What is kaizen?
Japanese term for “continuous improvement”
emphasizes incremental, low risk, easily accomplished, and low-cost process improvement
kaizen = iterative + good
What are the four kaizen levels?
individual, at work station (Gemba)
work team/mini kaizen
flow kaizen/cross-functional
supply chain/reps from diff. companies
What are kaizen activities?
D - document
E - engage
F - focus
E - encourage
A - aware
T - take action
What is a kaizen blitz or event?
leverage the knowledge, skills, and talents of 5-10 people from different areas pulled out for 2-5 days to focus on defining and implementing improvements that will generate rapid results for a specific problem
What are the kaizen event characteristics?
structured approach
aggressive objectives
short time period
full-time team membership
What is the flow of a kaizen event typically?
PDCA
What are the substeps of plan?
- identify and define the problem
- select the target process
- identify the team
What are the substeps of do?
- observe the process
- analyze the process
- identify the solution
- identify targets
- pilot
- implement
What are the substeps of check?
- monitor
- measure
What are the substeps of act?
standardize
What are the phases of a kaizen event?
- planning
- implementing changes
- verifying effectiveness
- following up to sustain
What are some key components to planning a kaizen event?
- obtain commitment for resources
- select facilitator
- recruit team members from relevant areas
- train team members in the tools being used
- provide current state info
- reserve space
- communicate to everyone from top to bottom so everyone understands objective
What are the key components of the implementing phase?
- identify waste, defects, and root causes
- define future state with target data
- brainstorm improvements
- prioritize improvements
- test different improvements
- measure, report progress, train
- make initial changes
What are the key components of the verifying phase?
- verify data collected
- make sure changes are effective at addressing the problem
- share results with stakeholders
- decide next steps
- make changes at larger scale
- recognize team for achievements
What are the key components of the follow-up phase?
- track new process
- daily kaizen
When to use a kaizen event?
time: results needed immediately
scope: small, clearly defined, well understood
waste: obvious waste sources
scientific: team members need to learn new skills
5S: implementation risk is minimal
What are the quantitative benefits of kaizen?
- reduced costs
- saved time
- streamlined flow
- reduced inventory
- increased value to customer
What are the qualitative benefits of kaizen?
- strengthened relationships
- inspired learning
- increased problem solving
- improved morale
What is the purpose of a kaizen blitz/event?
to compress time
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Continuous Improvement Fundamentals64
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Problem Solving Methods - DMAIC26
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Problem Solving Methods - PDSA13
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Problem Solving Methods - DFSS, DMADV & IDOV27
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Team Roles & Responsibilities17
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Organizational Communication + LSS Team10
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Team Collaboration46
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Team Ideation Tools11
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Team Communication27
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Process Analysis51
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FMEA15
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Waste Analysis33
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Lean Concepts20
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Waste Elimination41
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Value Stream Mapping18
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Kaizen19
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Project Set-Up28
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Project Management41
