Kaizen
Kaizen is a lean management technique and has Japanese roots. Kaizen stands for “To disassemble and put together again in a better way”.
Kaizen focuses on
“Better 80% right today than 100% right tomorrow”
Characteristics of Kaizen
- Focus on “Small Improvements”
- Teamwork and empowerment
- Participation is voluntary but with full commitment
- Solve the problems at the work place rather than in conference rooms or on excel spreadsheets. In a manufacturing setup – on the shopfloor, in a IT environment at a “Teamplace” or “Workplace”.
- Resources are dedicated. The team is pulled off their day-to-day jobs. The team is considered as on vacation from their regular responsibilities
- 3-5 days in duration
- Implementation should be immediate
- Management supports the event. That means all necessary teams, departments are made available.
When to use Kaizen
- Obvious waste or inefficiency is identified
- Scope of the problem is clear
- Results are needed immediately
- Implementation risk is minimal