Always a Better Way - Kaizen

Always A Better Way – Kaizen

At some point in time, be it as an individual or organization, we all want to see progress. However, progress does not happen without change. You don’t expect to do the same thing over and over and get a different result. Change must happen.

But how do you incorporate change? Is it through major initiatives or through subtle incremental activities? Major change can sometimes be difficult and costly, though not impossible. However, continuous incessant change or improvement is easier to make and due to its subtle nature, it makes the change seamless.

One renowned way of undertaking continuous improvements and measuring progress is through the Kaizen philosophy.

Concept of Kaizen

Kaizen, which originates from Japan is a combination of two Japanese words ‘kai’ which means “change” and ‘zen’ which translates in English as “for the better”. Kaizen is a term which refers to continuous improvement = change for the better.

Kaizen involves ensuring there is continuous improvements in productivity whiles reducing waste. It is one of the core principles of the Toyota Production system which reflects Toyota’s slogan of ‘Always a Better Way’. This is the belief that a result might be good, but there is always a better way of doing the same thing.

Development of Kaizen

The?Kaizen concept?was developed in Japan following the World War II to help the Japanese industry recover after the war. However, Masaaki Imai, popularized the concept in 1986 through his book “Kaizen: The Key to Japan's competitive success”.

The purpose of Kaizen is to identify where processes break down and find the root cause to fix the problem to attain improvements in productivity. Though this was initially developed for the manufacturing industry, it is now being implemented by most industries as lean management systems to reduce waste.

The concept is not only beneficial to organizations, but it is also ideal on a personal level. Seeking continuous improvements in everything you do can help you attain some form of perfection.

The Kaizen Process

To ensure that Kaizen works within the industry that you find yourself, there are some fundamental steps that need to be followed when a challenge is detected and how a solution can be streamlined and turned into a repetitive, but sustainable process.

The fundamental process in Kaizen is STANDARDIZE – MEASURE – IMPROVE – SUSTAIN - REPEAT

Step 1 : Standardize

The first thing to do is to develop a standard way of doing something or a process from start to finish. Standardization helps you to easily identify when an error has occurred. For instance, the Toyota Production System has a standard process of manufacturing vehicles which makes it easier to identify an error as well as the source of that error and correct it to avoid defects.

A Kaizen-rooted company like Toyota Ghana has a standard procedure when servicing a vehicle from inventory taking with the customer, through to oil change and finally to handing over the vehicle to customer.

Step 2: Measure

Once you have a standard way of doing something, you need to measure the effectiveness of each activity. How long does it take to complete the process? How many materials did you use to get a particular result? You need to take note of each input and output. As they say, “what you cannot measure, you cannot improve”.

Step 3: Improve

Next, is to look out for ways to improve on your results. You need to identify innovative ways of improving on your output. Even though your process or output might be good, remember there is always a better way. What this step does is to help identify better and smarter ways of doing things.

As a caterer, what can you do to make that food taste better? As a church, what can be done to improve the experience and engagement of members? Asking Why? Why? Why? in Kaizen is a way to finding out the What, Who, Where, When….

For improvement, Toyota looks for ways to improve on mobility to make the end user comfortable. That is why Toyota Ghana conducts field surveys such as checking the exact road terrain, including the depth of potholes on our roads. These are sent to the manufacturer to aid in making decisions on how to improve the vehicles suspension.

Step 4: Sustain / Standardize (again)

After you have identified better ways of doing an initial activity, you need to sustain this new process and make it a standard. Remember standardization helps you to easily identify a defect to reduce waste.

Step 5: Repeat

When you sustain the improved process, you must repeat the steps, that is Measure, Improve and Sustain. This makes is cyclical and non-ending. There is always room for improvements.

Going through these steps initially might be challenging but it will be worth it because you will achieve the needed improved results at every point in time. You just have to be consistent with each step and embrace change.

Masaaki Imai said, ‘The message of Kaizen strategy is that, not a day should go by without some kind of improvement being made somewhere in the company’. This goes to say we should make ourselves ready and willing to change and make improvements even when we have the best results. There is ALWAYS A BETTER WAY!

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The writer is a Public Relations practitioner at Toyota Ghana Company Limited. (Suzy Ansah, APR [email protected])