Kaizen

Kaizen, a composite term formed by the Japanese terms kai (meaning "change") and zen (meaning "good"), is an organizational philosophy and methodology of continuous improvement. Its foundational principles are commitment and discipline. As a system of thought, kaizen promotes constant, sustainable improvement, most often but not exclusively through incremental changes. Its methodology requires a formal systematized structure established within the organization. While it originated in and is best suited for manufacturing, kaizen has also been applied to other industries to eliminate waste, improve productivity, and achieve improvement goals.

Kaizen is inherently participatory. If accurately established following the basic tenets, it provides the basis for any member to identify and propose improvement, which can then be channeled into the system and implemented effectively. Kaizen, therefore, can be extremely useful in maintaining a sense of participation and ownership among staff. By participating in kaizen, workers can contribute to raising the organization’s standards in order to reach organizational goals. New standards created by improvements or modifications must always be analyzed, however, to ensure they comply with the quality, productivity, and security levels expected by the organization and its stakeholders. Thus, kaizen can be extremely useful to firms because it helps detect and solve problems in all areas of a system and promotes the constant revision and optimization of the processes used.

Brief History

Kaizen originated in the early 1950s in post–World War II Japan. Having been severely affected by the war, Japan faced many production problems, and American scientists, including W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran, were brought in during the American occupation to help spur the economy. Deming and Juran’s views, in particular, were rooted in the quality control work of statistician Walter A. Shewhart in the 1920s. Deming sought to use statistical data about variations in outcomes and good management, and while statistics began to be collected, it was not incorporated in a major way until 1954 when Juran arrived. He emphasized the importance of root-cause analysis, waste reduction, and integration of quality control at every level of the organization, from line workers to management.

Through the efforts of Deming, Juran, and the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE), a significant number of Japanese manufacturers adopted and expanded on the American techniques, reaching extraordinary levels of quality and productivity. The Japanese emphasis was not on improving specific equipment, but rather on the flow throughout the whole production system, from conception to final product, and on the specific processes involved in that system. For instance, Taiichi Ohno, the machine shop manager of Toyota Motor Corporation, is credited with developing the kaizen-influenced Toyota Production System (TPS), or lean production—a methodology that focuses on continuous improvement in waste and defect reduction throughout a company. The boost in quality and production, as well as lowered costs, from kaizen increased international demand for Japanese products and resulted in a rapidly expanding share of the global market in the mid-to-late twentieth century. In the late 1980s, Masaaki Imai wrote the influential handbook Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success, which introduced the concept to the United States and other Western nations. Kaizen and lean production subsequently gained widespread popularity outside of Japan.

Impact

Kaizen is a philosophy that can be adopted individually, but it is most commonly expressed through groups of workers known as "kaizen teams" or "quality circles." The group consists of individuals who work on the related process or system as well as a limited number of other representative stakeholders. These groups follow the Shewhart cycle (popularized by Deming) of plan, do, check, and act (PDCA).

At the planning stage, the team identifies objectives and sets a goal, analyzes the problem, and creates an action plan to solve the problem and achieve its goal. At the point of doing so, the action plan is implemented and, if necessary, documented. Checking or verifying refers to analyzing the obtained results. Checking may occur repeatedly at several points of the process, depending upon the product. Acting is usually done once the results have been obtained and verified; the team must identify whether a change or modification is required to improve the process or product quality. The improvement cycle is continuous, so the four steps repeat throughout production.

In order to prove sustainable through time, these improvements must constantly encompass small changes. Adopting many small improvements makes them easier and less costly to implement. Organization members at all stages of the production cycle are encouraged to continuously seek opportunities for improvement. Kaizen is, then, an inclusive, participatory, and action-oriented philosophy and system that seeks to positively affect not only how an organization performs but how its members conceptualize their role within the organization.

Many studies have been conducted to measure the impact of kaizen, often by companies seeking to understand why or where a kaizen system failed or how to improve kaizen itself. Kaizen and kaizen-based modes of organizational thought have gained significant importance in organizational operations and management strategies worldwide in industries ranging from product manufacturing and software development to government to medicine.

As a process of continual improvement that focuses on minimizing all types of waste, Kaizen has applications for industries aiming to improve their environmental impact. Including employees at all levels of the organization allows leaders to identify hidden or previously unrecognized areas of waste or inefficiency contributing to the company’s polluting activities. Kazen is also instrumental for organizations of all sizes during times of high inflation, particularly when combined with complementary methods, such as Agile, Six Sigma, Total Quality Management, and Theory of Constraints.

Bibliography

Deming, W. Edwards. Out of the Crisis. 1986. MIT P, 2000.

Emiliani, Bob, et al. Kaizen Forever: Teachings of Chihiro Nakao. CLBM, 2015.

Hargrave, Marshall. "Kaizen: Understanding the Japanese Business Philosophy." Investopedia, 8 Oct. 2024, www.investopedia.com/terms/k/kaizen.asp. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.

Harvey, Sarah. Kaizen: The Japanese Secret to Lasting Change, Small Steps to Big Goals. The Experiment, 2020.

Imai, Masaaki. Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to Continuous Improvement Strategy. 2nd ed., McGraw-Hill Professional, 2012.

"Lean Thinking and Methods - Kaizen." Environmental Protection Agency, 20 Aug. 2024, www.epa.gov/sustainability/lean-thinking-and-methods-kaizen. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.

Maurer, Robert. One Small Step Can Change Your Life: The Kaizen Way. Workman, 2014.

Miller, Jon, et al. Creating a Kaizen Culture: Align the Organization, Achieve Breakthrough Results, and Sustain Gains. McGraw-Hill, 2014.

Ohno, Taiichi. Taiichi Ohno’s Workplace Management. Special 100th birthday ed., McGraw-Hill Professional, 2012.