Kaizen(改善) – Japanese Business Philosophy beginners need to know

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?We have all heard of the word Kaizen （改善） if we are into Japanese studies or work with Japanese companies.

Lets study some basics about not so easy information about Kaizen.

Kaizen （改善) is composed of two Japanese words namely kai (改?かい) meaning change or revision and Zen(善?ぜん) meaning virtue. As you can see, the word Kaizen(改善) when translated literally, means virtue of change/ revision. ?But technically, it means the measures for continuous improvement.

Therefore, the term Kaizen(改善) speaks about change and improvement in a shop floor or an organization.

The changes must be continuous -incremental and ongoing to keep evolving and bettering the situations of work.

For an effective Kaizen(改善), all employees of the organisation should be involved in Kaizen(改善) activity from the CEO to the janitor.

Kaizen(改善) in the manufacturing sector was created to lower defects, eliminate waste, boost productivity, encourage worker purpose and accountability and promote innovation.

The purpose of the Kaizen(改善) is the modification of the production equipment’s, the manufacture or creation of tools, improvement of business efficiency, or preservation of work safety measures and prevention of quality defects. The most unique point about Kaizen(改善) is that its not in following the orders from top management but each worker should use his own wisdom to sense problems and take measures to prevent them. The organisations generally support this activity through QC Circles (We will see this bit later). This method of coupling QC Circles is followed in many manufacturing companies in Japan.

How did Kaizen(改善) start?

Kaizen(改善) traces back to Japan’s Post World War II era.? Though it started in manufacturing industry (Toyota) it transcended industries and started used widely in many industries.

When after the end of World War II Japan was reconstructing its industries and economy, Toyota Motor Corporation started the Kaizen(改善) to optimize production, eliminate wastes and improve quality. Their success with Kaizen(改善) lead to other industries implementing it and finally became a global phenomenon.

Toyota came up with Quality Circles. This was the idea of the visiting American company headed by W. Edwards Deming who suggested that quality control should be put into the hands of the line workers.

A Quality Circle is a group of workers doing the same or similar work, to assemble periodically to identify, analyse and solve work-related problems. This method rose to popularity in 1950s. It still exists in the form of Kaizen Groups or other similar groups which brainstorm points requiring Kaizen.

?Masaaki Imai, a Japanese organizational theorist, and management consultant, brought popularity to Kaizen by his book, Kaizen: Japanese spirit of improvement” (1985) and Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success?in 1986

10 Principles of Kaizen(改善) ?

These 10 principles are considered the core to the Philosophy of Kaizen(改善).

These are so full of common sense that anyone can understand and implement to bring changes to their work, workplaces, and lives.

1.?????? Let go of assumptions.

2.?????? Be proactive about solving problems.

3.?????? Don't accept the status quo.

4.?????? Let go of perfectionism and take an attitude of iterative, adaptive change.

5.?????? Look for solutions as you find mistakes.

6.?????? Create an environment in which everyone feels empowered to contribute.

7.?????? Don't accept the obvious issue; instead, ask "why" five times to get to the root cause.

8.?????? Cull information and opinions from multiple people.

9.?????? Use creativity to find low-cost, small improvements.

10.?? Never stop improving.

How does Kaizen(改善) Work?

Kaizen(改善) is based of two sets of beliefs 1. Everything can be improved and status quo can be changed. 2. Respect for People principle.

Problems are found and fixed and then the process is observed to find any wrongly-or-inadequately addressed issues. This relook into solved issues is referred to as cycling and it contains 7 steps.

1.?????? Get employees involved to let them express their views and ideas. A small group of employees are made responsible to gather or convey information to wider group of employees.

2.?????? Find Problems Feedback from employees becomes a list of issues noted down.

3.?????? Find a solution Encourage and empower employees to come up with their solutions and ideas for arriving at a solution.

4.?????? Test the solutions. Form pilot study groups tp test the solutions by implementing the solutions got from the above activity.

5.?????? Analyse the solutions. Check the progress by identifying a leader and by finding ways to keep the team engaged.

6.?????? If results are worthwhile, adopt the results.

7.?????? Repeat the above steps for new problems to find new solutions. This should be an ongoing process.

The major outcomes of Kaizen(改善) are elimination of waste , workplace tidiness, and standardization.

The regular practice of Kaizen(改善) becomes a company culture and comes naturally to the employees.

The Kaizen(改善) is based on one truth. Those who do a work, know it best. Hence, the best solution can come from them rather than any think tank department head.

Next a Kaizen(改善) oriented person tends to ask the question “Why?”.

Advantages of Kaizen(改善)

1.?????? The method of gradual change creates a gentler and confidence-giving method of improvement contrary to the rushed and hurried method which may drain people making them rebellious.

2.?????? The Kaizen(改善) encourages the process of recheck which helps with eliminating inefficiencies and waste.

3.?????? Few errors, remove the chances of mistakes and wastes.

4.?????? As Kaizen(改善) encourages the development of value and purpose, it aids in morale building of the employees.

5.?????? Team building is enhanced as employees think beyond their works and departments.

6.?????? Kaizen(改善) encourages customer-centric attitudes which in turn makes employees focussed

7.?????? Systems are in place for long-and-short term improvements

???? Disadvantages of Kaizen(改善) ?

1.?????? Companies which practice territorialism and lack open and transparent communications may fail in implementing Kaizen(改善) and therefore need to change the culture of the company.

2.?????? Short term Kaizen(改善) may bring an aura od success and excitement which fades very soon.

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About Taiichi Ohno

Taiichi Ohno is a business man and the father of Toyota Production System (TPS). Taiichi Ohno developed the Toyota Production system (TPS) in 1945 and made it final by 1965. The time he started work on the Toyota Production System was when the company was going through bad times after the war. TPS was a survival strategy to improve the situation. The company was downhill lacking finances and materials. Then Ohno used the only available resource-employee who were intelligent and skilled and ready to work hard. It was at that time Ohno came with the 10 Commandments, listed above.

Toyota Production System is also known as the Just In Time manufacturing. Just In Time (JIT) Is a system to reduce wastes and increase efficiency through continuous improvement.

Kaizen(改善) also includes the 5S and the 3M concepts which speak of standardisation, discipline and the 3 Muda (Wastes) which enable efficient and waste free production.

That will be dealt with on another day.