Kaizen

Kaizen is a method of creating continuous improvement based on the idea that

small, ongoing, effective changes can reap significant improvements.

The definition of kaizen comes from two Japanese words: ‘kai’ meaning ‘change’

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and ‘zen’ meaning ‘good’. That means change for the better. However, Kaizen
means "continuous improvement" through its association with lean
methodology.

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This Japanese philosophy was first brought in by Toyota back in the 1980s and
has since been followed by thousands of companies around the world. This lean
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transformation encourages an improvement culture that escalates quality,
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efficiency, and profitability.

Some key objectives of the kaizen philosophy include quality control,

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just-in-time delivery, standardized work, the use of efficient equipment, and the
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elimination of waste. The overall goal of kaizen is to make minor changes over
time to create improvements within a company. That doesn't mean
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transformations happen slowly; it simply recognizes that minor changes now

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can have huge effects in the future.

Improvements can come from any employee. Everyone has a stake in the
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company's success and everyone should strive, at all times, to help make the
business model better.

Kaizen Definition
Kaizen is an ideology that supports continuous, incremental process changes
that have a high level of efficiency. It can help you enhance the way you work
personally, by excluding various types of "waste".

Kaizen is also defined as a continuous effort by every employee (from the

CEO to field staff) to ensure the improvement of all processes and systems of
a particular organization.

Principles of Kaizen

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Here are some important principles of kaizen:

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1. Start questioning the Best Practices

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It is easy to justify the past. All cultures have some specific tradition and system
created to show respect for elders and carry over certain practices from
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generation to generation. There is purpose in learning from the past, but too
often, old ways of working turned into an excuse for the status quo. For Kaizen
to happen, everybody must be ready to challenge the current operation politely
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and curiously.
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2. See Problems as an Opportunity

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Opportunities like that are right in front of you, you just have to understand
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them. All the big issues your company is facing are nothing but big
opportunities to grow.
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Problems are opportunities to bring out solutions, to grow, to improve yourself,

to contribute ideas, to contribute values, develop your skills, and accordingly
become better, more valuable, earn more, be more attractive, become stronger,
and so on.

3. Develop Wisdom When Faced With Hardship

If you want to yourself constantly, you need to develop wisdom as much as
possible. Wisdom is basically the capacity to think and act using knowledge,
experience, intelligence, common sense, and insight.

Wisdom is about a deep understanding of things, incorporating tolerance for the

uncertainties of life and its difficulties.

So, you shouldn’t fear hardship, but see it as an opportunity for the fastest
improvement and growth.

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You make moral decisions based on extensive experience. You develop
experience based on making poor decisions. Making several poor decisions

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gradually leads to making good and wise decisions. You can’t just be born wise.

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4. Maintain Positive Attitude
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Maintaining a positive attitude is one of the most significant rules of Kaizen.
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Only by having a positive mind, you can see new opportunities to grow
yourself and your organization.
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Only by keeping a positive perspective, you can also foster the motivation to
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implement change and go after a better organizational environment.

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There is always a move you can make towards progress, no matter how tough
the situation is. That’s how kaizen experts think.
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5. Stop Making Excuses and Eliminate Can't

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There’s always an improvement that can be performed if you keep innovating

hard enough. Don’t use your mental power to look for excuses why things
cannot be done.

If your mind feels cornered, and you do not know what your next step might be,
and all you can see are excuses, then you must first start by freeing your mind.
There are thousands of ways how you can innovate, improve, and look for
productive solutions.
Remember, your mind is like a parachute. It only functions when it’s open.

6. Creativity Before Capital

There are two ways of finding ideas for positive change. You can use the money
to hire individuals, invest in advanced technologies, etc. or you can utilize your
own creativity.

At some point, it is good to pay for new ideas, knowledge, and technologies, but

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you have to start with your own creativity that can bring positive changes in
your workplace and environment.

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There’s no way a change will be carried out forever if there isn’t enough
motivation on the table. If sufficient motivation is present, there will be many

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creative concepts for positive change.
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7. Understand the Data and Working Principles
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Every change should be made according to the data. You anyway have to
measure whether you have really discovered a new way to do things better.
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You can’t just guess, because incorrect guesses are the mother of all disasters.
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You must be consumed with data, metrics, dashboards, and measuring when
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making improvements. You can change only the things you measure.
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You must have the knowledge of what exactly you’re trying to improve and on
which metrics that improvement is based. When implementing a new and
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positive change, it should always be in connection with the one metric that
signifies most at a certain time in a certain state.

8. Learn by Taking Action

You learn the most by doing actions. It’s called “Leaving the building” in English
and “Genchi Gembutsu” in Japanese. You can read 10 books on how to swim,
but it can never be equal to actually doing it.
You can’t carry out change based only on theoretical knowledge. You must
grow into a master of validated learning and superior observations of how
things work.

9. Choose A Simple Solution

Simplicity is always better than complexity. Implementing change is tough,

and implementing complex change is even harder, if far from impossible.

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Therefore, prefer a simple solution you can start implementing immediately. A
well-implemented minor change will motivate you to implement new and
bigger changes.

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By doing so, you will extend your capacity and energy for more complex change.

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A little improvement can always lead to bigger improvement, but in the
beginning, forget about the big steps and start small.
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10. Correct Your Mistakes Right Away

When innovating and upgrading things, you regularly make mistakes. You
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constantly fail and explore options that don’t function.

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But mistakes and failure are not to be worried about. Failure is an essential part
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of every achievement. That being said, there is one vital rule to believe, and that
is to correct your mistakes right away.
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Don’t let mistakes expand and turn into something unmanageable. You must
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have the courage to admit you’ve made a mistake and correct it immediately.

PDCA Cycle
Improvement basically follows the PDCA cycle, which stands for
"plan-do-check-act."
The "plan" fraction consists of mapping out the changes, so that everyone
knows what to expect when teams seek to solve a problem.

The "do" function stands for implementing the best solution to fix the problem.

The "check" step comprises figuring out the solution to the problem to see if it
worked.

When the company performs the "act", it figures out whether the solution

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should become a company standard, or if it requires further changes.

Kaizen 5S framework

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A 5S framework is a critical part of the Kaizen system and establishes an ideal

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physical workplace. The 5Ses focus on creating visual order, organization,
cleanliness, and standardization to improve profitability, efficiency, service, and
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safety.
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Let us understand the five S of Kaizen:
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SEIRI - SEIRI stands for classify. According to Seiri, employees should

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classify and organize things well. Identify the items as “Necessarily”,

”Critical”, ”Most Important”, “Not required now”, “Useless", and so on.
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Throw what all is worthless. Keep separately what all is not required
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at the moment. Items which are critical and most necessary should be
kept in a secure place.
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SEITION - Seition means Organize. Research says that employees

spoil half of their precious time looking for items and important
documents. Every item should have its own space and must be placed
in its place only.

SEISO - The word “SEISO” stands for shine the workplace. The
workplace needs to be kept clean. De-clutter your department.
Important documents should be kept in specific folders and files.
 SEIKETSU-SEIKETSU- It stands for standardization. Every
organization should have specific standard rules and set policies to
ensure superior quality.

SHITSUKE or Self Discipline - Employees need to comply with the

organization’s policies and obey to the rules and regulations. Self
discipline is necessary. Follow work policies and always carry your
identity cards to work. It gives you a sense of honor and reverence for
the organization.

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Educationleaves

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Advantages of kaizen

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● Kaizen focuses on slow improvement that can make a gentler approach
to change compared to big efforts that may be left behind because of their
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tendency to provoke change resistance and pushback.
● Kaizen encourages investigation of processes so that errors and waste
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are reduced.
● With fewer errors, maintenance and inspection requirements are
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minimized.
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● Employee morale improves because Kaizen promotes a sense of value

and purpose.
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● Teamwork increases as employees think beyond the particular issues in

their area.
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● Client focus expands as employees become more conscious about

customer requirements.

Disadvantages of Kaizen
● Companies with cultures of territorialism and closed communication may
first need to focus on cultural changes to create a friendly environment.
 ● Short-term Kaizen approaches may create a burst of excitement that is
shallow and short-lived and, therefore, is not sustained.

Examples of Kaizen

Toyota is arguably the most famous for its use of Kaizen, but other companies
have successfully used the approach. Here are two examples:

Lockheed Martin

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The aerospace company is a well-known proponent of Kaizen. Lockheed Martin
has used the method to successfully reduce manufacturing costs, inventory, and

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delivery time.

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Ford Motor Company
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When Alan Mulally became CEO of Ford in 2006, the automaker was on the
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brink of bankruptcy. Mulally used Kaizen to execute one of the most famous
corporate turnarounds in history.
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Great Western Bank

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Opening a checking account at Great Western used to take 34 steps, but using
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kaizen, this has been reduced to 24. It uses kaizen to analyze its process to
deliver better service to its customers.
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