Submitted by : Shadab 1020331

Sanghamitra 1020353Flavia 1020344Thomas 1020334Vinika 1020357Sweta 1020356

Divya 1020343

Definition • Kaizen is a system that involves all employees from

strategic management to labourers to bring a little change by improving productivity, effectiveness and reducing waste.

• It is the philosophy or practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, and business management.

•  In the business sense and applied to the workplace, kaizen refers to activities that continually improve all functions, and involves all employees from the CEO to the assembly line workers.  

KAIZEN is a culture of sustained continuous improvement focusing on eliminating waste in all systems and processes of an organization. It begins and ends with people.

It is a method that strives toward perfection by eliminating waste (MUDA) in the work place (GEMBA).

It eliminates waste by empowering people with tools and provides methodology for uncovering improvement opportunities and making small changes.

This is also a low cost approach, using simple quality control tools: Pareto, Ishikawa diagrams and PDCA cycle.

The 5 main elements of kaizen:TeamworkPersonal DisciplineImproved MoraleQuality CircleSuggestions for Improvement

Other Definitions Kaizen

• A Japanese term meaning gradual unending

improvement by doing little things better and

setting and achieving increasingly higher

standards

~ Lean Lexicon, ASQ

• Small improvements generated by hands-on

workers through the application of a variety of

structured, low-technology methods

~ Office Kaizen, ASQ

History of Continuous Improvement

• After, world war II, Japan had to rebuild• Experts from US visited Japan on an advisory role,

including Dr. W. Edwards Deming.• Problems of low morale, lack of funds, raw materials, etc

prevailed in Japan. • Based on his recent experience in reducing waste in U.S.

war manufacture, advised the country. • Taught Japanese businesses to concentrate their

attention on processes rather than results.• Many companies took the advice, including Toyota, and

Introduced the concept of JIT and TQM.

Masaaki Imai

• Known as the “Lean Guru” and the father of Continuous Improvement (CI)

• Pioneer and leader in spreading the Kaizen philosophy all over the world 

• Authored the book  ’Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success’

• Now companies around the world use kaizen for greater productivity, speed, quality and profits with minimal cost, time and effort, to get results and to become recognized industry leaders.

Basic Kaizen concepts

Kaizen typically deals with

• Quality assurance

• Cost reduction

• Meeting production quotas

• Meeting delivery schedules

• Safety on the job

• New product development

• Productivity improvement

• Supplier management

7 types of MUDA

1. MUDA of over-production

2. MUDA of motion

3. MUDA of waiting

4. MUDA of Inventory

5. MUDA of processing

6. MUDA of transportation

7. MUDA of production rejects

Kaizen Cycle

• The cycle of kaizen activity can be defined as:• Standardize an operation• Measure the standardized operation • Gauge measurements against requirements• Innovate to meet requirements and increase

productivity• Standardize the new, improved operations• Continue cycle

Kaizen Process :

Kaizen process• Select a business process area in which Kaizen will be

implemented.• Create appropriate goals for the team.• Ensure that relevant area personnel are informed of the

Kaizen plans.• Ensure availability of relevant area personnel for

participation on the Kaizen team.• Provide a suitable working area.• Ensure timely review and approval of the Kaizen team's

recommendations.• Ensure timely implementation of approved

recommendations. 

KAIZEN UMBRELLA

10 Principles of Kaizen

1. Say no to status quo, implement new methods and assume they will work2. If something is wrong, correct it3. Accept no excuses and make things happen4. Improve everything continuously5. Abolish old, traditional concepts6. Be economical. Save money through small improvements and spend the saved money on further improvements7. Empower everyone to take part in problems' solving8. Before making decisions, ask „why” five times to get to

the root cause. (5 Why Method)9. Get information and opinions from multiple people10. Remember that improvement has no limits. Never stop

trying to improve

Two kinds of Kaizen

High Growth Economic

Western Management Style

Japanese Management Style

Value: Expressed in term of how the specific

product/service meets the customer’s needs, at a

specific price, at a specific time.

Value Added: Activities that transform input into a customer usable output. The customer can be internal or external to the organization. The objective is to eliminate all non-value added activities in producing and providing goods or service

Value Creation through Kaizen

Why Toyota stands Out than Big Three

Those company can execute better than competitors at the micro level (process improvement) will be the winner.

Kaizen Methodology

• Clear objectives• Team process• Tight focus on time• Quick & simple• Necessary resources immediately available• Immediate results (new process functioning by end of

week)• Use of various planning tools to accomplish results

Two common Kaizen Tools

1.Kaizen Teian (Suggestion System)

• To solicit creative ideas from all employees at

workplace

• To instill involvement and accountability

2.Kaizen Event

• To be a DNA or culture for process continual

improvement

• To utilize knowledge and know-how of people

at gemba.

Kaizen Teian Objectives

1.Employees involvement & empowerment

• Encourage employee to participate

2.Employee skill development for enhancing

job performance (On-the-job-training)

• Optimize employee capability and creative

power

3.Achieve benefits

• Emphasis the benefits from the suggestions

Kaizen Teian Implementation

Success Factors in Kaizen Teian & Kaizen Event Implementation

• Kaizen Event

• A few days, highly structured and coached intense

attack on waste in a process or work area by a

small group

When to use Kaizen

• Waste sources have been identified (Low-hanging

fruits)

• The scope of a problem is clearly defined

• Results are immediate and risk is minimal

Kaizen to Toyota is the elimination of three basic things like:Muri (Overburden on employees)Mura(Unevenness in production)Muda (Waste)