Kaizen

What is Kaizen?

Move a mountain beginning with small stones.

Definitions

It is derived from the Japanese words kai which means change or to correct and zen which means good),

• Kaizen is a Japanese word means change for the better.
• Kaizen is a participative and democratic approach that involves every employee – from upper management to lower staff.
• Kaizen is a culture aimed at sustainable continuous improvement focusing on the elimination of waste in all system and process.
• Kaizen means working together to make the large and significant improvement with the small investment in time and money.

Benefits

• Reduces waste in the areas such as inventory, waiting times, transportation, worker motion, employee skills, etc
• Improves space utilization, product quality, production capacity and employee retention.
• Provides immediate results

Ground rules of Kaizen,

• Don’t try to justify the past challenge fixed ideas.
• Be positive think how things CAN be done not why they CAN’T be done.
• Use data, not theories
• Use wisdom not money
• Work smarter not harder
• Set high standards
• Correct failures immediately – 70% now is better than 100% never
• Lead by example
• A team is better than 1 expert involve people
• Identify the root cause