Kaizen facts for kids

Kaizen (Japanese: 改善, "improvement") is a cool idea about making things better all the time. It means everyone in a company, from the boss to the people on the factory floor, works together to improve everything. Kaizen also helps improve things like buying supplies and moving goods, even across different parts of a company. It's used in many places, like hospitals, banks, and even in daily life.

By making small, steady changes to how things are done, kaizen helps get rid of waste and things that aren't needed. This idea first started in Japanese businesses after World War II. It was influenced by American experts and became a big part of The Toyota Way. Now, kaizen is used all over the world, not just in businesses.

What is Kaizen?

The Japanese word kaizen means 'change for better'. It comes from two words: kai (change) and zen (goodness). It can mean any improvement, big or small, done once or continuously. But when people talk about kaizen in business, they usually mean making continuous improvements, often with a special "Japanese philosophy."

There are different ways to think about kaizen:

Quick Fixes (Point Kaizen)

Point kaizen is a very common type of improvement. It happens super fast, often without much planning. If something is broken or wrong, people fix it right away. These fixes are usually small and easy to do. But even small changes can make a big difference!

For example, a supervisor might see some broken materials in a shop. They would then ask the shop owner to quickly tidy up or fix the problem. Or a worker on a production line might notice that moving materials closer saves time. This is point kaizen in action.

Big Picture Improvements (System Kaizen)

System kaizen is about fixing bigger problems in a whole organization. It's planned out and looks at how different parts of a system work together. This is a higher-level way of planning for a short time.

Connecting Improvements (Line Kaizen)

Line kaizen is about sharing improvements between different steps in a process. Imagine a factory line: if one part of the line finds a better way to do something, they tell the next part of the line so everyone can benefit.

Spreading Improvements (Plane Kaizen)

Plane kaizen takes line kaizen even further. It connects several lines or processes together. Think of it like spreading a good idea from one part of a company to many other parts. This helps improve many areas at once.

Whole Company Improvements (Cube Kaizen)

Cube kaizen is when every part of a company is connected and working together to improve. It means that the idea of "Lean" (getting rid of waste) has spread everywhere. Improvements happen across all departments, and even include suppliers and customers. This might mean changing how the business usually works.

Why Kaizen is Great

Kaizen is a daily process that does more than just make things faster. It also makes the workplace better for people. It helps get rid of overly hard work and teaches people how to try out new ideas using the scientific method. It also helps them learn to find and remove waste in how things are done.

The idea is to support the people who work at the company. It encourages them to join in and make improvements. Everyone in a company can take part in kaizen, from the CEO to the cleaning staff. Even people outside the company, like suppliers, can sometimes be involved.

Kaizen is often linked to factories, like at Toyota. But it's also used in other places. Kaizen can be done by one person, through a suggestion box, or by small or large groups. At Toyota, it's usually a small improvement in one area. A small group of workers improves their own workspace and how much they produce. Their supervisor often helps them through this process.

Even though kaizen usually brings small changes, these small, steady improvements add up to big results. This way of thinking is different from older "command and control" methods, where bosses just told people what to do. Kaizen means trying things, watching what happens, and then making changes. Instead of huge plans, it uses smaller tests that can be quickly changed as new ideas come up.

Sometimes, kaizen is done as a "kaizen blitz" or "kaizen event." This is a focused activity to fix a specific problem over about a week. These events are limited, and any new problems found can be fixed in future events. Someone who helps a lot in a kaizen event might even get a special award called "Zenkai." Today, many business experts use kaizen to help companies improve how they work.

History of Kaizen

The idea of making small, step-by-step improvements started in the USA during World War II. A program called "Training Within Industry" (TWI) taught that instead of big, sudden changes, companies should make small improvements. These small changes could often be done on the same day. This was because there wasn't much time or many resources for big changes during the war. The main goal was to use the workers and tools they already had in the best way possible.

After World War II, American experts went to Japan to help rebuild Japanese industries. They taught Japanese managers about quality control methods. W. Edwards Deming, an American expert, taught even more about these methods.

Another group helped teach management skills in Japan. They brought in a program called Training Within Industry (TWI) in 1951. A training film called "Improvement in Four Steps" (Kaizen eno Yon Dankai) introduced the idea of kaizen to Japan.

The Emperor of Japan even gave Dr. Deming an award in 1960 for bringing kaizen to Japan. Later, the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) created the Deming Prize. This award celebrates great achievements in product quality. In 1989, an American company, Florida Power & Light Co., was the first company outside Japan to win this prize.

Kaoru Ishikawa then used this idea to show how continuous improvement (kaizen) can be used in different processes, as long as you know all the parts of that process.

How Kaizen is Used

The Toyota Production System is famous for using kaizen. At Toyota, if a worker sees anything wrong on the production line, they are expected to stop the line. Then, they and their supervisor work together to find a way to fix the problem and make an improvement. This special feature is called Jidoka.

The PDCA cycles

The steps for kaizen activities can be thought of as a cycle: Plan → Do → Check → Act. This is also known as the Shewhart cycle or PDCA.

Another tool used with PDCA is the five whys. This is a way to find the main reason a problem happened. You ask "why?" five times about a failure, with each answer leading to the next "why?" This helps you dig deeper to find the root cause. The five whys can help you improve things in your own life or even help businesses grow.

Masaaki Imai made the term "kaizen" very well-known in his book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success.

In another book, The Toyota Way Fieldbook, authors Liker and Meier talk about "kaizen blitz" or "kaizen event." These are quick, focused activities to improve a specific process. The main idea is to find and quickly remove waste. A "kaizen burst" is a specific kaizen activity on one part of a process. People who help with kaizen projects often get special training and certifications.

In the 1990s, Professor Iwao Kobayashi wrote a book called 20 Keys to Workplace Improvement. He created a step-by-step plan for improving workplaces called "the 20 Keys." He found 20 areas that companies should improve to make lasting changes. He also said there were five levels of improvement for each area. Four of these areas are called "Foundation Keys" and should be started first to make a company strong. These are:

• Key 1 – Cleaning and Organizing to Make Work Easy (based on the 5S method).
• Key 2 – Setting Goals and Making Systems Work Better.
• Key 3 – Working in Small Groups.
• Key 4 – Leading and Using Technology at the Work Site.

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See also

In Spanish: Kaizen para niños