What is Kaizen?
Kaizen means "improvement". Kaizen strategy calls for never-ending efforts for improvement
involving everyone in the organization – managers and workers alike.
Kaizen and Management
Management has two major components:
1. maintenance, and
2. improvement.
The objective of the maintenance function is to maintain current technological, managerial, and
operating standards. The improvement function is aimed at improving current standards.
Under the maintenance function, the management must first establish policies, rules, directives and
standard operating procedures (SOPs) and then work towards ensuring that everybody follows SOP.
The latter is achieved through a combination of discipline and human resource development
measures.
Under the improvement function, management works continuously towards revising the current
standards, once they have been mastered, and establishing higher ones. Improvement can be
broken down between innovation and Kaizen. Innovation involves a drastic improvement in the
existing process and requires large investments. Kaizen signifies small improvements as a result of
coordinated continuous efforts by all employees.
Implementation of Kaizen Strategy: 7 Conditions
One of the most difficult aspects of introducing and implementing Kaizen strategy is assuring its
continuity.
When a company introduces something new, such as quality circles, or total quality management
(TQM), it experiences some initial success, but soon such success disappear like fireworks on
summer night and after a while nothing is left, and management keeps looking for a new flavor of
the month.
This if because the company lacks the first three most important conditions for the successful
introduction and implementation of Kaizen strategy...
Process-Oriented Thinking vs. Result-Oriented Thinking
Kaizen concentrates at improving the process rather than at achieving certain results. Such
managerial attitudes and process thinking make a major difference in how an organization masters
change and achieves improvements.
Quick and Easy Kaizen
Quick and Easy Kaizen (or Mini-Kaizen) is aimed at increasing productivity, quality, and worker
satisfaction, all from a very grassroots level. Every company employee is encouraged to come up
with ideas – however small – that could improve his/her particular job activity, job environment or
any company process for that matter. The employees are also encouraged to implement their ideas
as small changes can be done by the worker him or herself with very little investment of time.
Quick and easy Kaizen helps eliminate or reduce wastes, promotes personal growth of employees
and the company, provides guidance for employees, and serves as a barometer of leadership. Each
kaizen may be small, but the cumulative effect is tremendous.
The quick and easy kaizen process works as follows:
1. The employee notices a problem or an opportunity for improvement...
8 Best Practices of Successful Companies
• Value incremental gains...
Kaizen Time at Canon
In some Canon plants, the foremen are told to set aside the half-hour as Kaizen time – time to
do nothing but thinking improvement in the workshop. The foremen use this period to identify
problems and work on Kaizen programs. Factories are advised not to hold meetings during this 30-
minute period, and foremen should not even answer the telephone then...
Kaizen means "improvement". Kaizen strategy calls for never-ending efforts for improvement
involving everyone in the organization – managers and workers alike.
Kaizen and Management
Management has two major components:
1. maintenance, and
2. improvement.
The objective of the maintenance function is to maintain current technological, managerial, and
operating standards. The improvement function is aimed at improving current standards.
Under the maintenance function, the management must first establish policies, rules, directives and
standard operating procedures (SOPs) and then work towards ensuring that everybody follows SOP.
The latter is achieved through a combination of discipline and human resource development
measures.
Under the improvement function, management works continuously towards revising the current
standards, once they have been mastered, and establishing higher ones. Improvement can be
broken down between innovation and Kaizen. Innovation involves a drastic improvement in the
existing process and requires large investments. Kaizen signifies small improvements as a result of
coordinated continuous efforts by all employees.
Implementation of Kaizen Strategy: 7 Conditions
One of the most difficult aspects of introducing and implementing Kaizen strategy is assuring its
continuity.
When a company introduces something new, such as quality circles, or total quality management
(TQM), it experiences some initial success, but soon such success disappear like fireworks on
summer night and after a while nothing is left, and management keeps looking for a new flavor of
the month.
This if because the company lacks the first three most important conditions for the successful
introduction and implementation of Kaizen strategy...
Process-Oriented Thinking vs. Result-Oriented Thinking
Kaizen concentrates at improving the process rather than at achieving certain results. Such
managerial attitudes and process thinking make a major difference in how an organization masters
change and achieves improvements.
Quick and Easy Kaizen
Quick and Easy Kaizen (or Mini-Kaizen) is aimed at increasing productivity, quality, and worker
satisfaction, all from a very grassroots level. Every company employee is encouraged to come up
with ideas – however small – that could improve his/her particular job activity, job environment or
any company process for that matter. The employees are also encouraged to implement their ideas
as small changes can be done by the worker him or herself with very little investment of time.
Quick and easy Kaizen helps eliminate or reduce wastes, promotes personal growth of employees
and the company, provides guidance for employees, and serves as a barometer of leadership. Each
kaizen may be small, but the cumulative effect is tremendous.
The quick and easy kaizen process works as follows:
1. The employee notices a problem or an opportunity for improvement...
8 Best Practices of Successful Companies
• Value incremental gains...
Kaizen Time at Canon
In some Canon plants, the foremen are told to set aside the half-hour as Kaizen time – time to
do nothing but thinking improvement in the workshop. The foremen use this period to identify
problems and work on Kaizen programs. Factories are advised not to hold meetings during this 30-
minute period, and foremen should not even answer the telephone then...