Kaizen Process

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Kaizen Approach in Quality Management

Quality: “To achieve the 99.99% error free product.”

History:

Kaizen was introduced after the World War II within the Japanese automobile company “Toyota.” Japan was first influenced by America in implementation of quality management systems for lean manufacturing process to reduce waste. Professionals like Edwards Deming first introduced the quality management concepts which were accepted by all over the world for lean manufacturing process.

Decades later, America was then influenced by Japanese who worked with Toyota. Professionals like Masaaki Imai introduced the concept of “Kaizen” to the world.

Definition:

Kaizen is a Japanese term and is a combination of two words, “Kai” means change and “Zen” means good so the term Kaizen collectively meaning “change for good.” This term was introduced by Japanese in quality management system to achieve the continuous improvement by making changes on smallest levels of working.  Kaizen approach is opposite to drastic or radical changes in the process or system as it takes place on a very small scale like Kaizen can be performed in your work place by improving certain things with smallest change.

Principles:

In Kaizen principle, the continuous change is performed to cut costs and reduce waste. It encourages the communication and believes that frontline workers have often best suggestions for improvements.


Source: Tulip.Com

Steps in Kaizen:

There are six steps to achieve kaizen in a process explained by a figure below:


Kaizen Tools and Techniques:

Following are the widely used tools in Kaizen:

1. Gemba Walk

“Gemba” is a Japanese word which means “actual place.” It is the location where actual work is done or in case of production where actual production is being done. Some of the examples are production line in manufacturing industry or even an office set up can be improved in this technique. Business leaders and managers are usually the people who goes on these walks and perform this technique to improve.



Gemba Technique

1.     The Kaizen Blitz

Kaizen Blitz also known as Kaizen events. These events are specified time anywhere from couple of hours to a full working week. Employees gather to brainstorm a specific issue and improvement in this blitz or event. As this is a scheduled event so it follows PDCA cycle for continuous improvement.



1.     PDCA Cycle

PDCA means Plan, Do, Check and Act. It is also the technique for kaizen implementation which is used in Kaizen Blitz usually. It is an ongoing technique and as the standards and rules are updated, employees should also be continuously applying these techniques for continuous improvement.













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