sugat.jadhav Intro

HI
Lean manufacturing/kaizen has become the Holy Grail of operating philosophies for most manufacturers in competitive environments. No other approach has been proven to reduce inventory, cycle time and costs while increasing quality over the long-term. Lean/kaizen techniques have proven that they can improve manufacturing productivity by 30 to 90 percent (along with improvements in cycle time, inventory and quality) in every industry from automobiles to electronics.
Despite these successes, there are much bigger competitive fish for lean/kaizen to fry. Hands-on manufacturing labor accounts for an average of ten percent of total product costs in the United States. Non-manufacturing costs comprise 90 percent of total product costs (and over 95 percent of total life cycle costs). The potential cost, quality and customer service savings are mind-boggling.
 
What Is Office Kaizen?
Office Kaizen is the term coined by Kaufman to refer to the application of lean/kaizen techniques to non-manufacturing areas or entire organizations. Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning “small, on-going good” (kai) and “good, for the better” (zen). In recent years, kaizen has been defined as “small improvements generated by hands-on workers through the application of a variety of structured, low-technology methods.” It is a philosophy, a leadership style and a set of tactical tools. Office Kaizen is not a direct translation of lean production methods to office, or service environments. Rather, Office Kaizen is Kaufman’s evolution of the best practices of lean operations, kaizen methods and reengineering approaches into a systematic, repeatable methodology for achieving excellence in non-manufacturing areas.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top