Kaizen: The Japanese Philosophy for Success
Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy that focuses on consistently improving and changing for the better. The word simply means “good change.” This doctrine of continuous improvement was initiated by Japanese companies after World War II and is now implemented worldwide in many different areas of life and business.
When applied to business, Kaizen is the intent to improve all functions and employee productivity within each daily process. This continuous process of change affects all employees from top to bottom.
To implement Kaizen in a business, everyone should come up with ways to improve regularly. This opportunity for improvement is not just yearly, monthly or weekly, but happens perpetually for the life of the business. These changes don’t have to be big or take place all at once. They can be simple, small or gradual changes to increase efficiency and productivity. Continual small changes will equal long-term big changes and benefits, such as improved production, higher quality and lower costs.
Process
From cleaning the building to complicated management systems, improvements within a Kaizen strategy require a process of fixing issues at their source and making changes to outdated or inefficient standards.
A basic rundown of this philosophy within an organization is as follows: Kaizen requires an organization to first identify an issue or an area of needed improvement. Then, they must come up with an idea for changing the process to make it better. The idea is then implemented. The company must then review the results of the changes and adjust if necessary. Then, repeat this process continually to optimize all operations and business practices.
Implementation
To implement a Kaizen strategy, company-wide cooperation from top management to lower-level employees is necessary. Everyone must be ready to make changes and have a desire for improvement. A company can then implement constant improvement using the scientific method: by identifying a problem, hypothesizing a solution, testing the hypothesis and analyzing the results.
Kaizen’s effectiveness is based on everyone’s engagement as well as an organization-wide empowerment to act. To implement, consider these tips:
- Train employees on the Kaizen strategy. Have a training session explaining what Kaizen is and how you plan on implementing it. By thoroughly explaining Kaizen’s process, employees will be more likely to understand what is being asked of them and will be more willing to contribute.
- Create teams to identify all of your company’s processes (management, operations, distribution, etc.), and have these teams come up with suggestions for improving those processes. Then, have the teams implement the actions required for those improvements and analyze the results. By breaking your organization down into smaller groups, everyone will be held accountable, and the process will ultimately be more productive.
- Create a “suggestion box,” and actually implement suggestions. This simple tactic shows that everyone’s ideas are welcome and demonstrates a company-wide commitment to improvement.
- Research common methods for Kaizen implementation, such as a PDCA cycle. PDCA stands for Plan, Do, Check and Act. This requires people to plan, implement and assess changes, and then review and return to the cycle to make improvements. This is a never-ending process and should be a continuous cycle.
- Use a Kaizen blitz. This is a special meeting held over the course of one week that’s been set aside to address one specific issue or area. By focusing everyone’s energy on one specific issue for an entire week, changes can be made and reviewed with ease.
- Keep in mind that for Kaizen to be effective, management needs to get involved with lower-level operations. Managerial engagement shows commitment and allows supervisors to get suggestions and act on them immediately. Immediate action shows that every idea from all employees has the same value as those from top management.
Common Areas to Address With Kaizen
When implementing a Kaizen strategy at your business, it is helpful to focus on key areas and processes to ensure an effective and smooth implementation. Consider focusing on these key processes in the beginning to get the best results:
- Improving quality control
- Streamlining your processes for resolving customer complaints
- Reducing completion time for common processes
- Responding to customer feedback
- Eliminating waste
- Improving delivery times
Perhaps the best-known example of Kaizen is at Toyota, where the philosophy is part of the famous Toyota Production System. Toyota has made it their goal to make every step of the production process as efficient and safe as possible in order to maximize quality and eliminate waste. To accomplish this, every employee on the assembly line is responsible for the continuous improvement of his or her job. If at any point an employee finds a defect with the part or vehicle that he or she is working on, they will alert their supervisor or even stop the entire assembly line in order to deal with the issue on the spot. This dedication to Kaizen is part of why Toyota is now the largest car manufacturer in the world.
For your own business, Kaizen may be a great process to take your company to the next level. It will take complete buy-in from the entire organization, but once implemented, every small change you enact will be one more step toward becoming great.
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