Kaizen 

(Japanese: 改善, "improvement") is concept referring to business activities

that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees from the CEO to the assembly
line workers. Kaizen also applies to processes, such as purchasing and logistics, that cross
organizational boundaries into the supply chain.[1] It has been applied in healthcare,
[2]
 psychotherapy,[3] life coaching, government, and banking.
By improving standardized programs and processes, kaizen aims to eliminate waste and
redundancies (lean manufacturing). Kaizen was first practiced 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 of business and productivity.[4]

Contents

 1Overview
o 1.1Point Kaizen
o 1.2System Kaizen
o 1.3Line Kaizen
o 1.4Plane Kaizen
o 1.5Cube Kaizen
 2Benefits and tradeoffs
 3History
 4Implementation
 5In popular culture
 6See also
 7References
 8Further reading
 9External links

Overview[edit]
The Japanese word kaizen means 'change for better', with the 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.[5] However, given the common practice in Japan of labeling 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:[6]

Point Kaizen[edit]
Point Kaizen is one of the most commonly implemented types of kaizen.[citation needed] 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.
Examples of point kaizen include a shop inspection by a supervisor who 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, or a line worker who notices a potential improvement in efficiency by placing
the materials needed in another order or closer to the production line in order to minimize
downtime.

System Kaizen[edit]
System kaizen is accomplished in an organized manner and is devised to address system-level
problems in an organization.
It is an upper-level strategic planning method for a short period of time.

Line Kaizen[edit]
Line Kaizen refers to communication of improvements between the upstream and downstream of
a process. This can be extended in several ways.

Plane Kaizen[edit]
This is the next upper level of line kaizen, in that several lines are connected together. In modern
terminologies, this can also be described as a value stream, where instead of traditional
departments, the organization is structured into product lines or families and value streams. It
can be visualized as changes or improvements made to one line being implemented to multiple
other lines or processes.

Cube Kaizen[edit]
Cube kaizen describes the situation where all the points of the planes are connected to each
other and no point is disjointed from any other. This would resemble a situation where Lean has
spread across the entire organization. Improvements are made up and down through the plane,
or upstream or downstream, including the complete organization, suppliers and customers. This
might require some changes in the standard business processes as well.

Benefits and tradeoffs[edit]

Kaizen is a daily process, the purpose of which goes beyond simple productivity improvement. It
is also a process that, when done correctly, humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly hard
work (muri), 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 humanized 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."[7] Successful implementation requires "the participation of workers in the
improvement."[8] 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.[9] 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.[citation needed]
While kaizen (at Toyota) usually delivers small improvements, the culture of continual aligned
small improvements and standardization yields large results in terms of overall improvement in
productivity. This philosophy differs from the "command and control" improvement programs
(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.[citation needed]
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".[10][11] These are limited in scope, and issues that
arise from them are typically used in later blitzes.[citation needed] 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[edit]
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Main article: Industrial change in occupied Japan
The small-step work improvement approach was developed in the USA under Training Within
Industry program (TWI Job Methods).[12] Instead of encouraging large, radical changes to achieve
desired goals, these methods recommended that organizations introduce small improvements,
preferably ones that could be implemented on the same day. The major reason was that during
WWII there was neither time nor resources for large and innovative changes in the production of
war equipment.[13] 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 program 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 & 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.[14]
Kaoru Ishikawa took up this concept to define how continuous improvement or kaizen can be
applied to processes, as long as all the variables of the process are known.[15]

Implementation[edit]
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[16]

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 five 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.[17][18] There are normally a series
of causes stemming from one root cause,[19] and they can be visualized using fishbone
diagrams or tables. The five whys can be used as a foundational tool in personal improvement,
[20]
 or as a means to create wealth.[21]
Masaaki Imai made the term famous in his book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive
Success.[1]
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.[22] Kaizen facilitators generally[weasel  words] go through training and
certification before attempting a Kaizen project.[citation needed]
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 five levels of implementation for each of
these 20 focus areas. Four 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 Organizing to Make Work Easy, which is based on the 5S
methodology.
 Key 2 – Goal Alignment/Rationalizing the System
 Key 3 – Small Group Activities
 Key 4 – Leading and Site Technology

In popular culture[edit]
Kaizen-85 is the name of the AI aboard the leisure space ship Nautilus in the game Event 0.
American jazz band Hiroshima recorded an instrumental track that is the eighth track on their
1992 release Providence called "Kaizen".