Kaizen The Strategy for Continuous Improvement

The main goal of the kaizen philosophy is to improve quality and productivity while reducing waste. This is achieved through continuous small – and often relatively simple – measures and actions. Kaizen is a daily process, the purpose of which goes beyond simple productivity improvement. 

How does change happen in your organization? Typically, it is based on cooperation and commitment that uses top-down changes to achieve transformation.

But when these are made to all levels of organisation and on an ongoing basis, and most importantly when they are done correctly, these small measures can lead to big changes and major improvements in quality and productivity, as well as create a better work environment.

According to Masaaki Imai management consultant, known for his work on quality management, every company should embrace Kaizen. It was initially implemented by the manufacturing industry on factory floors, but the benefits of Kaizen are not limited to the manufacturing sector, most industries can benefit from implementation of its core principles.

Course objectives

• Understanding the waste (non-value-added activities) can be found in an organisation
• What are the kaizen approach to incremental improvement
• Understanding the managerial skills required by managers to both implement and sustain a Kaizen culture
• What are improvement metrics – KPIs
• How to identify prioritised areas for improvement

Module 1: What is Kaizen

• Understanding the origins of Kaizen
• The Kaizen Strategy
• Kaizen Culture0
• Making waste visible – identifying the non-value-added activities in your organisation
• Create waste-free systems and procedures
• Define clear leadership initiatives
• Sustain a culture of unrelenting continuous improvement
• Kaizen and Lean Manufacturing

Module 2: How is Kaizen Used

• Lean Manufacturing Tools in Kaizen
• Kaizen Boards
• Pareto Analysis
• SMED (Reduction of Changeover Times)
• Poka Yoke (or mistake proofing)
• Ishikawa/Fishbone Diagram
• Comparative Analysis
• 5 S
• FMEA/Risk Assessment
• Standard Work

Module 3: Four Basics Stages and Activities

• Commitment to Change
• Initiate and demonstrate the KAIZEN approach
• Model and practice the KAIZEN process
• Standardize and extend the KAIZEN process
• Systematize the KAIZEN process
• Employees are Skilled and Experienced

Module 4: Process Kaizen

• Starting with Purpose
• Defining Your Process: The Use of Standards
• Go and See
• Mapping the Value Stream
• Visualizing the Value Stream
• Backlogs Are Waste
• Variation Is Waste
• We Identified a Bottleneck: Now What?
• Symptoms and Causes

Module 5: How to successfully implement a Kaizen culture?

• How to structure a Kaizen team?
• Establish the Kaizen Champion
• Kaizen Team Selection
• MBWA – The Gemba Walk
• The Task Board
• Sustaining a Kaizen Culture
• Kanban is Implemented as a Kaizen Strategy

Module 6: Identifying and Removing Waste

• Defining Waste
• Removing Waste once identified
• Waste Elimination in Practice
• Six Steps to Improvement
• Step 1: Discover Improvement Potential
• Step 2: Analyse Current Methods
• Step 3: Generate Original Ideas
• Step 4: Develop an Implementation Plan
• Step 5: Implement the Plan
• Step 6: Evaluate the New Method
• Efficient in Checking the Effectiveness of Proposed Solutions
• Focuses on Critical Processes that Influence Kaizen Sustainability