What is Kaizen?

Kaizen is an approach that is an event organization based on common sense, self-discipline, order and economy. It is a Japanese word that means "change for the better" or "good change." It is an approach that emerged in the Toyota Production System. Kaizen can be applied to any area of business or life where continuous improvement is desired.

In the workplace, Kaizen refers to the act of making incremental improvements to processes in order to save time and money. The idea behind Kaizen is that small but frequent changes can lead to big improvements over time

Kaizen Events are focused on improving one specific aspect of your business at a time. They are especially helpful if you are looking for quick wins that will pay off big in the long run. It was the Kaizen technique that helped Japan become the world’s second-largest economy in less than 50 years after World War II.

Kaizen Philosophy: Continuous Improvement Technique

Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy that aims to improve business processes and efficiency by eliminating waste. However, its purpose is not limited to this. Kaizen can also be described as a long-term strategy. This means that it does not just try to resolve an immediate problem - instead, it encourages you to look at the big picture of your company and take steps that will improve every aspect of your production. Kaizen method also believes in making small changes over time. So, you will not need to worry about drastic shifts in how you work or how much you spend. Although there will be some initial investment in equipment and training, the end result will be more profitable for your business.

Additionally, Kaizen is a philosophy that focuses on teamwork and employee satisfaction. It encourages workers to speak up about what they think could be improved within their department or company as a whole. Because it is such a positive approach with so many advantages for both employers and employees. More and more companies today are adopting this philosophy as part of their culture.

The Kaizen approach consists of 5 elements:

1. Improvement of Work Methods through problem-solving by the Workers themselves (Jidoka)
2. Encouragement of Employee Involvement in Management Decisions (Gemba)
3. Rapid Implementation (Seiso)
4. Standardization of Best Practices (Seiketsu)
5. Systematic Follow-Up (Shitsuke)

What are the Principles of Kaizen?

The most basic principle of Kaizen studies is to fulfill all the conditions related to ‘ quality control, cost, and occupational safety’ without compromising and to be the best in these matters. Kaizen, while realizing one of these principles, should not have a negative impact on the other. For example, if a Kaizen study increases costs while increasing quality, or if occupational safety risk arises while quality increases, the Kaizen study is unsuccessful. As a result of improvement activities, these three basic principles should positively influence each other. In addition, you should pay attention to the following points when applying the Kaizen technique:

• Customer satisfaction and employees are very important. Therefore, quality and work safety are paramount.
• You should make evaluations based on data and make decisions based on data.
• You must get to the root cause of a problem.
• You should accurately identify problems with on-site observation (Gemba technique).
• You should apply the PDCA Cycle completely.

Most Common Kaizen Methods

There are certain methods commonly used in Kaizen event processes. These methods include techniques such as PDCA Cycle, 5S, Andon, Kanban, Six Sigma, etc.

PDCA Cycle

PDCA, also known as the Shewhart Cycle, is the most basic part of the Kaizen technique. It consists of the initials of the words ‘Plan, Implement, Control, Take Action’. The PDCA cycle ensures that problems related to the current situation are addressed and solved systematically. It consists of four steps:

Plan: The problem is defined and data are collected to solve the problem. In the light of the collected data, solution suggestions are presented and a plan is made.

Do: The second step is the step of implementing the plan. It involves the implementation of the solutions proposed and accepted at the plan stage.

Check: At this stage, it is checked whether the desired result is obtained from the applications. If the expected result is not achieved, the problem is redefined and the cycle starts again. If the plan is successful, the fourth stage is started.

Act: If the result is as targeted, the solutions are re-optimized and the improvement process continues. At the end of the PDCA cycle, problems are solved and the efficiency of business processes increases.

5S Method

5S consists of the words ‘Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, Shitsuke’.

• Seiri means to sort.
• Seiton means to set in order
• Seiso means shine and cleanliness.
• Seiketsu means to standardize.
• Shitsuke means to sustain, to continue.

5S methodology is implemented by putting these five steps into practice. The purpose of 5S is to make the working environment more organized and to clean it regularly.

Kanban

It is a Kaizen method used to optimize enterprises' production and supply chain processes.

Andon

Andon is a method used to detect and solve problems and malfunctions that occur in production processes.

Six Sigma

Six Sigma is a technique that focuses on detecting and preventing defects from the beginning of production and delivering better quality products. With this technique, defects can be detected at the earliest stage and corrective actions can be implemented.  

What is Kaizen Culture?

Kaizen tools and methods include identifying problems, creating solutions, and performing experiments to test these solutions. Kaizen culture includes creating awareness about Kaizen within your organization through training programs and communication campaigns that emphasize its importance to your company's success.

Kaizen culture also involves celebrating small successes as well as big ones so that everyone feels involved in the process of continuous improvement from start to finish. It is important for everyone in your company to understand how Kaizen works, so they feel empowered to make suggestions for improvements whenever they see an opportunity for them.

How Can You Apply the Kaizen Philosophy in Workplace?

Benefits of Kaizen

The Kaizen approach is beneficial in many ways:

Cost savings

Kaizen is a way to improve processes without increasing costs. It improves quality and efficiency, reduces waste, and increases productivity.

Employee Engagement

Kaizen increases employee satisfaction by making work more meaningful and engaging through increased responsibility for quality and productivity improvement. This leads to greater Employee Engagement and retention, which boosts morale among employees in your organization. Kaizen increases Employee Engagement because it creates new opportunities for employees to contribute their skills and ideas.

Customer Satisfaction

Kaizen helps employees understand the impact of their work on customers and suppliers, which leads to increased Customer Satisfaction. Kaizen focuses on creating products and services that are designed to meet the needs of customers. This helps you keep your customers happy, which leads to repeat business and referrals.

Quality Management

Kaizen and quality are interrelated principles that guide continuous improvement processes. Kaizen continuously identifies and improves inefficient areas. Thanks to these efforts, the quality of products, operational efficiency and customer satisfaction increased.

Organizational Learning and Development

Kaizen encourages knowledge sharing, which helps build a strong organizational culture that supports continuous improvement efforts throughout the organization.

By improving the efficiency of processes and providing employees with better tools for their jobs, kaizen enables your company to do more with less resources — thereby increasing productivity levels across all departments within your business. This also reduces overhead costs associated with operating an inefficient operation by reducing excess inventory or unnecessary overhead expenses caused by having too many employees doing unnecessary tasks at any given time during the course of a day or week (for example, having too many people available for overtime work when there is no need for them at all).

How can you Boost your Kaizen Methodology?

Of course, as the name suggests, Kaizen is not a one-time process. Kaizen should be adopted by everyone from the top management to the lowest level employee. The Continuous Improvement Solution is a great way to support Kaizen processes.

The Continuous Improvement Solution & Lean Manufacturing Platform, developed by MDP Group, enables the processes carried out by the production, quality, OPEX, and continuous improvement units to be managed end-to-end on a single digital platform.

The solution includes 9 modules in total: Employee Suggestion System, Kaizen, Near-Miss Reporting, 5S Audit Management, Lesson Learned, Action Management, Customer Demand Management, A3 Problem Solving and Digital Audit Management.

You can manage your improvement processes efficiently with our solution compatible with blue & white collar employee structure.

Contact us for more information.