What is Kaizen? The Toyota Way?
Kaizen is an approach to creating continuous improvement based on the idea that small, ongoing positive changes can reap significant improvements. Another term says that Kaizen is The Toyota Way. The Toyota Way is a comprehensive expression of the company’s management philosophy, which is based on the two foundational pillars of Continuous Improvement, also known as kaizen. It was developed in the manufacturing sector to lower defects, eliminate waste, boost productivity, encourage worker purpose and accountability, and promote innovation around 1980’s after World War II. Mostly, people know that Kaizen is from Toyota and was created by Masaaki Imai but in reality, many big companies already adopted Kaizen as their culture such as Honda, Sony, Toshiba, Canon, Nissan, and many other automotive, technology, healthcare, and manufacturing companies. Kaizen is also used in Total Quality Management (TQM) to ensure the quality improvement of people.
Considered the Father of Kaizen, Masaaki Imai globally introduced kaizen as a systematic management methodology in “Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success (1986)”.
Kaizen is a compound of two Japanese words that together translate as “good change” or “improvement.” However, Kaizen has come to mean “continuous improvement” through its association with lean methodology and principles.
Kaizen is based on the belief that everything can be improved, and nothing is the status quo. It also rests on a Respect for People principle. Kaizen involves identifying issues and opportunities, creating solutions, and rolling them out — and then cycling through the process again for inadequately addressed issues and problems. A cycle made up of seven steps can be implemented for continuous improvement and can provide a systematic method for executing this process.
Kaizen cycle for continuous improvement
Kaizen can be implemented in a seven-step cycle to create an environment based on continuous improvement. This systematic method includes the following steps:
- Get employees involved. Seek the involvement of employees, including soliciting their help in identifying issues and problems. Doing so creates buy-in for change. Often, this is organized as specific groups of individuals charged with gathering and relaying information from a wider group of employees.
- Find problems. Using widespread feedback from all employees, gather a list of problems and potential opportunities. Create a list if there are many issues.
- Create a solution. Encourage employees to offer creative solutions, with all manner of ideas encouraged. Pick a winning solution or solutions from the ideas presented.
- Test the solution. Implement the winning solution chosen above, with everyone participating in the rollout. Create pilot programs or take other small steps to test out the solution.
- Analyze the results. At various intervals, check progress, with specific plans for who will be the point of contact and how best to keep ground-level workers engaged. Determine how successful the change has been.
- If the results are positive, adopt the solution throughout the organization.
- These seven steps should be repeated on an ongoing basis, with new solutions tested where appropriate or new lists of problems tackled.
10 principles of Kaizen
Because executing Kaizen requires enabling the right mindset throughout a company, 10 principles that address the Kaizen mindset are commonly referenced as core to the philosophy. They are:
- Let go of assumptions.
- Be proactive about solving problems.
- Don’t accept the status quo.
- Let go of perfectionism and take an attitude of iterative, adaptive change.
- Look for solutions as you find mistakes.
- Create an environment in which everyone feels empowered to contribute.
- Don’t accept the obvious issue; instead, ask “why” five times to get to the root cause.
- Cull information and opinions from multiple people.
- Use creativity to find low-cost, small improvements.
- Never stop improving.
Kaizen 5S framework
A 5S framework is a critical part of the Kaizen system and establishes an ideal physical workplace. The 5Ses focus on creating visual order, organization, cleanliness, and standardization to improve profitability, efficiency, service, and safety. Below are the original Japanese 5Ses and their common English translations.
- Seiri/Sort (organize). Separate necessary workplace items from unnecessary ones and remove unnecessary items.
- Seiton/Set in order (create orderliness). Arrange items to allow for easy access in the way that makes the most sense for work.
- Seiso/Shine (cleanliness). Keep the workspace clean and tidy.
- Seiketsu/Standardize (standardized cleaning). Systematize workplace cleanup best practices.
- Shitsuke/Sustain (discipline). Keep the effort going.
In practice, Kaizen can be used for us to have a habit where we continue to improve ourselves and train discipline in life. For example, we can learn something from everyday activities and new things.
To achieve Kaizen, you need to adopt the practice of self-criticism. In Japanese, that practice is known as “Hansei.” This means that you need to hold yourself accountable and find room for improvement, even if everything is going according to plan.
Type of Kaizen process cycle is commonly known as PDCA (Plan, Do, Check, and Act) and is widely used to improve business operations. This approach brings a scientific and methodical approach to making enhancements and achieving desired outcomes.
- Plan: Plan your improvements, including setting goals.
- Do: Put in place the actions required for improvement.
- Check: Measure your success relative to your baseline.
- Act: Adjust or tweak your changes.
Maybe that’s the secret of why Japanese people have having Collectivist work culture. Did you adopt Kaizen in your company or maybe your personal life? Let me know your thoughts!
Credit: TechTarget, BusinessMap.io