Kaizen
Kaizen (pronounced ki-zen) is a Japanese word constructed from two ideographs, the first of which represents change and the second goodness or virtue. Kaizen is commonly used to indicate the long-term betterment of something or someone (continuous improvement) as in the phrase Seikatsu o kaizen suru which means to “better one’s life.” The term Kaizen is used in two ways. The first use is consistent with the phrase continuous improvement. The second use is as the label for a group of methods that improve work processes.
Kaizen as Continuous Improvement
In its first use, Kaizen means the pursuit of perfection in all one does. In this sense, Kaizen represents the element of continuous improvement that is a fundamental part of the Quality Model. In a business context, it includes all activities, personal and teamed, that leverage learning to make processes better at satisfying customer requirements. As the principle of continuous improvement, Kaizen has its origins in W. Edwards Deming’s 14 points. Point 5 states, “Improve constantly and forever" the system of production and service.
Kaizen as Methods for Work Process Improvement
In its second use, Kaizen identifies a group of methods for making work process improvements. The methods that have been placed under the label Kaizen are varied and range from suggestion systems (Teian Kaizen) to planned events conducted in the workplace that systematically uncover waste in a work process and eliminate it (Gemba Kaizen). In this latter use, Kaizen's origins are in World War II. Kaizen, then known as Job Methods training, was a simple and effective process that enabled workers—initially supervisors—to devise ways to greatly improve the yield from work processes. Its development was spurred by the World War II necessity to produce very much more of everything that was needed for the war effort, faster than anyone ever had done in the past. Before going further into Kaizen's origins as a method for making improvements, let's clarify the varieties of methods that now fall under the label Kaizen.
Methods of Kaizen
Kaizen eliminates waste by allowing workers to uncover improvement opportunities and either suggest or make changes. In common usage, the term Kaizen may refer to different kinds of improvement activities. In Japan, some use the term to refer to a process that gathers suggestions for improvements from employees. Others use the term to refer to periodic meetings of employees who brainstorm improvement ideas and immediately select and make an improvement (e.g., as in Quality Circles). Still others use the term to refer to special events (up to five days in length) during which a team of workers systematically detect and eliminate the presence of waste in a targeted work process.
| Our Kaizen Method |
Our Kaizen method is a teamed approach, implemented where the real work is done (the "Gemba") during an intensive 5-day event by the people who do and support the work. The Kaizen team uncovers and measures waste; generates, selects, and implements ways to eliminate it; measures and documents its results; and establishes a means for sustaining and monitoring the improvements it makes. The team closes the event with a report of its findings and outcomes to all stakeholders. The process can be unbundled so that five continuous days are not required, should that present an obstacle for a business.
Common Elements of Kaizen Methods
What all Kaizen methods have in common is that they (1) involve, at a minimum, the workers who execute a work process, (2) focus on improving the performance of that work process, (3) seek to make incremental improvements, and (4) are intended to be repeated over time.
For more details about Kaizen methods and Kaizen's origins, see Six Sigma™ and Kaizen Compared: Part 1 (Revised)