Kaizen, Japanese for "improvement" or "self-changing for the best of all", refers to philosophy
or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering,
business management or any process. It has been applied in healthcare, psychotherapy,
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. By improving standardized activities and processes, kaizen aims to eliminate
waste. 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 and is now being implemented in
environments outside of business and productivity.
Overview The Sino-Japanese word "kaizen" simply means
"good change", with no inherent meaning of either "continuous" or "philosophy" in Japanese
dictionaries or in everyday use. The word refers to any improvement, one-time or continuous,
large or small, in the same sense as the English word "improvement". However, given the common
practice in Japan of labeling industrial or business improvement techniques with the word
"kaizen", especially in the case of oft-emulated practices spearheaded by Toyota, the word
Kaizen in English is typically applied to measures for implementing continuous improvement,
or even taken to mean a "Japanese philosophy" thereof. The discussion below focuses on such
interpretations of the word, as frequently used in the context of modern management discussions.
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, 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." Successful implementation requires "the participation of workers in
the improvement." 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. While kaizen usually delivers small improvements,
the culture of continual aligned small improvements and standardization yields large results in
terms of overall improvement in productivity. 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. 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. A person who makes a large contribution in the successful implementation
of kaizen during kaizen events is awarded the title of "Zenkai".
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 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 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 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---the film was titled "Improvement in 4 Steps". Thereby,
"Kaizen" was introduced 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 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., 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.
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 cycle of kaizen activity can be defined as:
Standardize an operation and activities, Measure the operation.
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. Another technique used in conjunction with
PDCA is the 5 Whys, which is a form of root cause analysis in which the user asks a series
of 5 "why" questions about a failure that has occurred, basing each subsequent question
on the answer to the previous. There are normally a series of causes stemming from one root
cause, 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 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. In the Toyota Way Fieldbook, Liker and Meier
discuss the kaizen blitz and kaizen burst 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.
See also
References Notes
Further reading Dinero, Donald. Training Within Industry:
The Foundation of. Productivity Press. ISBN 1-56327-307-1. Graban, Mark; Joe, Swartz. Healthcare Kaizen:
Engaging Front-Line Staff in Sustainable Continuous Improvements. Productivity Press. ISBN 1439872961.
Maurer, Robert. The Spirit of Kaizen: Creating Lasting Excellence One Small Step at a Time.
McGraw-Hill. ISBN 978-0071796170. Emiliani, Bob; Stec, David; Grasso, Lawrence;
Stodder, James. Better Thinking, Better Results: Case Study and Analysis of an Enterprise-Wide
Lean Transformation. Kensington, CT, US: The CLBM, LLC. ISBN 978-0-9722591-2-5.
Hanebuth, D.. Rethinking Kaizen: An empirical approach to
the employee perspective. In J. Felfe, Organizational Development and Leadership. Frankfurt a. M.:
Peter Lang. ISBN 978-3-631-38624-8. Imai, Masaaki. Kaizen: The Key to Japan's
Competitive Success. McGraw-Hill/Irwin. ISBN 0-07-554332-X. Imai, Masaaki. Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense,
Low-Cost Approach to Management. McGraw-Hill. ISBN 0-07-031446-2.
Scotchmer, Andrew. 5S Kaizen in 90 Minutes. Management Books 2000 Ltd. ISBN 978-1-85252-547-7.
Bodek, Norman. 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.
External links Toyota stumbles but its "kaizen" cult endures
Reuters Practice your personal Kaizen by Jason Thomas
Kaizen Implementation Model Kaizen by Joe Marshall
Kaizen Guide to Kaizen startup Best Practice Guide
Ben Geck Definition of Kaizen Masaaki Imai
[1] Management by Stress, Slaughter, Jane