Table of Contents
KAIZEN
KAIZEN is a Japanese word. In fact, the meaning of kaizen is to take apart and change for good. To illustrate, where KAI means to take apart or to change and ZEN means for good. Surely, Masaaki Imai is known as the developer of kaizen. Undoubtedly, it is one of the important terms for making the work easier in a good manner. Moreover, Kaizen stands for good change. It can help to improve the production process as well as at the management level.
Masaaki Imai said, “If you learn only one word of Japanese, make it KAIZEN.”
Kaizen:
- Kaizen originated in Japan in 1950
- At the beganning, Imai introduces and applies it in 1986 to improve efficiency, productivity and competitiveness in Toyota.
Features of Kaizen
Kaizen is differing from the western method. Here, are some features of kaizen. They are-
- It is a planned and controlled change to achieve the next step in continual improvement.
- It moves you from the existing Current State toward the defined Future State you have established as your goal.
- Kaizen is a process of continuous incremental improvement.
- The “kaizen blitz” is a five-day continuous improvement activity focus on a very specific process.
- True Kaizen’s are typically done as a focused ‘blitz’: A point in time team effort rather than a gradual metamorphosis over time.
At the present time, different companies and organizations are focusing on quality products and services. Therefore, different quality standards apply to measure the quality level of an organization. Especially, when one purchases something from the market he or she can get knowledge about the organization from the quality standard. Day by day, kaizen, 5S, and other lean methodology practices in the industry increases. As a result, many organizations are improving their quality rapidly.
So, know more about the kaizen process and make your work easy to do.