University of Sto.

Tomas
Graduate School
España, Manila
Organizational Development
Friday 6:00pm – 9:00pm

Kaizen and Five S

Submitted by:

Asia Devii C. Flores

Submitted to:

Eugene Hontiveros, Ph.D.

I. Introduction to Kaizen

A. Kaizen

The Literal Definition of Kaizen in Japanese is 改 ('kai') which means

“change” and 善 ('zen') which means “good”. To sum it up, it means
“Change for the better” or “Improvement”.

The word itself as per Imai (1986) “implies improvement that involves
everyone – both managers and workers – and entails a relatively little
expense”. According to him, Kaizen applies to all aspects of life, not just to
the workplace.

The kaizen system is based on incremental innovation, where employees

are encouraged to make small changes in their work area on an ongoing
basis. The cumulative effect of all these little changes over time can be
quite significant, especially if all of the employees within a company and
its leaders are committed to this philosophy.

Improvements are usually accomplished at little or no expense without

sophisticated techniques or expensive equipment. Instead of sinking more
money in buying machinery, Kaizen veers an organization towards paying
attention to small but significant details. Managers are encouraged to
improve the efficiency of existing infrastructure instead of investing in
more of the same.

The driving force behind kaizen is dissatisfaction with the status quo, no
matter how good the firm is perceived to be. Standing still will allow the
competition to overtake and pass any complacent firm. The act of being
creative to solve a problem or make an improvement not only educates
people but also inspires to go further.

B. Short History of Kaizen

The Kaizen miracle started in the 1930s. Sakichi Toyoda, founder of

Toyota, which manufactured automatic looms at the time, liked to tell his
co-workers: “Open the window; it’s a big world out there.”

In 1950, Toyota Implemented quality circles leading to the development of

Toyota’s unique “Toyota Production System”. Toyota System is a system
of continuous improvement in quality, technology, processes, company
culture, productivity, safety and leadership.

These continual small improvements (Kaizen) add up to major benefits.

They result, for example, in: faster delivery, lower costs, and greater
customer satisfaction.
In 1986 Masaaki Imai introduced to the Western world the Japanese term
Kaizen and made it famous through his book, Kaizen: The Key to Japan's
Competitive Success. Translated in fourteen languages, Kaizen became a
fad the world over.

In 1997 Imai introduced an evolved form of Kaizen in his book Gemba

Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach to Management, to reassert
the importance of the shop floor in bringing about continual improvement
in an organization. In essence, that translates into something of a
corporate 'back to basics' philosophy. Gemba is where the product is
actually manufactured, which could mean the assembly line in a
manufacturing plant or the place where employees interact with
customers in the service sector. It is "the place where the real work is
done", as Imai likes to put it.

C. Major Kaizen Concepts

1. Kaizen and Management

Management has two major components:

1. maintenance
2. improvement

The objective of the maintenance function is to maintain current

technological, managerial, and operating standards. The improvement
function is aimed at improving current standards. Under the
maintenance function, the management must first establish policies,
rules, directives and standard operating procedures (SOPs) and then work
towards ensuring that everybody follows SOP. The latter is achieved
through a combination of discipline and human resource development
measures.

Under the improvement function, management works continuously

towards revising the current standards, once they have been mastered,
and establishing higher ones. Improvement can be broken down between
innovation and Kaizen. Innovation involves a drastic improvement in the
existing process and requires large investments. Kaizen signifies small
improvements as a result of coordinated continuous efforts by all
employees.
 2. Process-Oriented Thinking vs. Result-Oriented Thinking

Kaizen concentrates at improving the process rather than at achieving

certain results. Such managerial attitudes and process thinking make a
major difference in how an organization masters change and achieves
improvements.

3. Following the PDCA / SDCA cycles

The first step in the Kaizen Process establishes the PDCA cycle.

Plan – refers to establishing a target for improvement

Do – refers to implementing the plan
Check – refers to determining whether the implementation remains on
track.
Act – refers to performing and standardizing prevent recurrence of the
original problem or to set goals for the new improvement.

The PDCA cycle revolves continuously. It’s the reason why management
should initiate this by establishing continuously challenging goals.
However, before working on PDCA, any current process must be
stabilized. This is also referred as improvement

The SDCA cycle, on the other hand, standardizes and stabilizes the
current process and also refers to maintenance.

The latter are the major responsibilities of the management.

IMPROVEMENT – PDCA

Act Plan
A P

C D
Check Do
 MAINTENANCE – SDCA

Standardi
Act
ze
A S

C D
Check Do

4. Putting Quality First

• Of quality, cost and delivery, which should have the highest priority?
• This concept requires management commitment.
• Managers often face the temptation to make compromises in
meeting delivery requirements or cutting costs.

5. Speak with Data

Kaizen is a problem solving process. The problem must be understood

and recognized. Solving a problem without a data is not a very
scientific or objective approach. Thus, verifying and analyzing data for
improvement is very vital.

6. The next process is the customer

• The next process should always be regarded as the customer.

• Refers to two types of customers: internal and external.
• When everyone in the organization practices this, the external
customer will receive a high quality product or service as a result.

D. Major Kaizen Systems

The following major systems should be in place in order to successfully

achieve a Kaizen strategy:

1. Total Quality Control / Total Quality Management

2. A Just in time production system
3. Total Productive Maintenance
4. Policy Deployment
5. A suggestion system
6. Small group activities
1. Total Quality Control / Total Quality Management
One of the principles of Japanese Management has been TQC in its
early development. This has evolved into a system encompassing all
aspects of management and is now referred as TQM – a term used
internationally.

TQC / TQM should not be regarded as strictly as a quality control

activity: It has developed as a strategy to aid management to be more
competitive and profitable by helping it to improve in all aspects of
business.

T – means Total. It involves everybody in the organization.

Q – means Quality. Has priority but there are other goals too - namely
cost and delivery.
C – refers to control or process control

In TQC/TQM key process must be identified, controlled and improved

on continuously in order to improve results.

TQM

Aim for continuous improvement/ involve suppliers

& customers / Involve all operations / Performance
measurement / Teamwork / Employee
involvement

Quality Assurance

Third party approval, systems audits, advanced

quality planning, involvement of non production
operations, failure mode and effect analysis,
statistical process control.

Quality Control

Develop quality manual, process performance

data, self inspection, product testing, basic quality
planning, use of basic statistics, paper work
control

Inspection

Salvage, sorting, grading, corrective actions,

identify sources of non conformance
2. The Just in Time Production System

This system aims at eliminating non-value adding activities. It is flexible

enough to accommodate fluctuations in customers order. It dramatically
reduces cost, delivers the product in time and greatly enhances company
profits.

3. Total Productive Maintenance

• TQM emphasizes improving overall management performance and

quality.
• TPM focuses on improving equipment quality.
• TPM Seeks to maximize equipment efficiency through a total system
of preventive maintenance spanning the lifetime of the equipment.

The Five Pillars of TPM

1. Autonomous Maintenance – Clean – covers the operator

performing initial cleaning, general inspection, and process
inspection while establishing standards for cleaning, lubricating and
inspecting.
2. Maintenance Mindset & Training – To Detect – Training of
operators is in place to give them the knowledge of the need for
daily maintenance as well as what the optimal operating conditions
are. Training of maintenance is in place to give them the knowledge
of how to train operators and to monitor, improve and correct
design flaws and equipment restoration. The ultimate goal is that
the operator’s responsibilities cover the external and the
maintenance’s would be for the internal.
3. Planned Maintenance System – To Correct – A system developed
to cover daily, weekly, and monthly checks in conjunction with
identifying symptoms of deterioration and implementing an
equipment refurbishment program.
4. Overall Equipment Effectiveness – To Perfect – A measure that
categorizes production losses of availability, performance and
quality for a piece of equipment. A baseline can then be developed
which enables identification of the six major losses for a given piece
of equipment so that there can be improvement.
5. Early Equipment Management System – To Protect – The
system has five major components: maintenance, design standards,
life cycle costing, maintenance database, maintenance and operator
involvement in equipment planning and purchasing and early
warning diagnostics.

4. Policy Deployment

If everybody is engaged with Kaizen for Kaizen’s sake without any aim, its
impact may be limited. Management should ensure that clear cut targets
are established to guide everyone. Top Management must device a long
term strategy broken down into medium term and annual strategies.

Kaizen without a target would resemble a trip without destination.

5. The Suggestion System

The Suggestion System emphasizes on the participation of the employees

and it can boost up their morale. Employees are often encouraged to
discuss their suggestion verbally with their supervisors and put them into
action right away before even submitting suggestion forms.

6. Small Group Activities

Small Group activities are informal, voluntarily organized to carry out

specific tasks in a workshop environment. The most popular type of small
group activity is quality circles. It is designed to address not only quality
issues but also costs, safety and productivity.

II. Gemba Kaizen

A. What is Gemba Kaizen?

Gemba ( 現 場 ) is a Japanese word meaning “real place” where the real

action takes place. In business, Gemba is the “shopfloor” or ‘production
place’ where the value-adding activities to satisfy the customer are
carried out. Gemba Kaizen requires going into the nuts & bolts of the
manufacturing operations.

In business, there are three major activities directly related to earning

money - developing, producing and selling products. Without these
activities, the company cannot exist. Therefore, in a broad sense, Gemba
means the sites of these three major activities. In a narrower context,
however, Gemba means the place where the products are made.

B. Gemba and Management

• Placing Gemba at the top of the organization, show its importance

to the company.
• The regular management layers exist to provide the necessary
support to the worksite.
• Management exists to help Gemba do a better job by reducing
constraints as much as possible.
• Gemba should be the site of all improvements and the source of all
information.
• Supervisors should play a key role in gemba management
• Maintaining gemba at the top of the management structure requires
committed employees.
 Management Support to Gemba

GEMBA

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

MANAGEMENT
SUPPORT

Management Managing Gemba

CUSTOMER EXPECTATIONS CUSTOMER SATISFACTION

MANAGEMENT
CONTROL

GEMBA

• Sitting at the top or sitting at the bottom are equally valid in terms
of gemba management.
• Gemba by providing the product and services that satisfy the
customer and management by setting strategy and deploying policy
to achieve the goal in gemba.
• Thus the thrust for improvement should be both bottom-up and top-
down.
• Top-down initiates establishing policies, targets and priorities.
• This process of achieving corporate objectives is called policy
deployment
• Many managers tend to believe that their job is to always tell gemba
what to do.
• Looking at the bottom-top, managers must see that they should
listen to and learn from employees in gemba in order to provide
appropriate help.
• Gemba becomes the source for achieving commonsense, low cost
improvements.
• The respective roles of management in this two models should not
be confused.
C. Five Golden Rules of Gemba

1. When a Problem Arises, (abnormality) go to gemba first.

This is the first, and most important rule. Many managers learn
about the problems that happened in gemba from a report that
reaches them several days or weeks after. The best solution is to go
to gemba at once when you hear that a problem has happened.
2. Check with gembutsu (machines, tools, rejects, and
customer complaints.)

Gembutsu¸another Japanese, means some tangible things on which

you can put your hands. If a machine is down, the machine itself is
gembutsu. If a customer is complaining, the customer is gembutsu.

For instance, if the machine is down, go to gemba and have a good

look at the machine. By looking at the machine, and asking the
question “why” several times, you can probably find out the reason
for the breakdown on the spot.

3. Take temporary countermeasures on the spot.

For instance, if the machine is down, you have to get it started

because the show must go on. Sometimes you kick the machine to
get it started. If a customer is angry, you will need to apologize, or
even give some gift to appease. But these are only temporary
measures and do not address the real issue, which leads to the next
point.

4. Find out the root cause.

By repeating the question “why” several times, you can find out the
root cause of the problem.

5. Standardize for prevention of recurrence.

Once you identify the root cause, and come up with a

countermeasure, you should standardize such a countermeasure so that
the same problem will not recur.

III. Ground Rules for Practicing Kaizen in Gemba

A. Housekeeping

Housekeeping is an indispensable ingredient of good management.

Through good housekeeping, employees acquire and practice self-
discipline. Employees without self-disciplines make it difficult to
provide products or services of good quality to the customer.
 The Five “S” of Good Housekeeping

5S is a method for organizing a workspace, especially a shared workplace

(like a shop floor or an office space), and keeping it organized. Its main
focuses are preventing errors, eliminating wastes, preventing accidents
and eliminate maintenance breakdowns.

1. Seiri (整理): Sorting

Refers to the practice of going through all the tools, materials, etc., in
the work area and keeping only essential items. Everything else is
stored or discarded. This leads to fewer hazards and less clutter to
interfere with productive work.

2. Seiton (整頓): Simplifying

Focuses on the need for an orderly workplace. "Orderly" in this sense

means arranging the tools and equipment in an order that promotes
work flow. Tools and equipment should be kept where they will be
used, and the process should be ordered in a manner that eliminates
extra motion.

3. Seisō (清掃): Sweeping, Systematic Cleaning, or Shining

Indicates the need to keep the workplace clean as well as neat.

Cleaning in Japanese companies is a daily activity. At the end of each
shift, the work area is cleaned up and everything is restored to its
place, making it easy to know what goes where and to know when
everything is where it should be are essential here. The key point is
that maintaining cleanliness should be part of the daily work - not an
occasional activity initiated when things get too messy.

4. Seiketsu (清潔): Standardizing

This refers to standardized work practices. It refers to more than

standardized cleanliness (otherwise this would mean essentially the
same as "systemized cleanliness"). This means operating in a
consistent and standardized fashion. Everyone knows exactly what his
or her responsibilities are. In part this follows from Seiton where the
order of a workplace should reflect the process of work, these imply
standardised work practice and workstation layout.

5. Shitsuke (躾): Sustaining

Refers to maintaining and reviewing standards. Once the previous 4S's

have been established they become the new way to operate. Maintain
the focus on this new way of operating, and do not allow a gradual
 decline back to the old ways of operating. However, when an issue
arises such as a suggested improvement or a new way of working, or a
new tool, or a new output requirement then a review of the first 4S's is
appropriate.

6. Anzen (安全): Safety

This enables the creation and maintenance of an organized, clean, safe

and efficient setting. Is an ideal tool for workplace health and safety
officers to address risk profiles in a work area or reduce the risk of
cross-contamination. This is not usually included among the 5 rules of
housekeeping.

B. Muda Elimination

In Japanese, the word muda means waste. Any activity that does not
add value is muda. People in gemba either add value or do not add
value. This is also true for other resources, such as machines and
materials. Muda elimination can be the most cost-effective way to
improve productivity and reduce operating costs. Kaizen emphasizes
the elimination of muda in gemba rather than the increasing of
investment.

Types of Muda

Muda of over production – This is regarded as the worst type of

muda. If you produce more than your customer needs, you have extra
pieces that need to be taken care of, such as handling and keeping in
stock.
Muda of inventory – This is the result of over production. If you
process only Produces what the next process needs, you can eliminate
muda of inventory altogether.
Muda of waiting – How often do you see operators just waiting for
the material to arrive or the machine to start? No value is added when
operators are waiting and looking.
Muda of motion – When the operator is moving around, looking for
tools or going to get the work pieces, no value is added.
Muda of transportation – When materials are moving on the
trucks, forklifts, or on the conveyer, no value is added.
Muda of producing rejects – Producing rejects leads to rework, or
else rejects must be thrown away, a big muda.
Muda of processing – By rearranging the working sequence, often
you can eliminate a particular process.

Muda, Mura & Muri

1. Muda
Any activity that consumes resources without creating value for the
customer. Within this general category it is useful to distinguish between
type one muda, consisting of activities that cannot be eliminated
immediately, and type two muda, consisting of activities that can be
eliminated quickly through kaizen.

2. Mura

Unevenness in an operation; for example, a gyrating schedule not caused

by end-consumer demand but rather by the production system, or an
uneven work pace in an operation causing operators to hurry and then
wait. Unevenness often can be eliminated by managers through level
scheduling and careful attention to the pace of work.

3. Muri

Overburdening equipment or operators by requiring them to run at a

higher or harder pace with more force and effort for a longer period of
time than equipment designs and appropriate workforce management
allow.

C. Standardization

The third ground rule of kaizen practices in gemba is standardization.

Standards may be defined as the best way to do the job. Products of
services are created as a result of a series of processes; certain standard
must be maintained at each process in order to assure quality. Standards
also can prevent recurrence of the same problem.

IV. Visual Management

Visual Management is the process of creating a workplace that has

eliminated information deficit.

It is the process of creating an environment where things are obvious from

the minute you walk into the area.

Visual Management is achieved by inserting time saving, useful

information or clues into the workplace in a way that flows naturally with
the value adding steps of the product or service you are providing.

It helps us to eliminate the wasteful motion involved in searching for

information or items that should be there when we need them.
By creating a visual work environment we breathe life into our processes
and make them come alive.

Visual information needs to be relevant, useful, and up to date. How we

present information is only limited to our own imaginations.

Practical Visual Management

What are some of the things we need to consider when implementing

Visual Management?

1. Make the work visible and obvious

How often do you walk into an office and there is clutter everywhere. It is
not at all clear where today's work is. Make the work visible, organized
and easy to see! Avoid hiding the work in different locations.

2. Make the current performance against customer

requirements visible

Do we have a target and how are we collectively doing against that

target? If you go to a sports match there is generally some sort of
scoreboard to tell you how each team is doing and what the score is. Do
you have anything similar in your workplace?

3. Make waste jump out at you

By having a place for everything and everything in its place, abnormality

becomes easy to see. For instance, if we size our storage to take only the
items we require, and there is excess, then there is no place to store the
excess and the waste screams out at you!
What equipment do we use and is it clear where it is stored and where it
should go back to once finished with?

4. Some useful Visual Management resources / techniques

/methods

Andons
An andon is a device to indicate that the process has stopped for some
reason. This can be as simple as a colored block that you place on top of
your workstation or a flashing light that is connected to a central support
resource.

Signage
Professional signage can be a great way to create visual control.
Color Coding
Creating a color code that everyone understands can have great visual
impact.

Floor Marking
Indicate what should go where.

Visual procedures
Use flow charts, text and pictures to describe the process right beside
where the action takes place.

Shadow Boards
By creating a shadow around an item then it is easy to see where the item
should be returned.

Poka-yoke pronounced "POH-kah YOH-keh" — is a Japanese term that

means "fail-safing" or "mistake-proofing" — avoiding (yokeru) inadvertent
errors (poka) is a behavior-shaping constraint, or a method of preventing
errors by putting limits on how an operation can be performed in order to
force the correct completion of the operation. The concept was
formalized, and the term adopted, by Shigeo Shingo as part of the Toyota
Production System. Originally described as Baka-yoke, but as this means
"fool-proofing" (or "idiot proofing") the name was changed to the milder
Poka-yoke.

An example of this in general experience is the inability to remove a car

key from the ignition switch of an automobile if the automatic
transmission is not first put in the "Park" position, so that the driver
cannot leave the car in an unsafe parking condition where the wheels are
not locked against movement. In the IT world another example can be
found in a normal 3.5" floppy disk: the top-right corner is shaped in a
certain way so that the disk cannot be inserted upside-down. In the
manufacturing world an example might be that the jig for holding pieces
for processing only allows pieces to be held in one orientation, or has
switches on the jig to detect whether a hole has been previously cut or
not, or it might count the number of spot welds created to ensure that,
say, four have been executed by the operator.
Critical success factors for human resource outcomes in Kaizen
events: An empirical study

By: Jennifer A. Farris, Eileen M. Van Aken, Toni L. Doolen, Jun

Worley

Kaizen events are the application of Kaizen techniques in an accelerated

manner that focuses on a specific improvement area and tracked as an
event, rather than an ongoing process. It has been used as an
organizational improvement mechanism aimed at transforming work
areas and developing employees. Organizations have found these events
beneficial to them.

According to the authors of this journal article, several kaizen events

design descriptions already exist however, only a few empirical evidence
of what process factors are related to kaizen events outcomes. In my
opinion, this is but necessary since a lot of organizations are
implementing these. It would not only give them a guide in producing
bigger results but also have employees with developed attitudinal and
problem-solving capabilities.

I have been working with an engineering company for the past two (2)
years already. In this period, I have come to realize that our organization
is now ready to accept an organizational intervention which is Kaizen. My
proposal has been accepted by our General Manager (who is also the
owner of the company) and we’re about to implement it by April.

We don’t have a kaizen event at the moment since we’re still kicking off
the program. However, with the input that the study has given us, we
would probably know when to have a kaizen event. It may not solve any
problem within our organization, but it can possibly bring breakthrough
improvements in our objective to have a lean company.
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