KAIZEN

Kaizen for "improvement", or "change for the better" refers to philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, game development, and business management. 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.

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The fundamental idea behind kaizen someone has an idea for doing the job better (Plan) Experiments will be conducted to investigate the idea (Do) The results evaluated to determine if the idea produced the desired result (Check) If so, the standard operating procedures will be changed (Act)

KAIZEN

Kaizen is a system that involves every employee, from upper management to the cleaning crew.

Everyone is encouraged to come up with small improvement suggestions on a regular basis.

In the first stage, management should make every effort to help the workers provide suggestions, no matter how primitive, for the improvement of the worker's job and the workshop. This will help the workers look at the way they are doing their jobs. n the second stage, management should stress employee education so that employees can provide better suggestions. To enable workers to provide better suggestions, they should be equipped to analyze problems and the environment. This requires education.

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Phase 1: Planning and Preparation The first challenge is to identify an appropriate target area for a rapid improvement event. Such areas might include: Areas with substantial work-in-progress. An administrative process or production area where significant bottlenecks or delays occur. Areas where everything is a "mess" and/or quality or performance does not meet customer expectations. Areas that have significant market or financial impact (i.e., the most "value added" activities).

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Phase 2: Implementation The team first works to develop a clear understanding of the "current state" of the targeted process so that all team members have a similar understanding of the problem they are working to solve. During the kaizen event, it is typically necessary to collect information on the targeted process such as measurements of overall product quality; scrap rate and source of scrap; a routing of products; Total product distance travelled; Total square feet occupied by necessary equipment;

Number and frequency of changeovers; source of bottlenecks;

Amount of work-in-progress; Amount of staffing for specific tasks.

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Phase 2: Implementation Once data is gathered, it is analyzed and assessed to find areas for improvement. Team members identify and record all observed waste, by asking what the goal of the process is and whether each step or element adds value towards meeting this goal. Once waste, or non-value added activity, is identified and measured, team members then brainstorm improvement options. Ideas are often tested on the shop floor or in process "mock-ups". Ideas deemed most promising are selected and implemented. To fully realize the benefits of the kaizen event, team members should observe and record new cycle times, and calculate overall savings from eliminated waste, operator motion, part conveyance, square footage utilized, and throughput time .

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Phase 3: Follow-up The success of the Kaizen depends on timely completion of the Improvement process and effective change management. A key part of a kaizen event is the follow-up activity that aims to ensure that improvements are sustained, and not just temporary. Following the kaizen event, team members routinely track key performance measures (i.e., metrics) to document the improvement gains. Metrics often include lead and cycle times, process defect rates, movement required, square footage utilized, although the metrics vary when the targeted process is an administrative process. Follow-up events are sometimes scheduled at 30 and 90-days following the initial kaizen event to assess performance and identify follow-up modifications that may be necessary to sustain the improvements.