A
Review of Kaizen
Dr.
Amartya Kumar Bhattacharya
BCE
(Hons.) ( Jadavpur ), MTech ( Civil ) ( IIT Kharagpur ), PhD ( Civil
) ( IIT Kharagpur ), Cert.MTERM ( AIT Bangkok ), CEng(I), FIE,
FACCE(I), FISH, FIWRS, FIPHE, FIAH, FAE, MIGS, MIGS – Kolkata
Chapter, MIGS – Chennai Chapter, MISTE, MAHI, MISCA, MIAHS, MISTAM,
MNSFMFP, MIIBE, MICI, MIEES, MCITP, MISRS, MISRMTT, MAGGS, MCSI,
MIAENG, MMBSI, MBMSM
Chairman
and Managing Director,
MultiSpectra
Consultants,
23,
Biplabi Ambika Chakraborty Sarani,
Kolkata
– 700029, West Bengal, INDIA.
E-mail:
dramartyakumar@gmail.com
Website:
https://multispectraconsultants.com
Kaizen
is a concept referring to business activities that continuously
improve all functions and involve all employees from the CEO to the
assembly line workers. Kaizen (改善)
is the Sino-Japanese word for "improvement". Kaizen also
applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics, that cross
organisational boundaries into the supply chain.
By
improving standardised programmes and processes, kaizen aims to
eliminate waste (lean manufacturing). Kaizen was first practised in
Japanese businesses after World War II, influenced in part by
American business and quality-management teachers, and most notably
as part of The Toyota Way. It has since spread throughout the world
and has been applied to environments outside business and
productivity.
The
Japanese word kaizen means "change for better", without
inherent meaning of either "continuous" or "philosophy"
in Japanese dictionaries and in everyday use. The word refers to any
improvement, one-time or continuous, large or small, in the same
sense as the English word "improvement". However, given the
common practice in Japan of labelling industrial or business
improvement techniques with the word "kaizen", particularly
the practices spearheaded by Toyota, the word "kaizen" in
English is typically applied to measures for implementing continuous
improvement, especially those with a "Japanese philosophy".
The discussion below focuses on such interpretations of the word, as
frequently used in the context of modern management discussions. Two
kaizen approaches have been distinguished:
Point
Kaizen
It
is one of the most commonly implemented types of Kaizen. It happens
very quickly and usually without much planning. As soon as something
is found broken or incorrect, quick and immediate measures are taken
to correct the issues.
These
measures are generally small, isolated and easy to implement, however
they can have a huge impact.
In
some cases, it is also possible that the positive effects of point
kaizen in one area can reduce or eliminate benefits of point Kaizen
in some other area. An example of Point Kaizen could be a shop
inspection by a supervisor and he finds broken materials or other
small issues, and then asks the owner of the shop to perform a quick
Kaizen (5S) to rectify those issues.
System
Kaizen
System
Kaizen is accomplished in an organised manner and is devised to
address system level problems in an organisation.
It
is an upper level strategic planning method which results in a number
of planned Kaizen events over a long period of time. It is in
contrast to point Kaizen which generally happens as a result of
identification of a small issue which is resolved in a short period
of time.
Line
Kaizen
Line
in this context refers to a structured spreading of Lean from point
or discrete to the line. For example, Kaizen might be applied to a
process (point), but also to the downstream process. Those two points
constitute a Line Kaizen.
Another
example might be in Lean implemented in procurement, but also being
implemented in the planning department. Here in this case, planning
is upstream from procurement and Kaizen is performed at those two
points, which thus forms a line.
Plane
Kaizen
It
is the next upper level of Line Kaizen, in that several lines are
connected together. In modern terminologies, this can also be
described as value stream, where instead of traditional departments,
the organisation is structured into product lines or families and
value streams. It can be visualised as changes or improvements made
to one line being implemented to multiple other lines or processes.
Cube
Kaizen
Cube
Kaizen describes the situation where all the points of the planes are
connected to each other and no point is disjointed from each other.
This would resemble a situation where Lean has spread across the
entire organisation. Improvements are made up and down through the
plane, or upstream or downstream, including the complete
organisation, suppliers and customers. This might require some
changes in the standard business processes as well.
Kaizen
is a daily process, the purpose of which goes beyond simple
productivity improvement. It is also a process that, when done
correctly, humanises the workplace, eliminates overly hard work, and
teaches people how to perform experiments on their work using the
scientific method and how to learn to spot and eliminate waste in
business processes. In all, the process suggests a humanised approach
to workers and to increasing productivity: "The idea is to
nurture the company's people as much as it is to praise and encourage
participation in kaizen activities." Successful implementation
requires "the participation of workers in the improvement."
People at all levels of an organization participate in kaizen, from
the CEO down to janitorial staff, as well as external stakeholders
when applicable. Kaizen is most commonly associated with
manufacturing operations, as at Toyota, but has also been used in
non-manufacturing environments. The format for kaizen can be
individual, suggestion system, small group or large group. At Toyota,
it is usually a local improvement within a workstation or local area
and involves a small group in improving their own work environment
and productivity. This group is often guided through the kaizen
process by a line supervisor; sometimes this is the line supervisor's
key role. Kaizen on a broad, cross-departmental scale in companies,
generates total quality management and frees human efforts through
improving productivity using machines and computing power.
While
kaizen (at Toyota) usually delivers small improvements, the culture
of continual aligned small improvements and standardisation yields
large results in terms of overall improvement in productivity. This
philosophy differs from the "command and control"
improvement programmes (e.g., Business Process Improvement) of the
mid-20th century. Kaizen methodology includes making changes and
monitoring results, then adjusting. Large-scale pre-planning and
extensive project scheduling are replaced by smaller experiments,
which can be rapidly adapted as new improvements are suggested.
In
modern usage, it is designed to address a particular issue over the
course of a week and is referred to as a "kaizen blitz" or
"kaizen event". These are limited in scope, and issues that
arise from them are typically used in later blitzes. A person who
makes a large contribution in the successful implementation of kaizen
during kaizen events is awarded the title of "Zenkai". In
the 21st century, business consultants in various countries have
engaged in widespread adoption and sharing of the Kaizen framework as
a way to help their clients restructure and refocus their business
processes.
History
The
small-step work improvement approach was developed in the USA under
Training Within Industry programme (TWI Job Methods). Instead of
encouraging large, radical changes to achieve desired goals, these
methods recommended that organisations introduce small improvements,
preferably ones that could be implemented on the same day. The major
reason was that during World War II there was neither time nor
resources for large and innovative changes in the production of war
equipment. The essence of the approach came down to improving the use
of the existing workforce and technologies.
As
part of the Marshall Plan after World War II, American occupation
forces brought in experts to help with the rebuilding of Japanese
industry while the Civil Communications Section (CCS) developed a
management training programme that taught statistical control methods
as part of the overall material. Homer Sarasohn and Charles Protzman
developed and taught this course in 1949–1950. Sarasohn recommended
W. Edwards Deming for further training in statistical methods.
The
Economic and Scientific Section (ESS) group was also tasked with
improving Japanese management skills and Edgar McVoy was instrumental
in bringing Lowell Mellen to Japan to properly install the Training
Within Industry (TWI) programs in 1951. The ESS group had a training
film to introduce TWI's three "J" programs: Job
Instruction, Job Methods and Job Relations. Titled "Improvement
in Four Steps" (Kaizen eno Yon Dankai), it thus introduced
kaizen to Japan.
For
the pioneering, introduction and implementation of kaizen in Japan,
the Emperor of Japan awarded the Order of the Sacred Treasure to Dr.
Deming in 1960. Subsequently, the Union of Japanese Scientists and
Engineers (JUSE) instituted the annual Deming Prizes for achievement
in quality and dependability of products. On October 18, 1989, JUSE
awarded the Deming Prize to Florida Power and Light Co. (FPL), based
in the US, for its exceptional accomplishments in process and
quality-control management, making it the first company outside Japan
to win the Deming Prize.
Implementation
The
Toyota Production System is known for kaizen, where all line
personnel are expected to stop their moving production line in case
of any abnormality and, along with their supervisor, suggest an
improvement to resolve the abnormality which may initiate a kaizen.
The
PDCA cycles
The
cycle of kaizen activity can be defined as: "Plan → Do →
Check → Act". This is also known as the Shewhart cycle, Deming
cycle or PDCA.
Another
technique used in conjunction with PDCA is the 5 Whys, which is a
form of root cause analysis in which the user asks a series of five
"why" questions about a failure that has occurred, basing
each subsequent question on the answer to the previous. There are
normally a series of causes stemming from one root cause, and they
can be visualised using fishbone diagrams or tables. The Five Whys
can be used as a foundational tool in personal improvement, or as a
means to create wealth.
Masaaki
Imai made the term famous in his book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's
Competitive Success.
In
the Toyota Way Fieldbook, Liker and Meier discuss the kaizen blitz
and kaizen burst (or kaizen event) approaches to continuous
improvement. A kaizen blitz, or rapid improvement, is a focused
activity on a particular process or activity. The basic concept is to
identify and quickly remove waste. Another approach is that of the
kaizen burst, a specific kaizen activity on a particular process in
the value stream. Kaizen facilitators generally go through training
and certification before attempting a Kaizen project.
In
the 1990s, Professor Iwao Kobayashi published his book 20 Keys to
Workplace Improvement and created a practical, step-by-step
improvement framework called "the 20 Keys". He identified
20 operations focus areas which should be improved to attain holistic
and sustainable change. He went further and identified the 5 levels
of implementation for each of these 20 focus areas. 4 of the focus
areas are called Foundation Keys. According to the 20 Keys, these
foundation keys should be launched ahead of the others in order to
form a strong constitution in the company. The four foundation keys
are:
Key
1 – Cleaning and Organising to Make Work Easy, which is based on
the 5S methodology.
Key
2 – Goal Alignment/Rationalising the System
Key
3 – Small Group Activities
Key
4 – Leading and Site Technology
©
MultiSpectra Consultants, 2020.
