value Chain  |  Just-in-time  |  Organic Organization  |  Appreciative Inquiry  |  Positive Deviance  |  Change Phases  |  Six Change Approaches  |  Core Group Theory  |  Planned Behavior  |  Business Process Reengineering  |  Change Management  |  Dimensions of Change  |  Force Field Analysis  |  Value Stream Mapping  |  Eight Attributes of Management Excellence  |  Five Disciplines  |  Ten Principles of Reinvention  |  Fourteen Points of Management  |  People CMM

 

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  ●  (New Zealand) Kaizen & Organisational change "When the company I was working for was taken over by Japanese all of their methodologies were introduced using kaizen. Although the organisation did have a team approach, I do not consider us at the time to have been in any way disciplined though.
What is important I believe is the willingness to embark on a change program and this needs to be driven right from the top to have any chance of success. Managements lead far outweighs a disciplined work force. That is what ultimately gave results in our case and in my consulting career since then Management's commitment is the one key factor I sought in every intervention program and proved to be successfull every time."

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  ● Sander (NL) Stop and Think "Winnie the Pooh has a great quote: Here I am, coming down stairs, bump, bump, bump, on the the back of my head. It is, as far as I know, the only way … Maybe there is a better way, if only I could stop bumping for a moment and think of it. (Winnie-The-Pooh by AA Milne)"
  ● Jennifer (Canada) Kaizen Quote "If you want to be creative in your company, your career, your life, all it takes is one easy step...the extra one. When you encounter a familiar plan, you just ask one question: "WHAT ELSE COULD WE DO?""
  ● Kay (US) Kaizen quote "Don't find fault, find a remedy. - Henry Ford"

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  ● Danish Noor (USA) Stabilize through Innovation "I agree with the comments! Implementing Kaizen in an unstable process will not yield any performance improvement, as much of the energy and activities will bleed - off through Gaps. Process should be stabilize first using Innovation. "
  ● Jennifer (Canada) Stabilize the process "process stabilization is not required for Kaizen. The japanese term for Kaizen is CONTINUOUS improvement. If something is unstable or stable, it can always be improved...."
  ● Steve D P (USA) Enable stabilization "When we continuously improve upon a model then we can enable the process of stabilization to what has already taken place. We build upon those blocks ensuring on a process or model then the actual process will be implemented."

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