Need to improve the performance and profitability of your business? Adopt the Kaizen approach!
By :
Little or very little known, even little
used in our companies, the Kaizen approach, essential for the
implementation of Lean Management in the company, has however proven itself in
many small, medium and large companies in the world.
The Kaizen strategy is the most important concept in Japanese management; it is the key to the competitive success of the Japanese industry. Kaizen means continuous improvement involving everyone, Directors, Managers and workers.
Kaizen is a compound of two Japanese words that together translate as "good change" or "improvement." However, Kaizen has come to mean "continuous improvement" through its association with lean methodology and principles.
There are mainly 2 approaches to solving business problems:
- The first involves innovation, advanced methodologies, often very expensive technical solutions, investments...
- The second uses "common sense", very efficient systems as well as tools and techniques that don't cost a lot of money.
The second approach is called Kaizen.
Kaizen is based on the philosophical belief that everything can be improved: some organizations look at a process and see that it's running fine; organizations that follow the principle of Kaizen see a process that can be improved. This means that nothing is ever seen as a status quo – there are continuous efforts to improve which result in small, often imperceptible, changes over time. These incremental changes add up to substantial changes over the longer term, without having to go through any radical innovation. It can be a much gentler and employee-friendly way to institute the changes that must occur as a business grows and adapts to its changing environment.
What is a Kaizen workshop?
A Kaizen workshop is a dedicated teamwork, under a mode of operation in training-to-action which is disciplined and rigorous and whose goal is to create and develop quick, practical solutions to one or several company problems, whether it is a clear problem resolution, a process streamlining activity or an improvement of quality, delay or cost performance.
It involves the people who actually do the work, that is to say the actors of the process or who are "responsible" for it through a very concentrated multifunctional approach, results-oriented, over a period of 2 to 5 days.This approach requires, as a prerequisite, an intensive support from management, a multifunctional team that is empowered to make immediate decisions and changes.
The results are typically major improvements in terms of quality, reduction of lead times and cost of products or services.It is absolutely necessary to establish a detailed planning for the implementation of solutions during the Kaizen workshop, as well as to plan and then hold periodic meetings to review the implementation of changes.
There are several dimensions to the Kaizen approach:
There is not only one format and only one "dimension" for Kaizen workshops. These dimensions, which can differ from one company to another and from one subject to another, are characterized by:
- The relative complexity of the subject to be treated
- The duration of the Kaizen workshop itself which can last from 2 days to 5 days depending on the subject
- Integration of this into a business approach
- The impact it (or these) can have on the company.
The ten principles of Kaizen
Because executing Kaizen requires enabling the right mind-set throughout a company, 10 principles that address the Kaizen mind-set are commonly referenced as core to the philosophy. They are:
1. Let go of assumptions.
2. Be proactive about solving problems.
3. Don't accept the status quo.
4. Let go of perfectionism and take an attitude of iterative, adaptive change.
5. Look for solutions as you find mistakes.
6. Create an environment in which everyone feels empowered to contribute.
7. Don't accept the obvious issue; instead, ask "why" five times to get to the root cause.
8. Discard information and opinions from multiple people.
9. Use creativity to find low-cost, small improvements.
10. Never stop improving.
The extent of the complexity of Kaizen workshops can vary widely. This can range, for example, from the definition and implementation in a team of visual management elements to the reconfiguration and rationalization of all key business processes, or the dramatic improvement of the quality of products or services.
Many of our companies, on the other hand, make more or less fruitful attempts by trying to deploy Lean through Kaizen workshops in a sporadic manner, by theme or by function. This approach, unfortunately, will only have visible effects on the performance, profitability and competitiveness of the company in the long term;and will then speak of continuous improvement.
Typical Kaizen workshop results are in the order of:
- 30 to 60% reduction in lead time for processes (manufacturing, logistics, purchasing, engineering, human resources, etc.)
- 10% to 40% improvement in the quality of products or services
- 15 to 60% reduction in product costs
Achieving improvements in the business with one's own solutions and ideas, as well as with the contribution of one's own employees, on an on-going basis, generally results in creating a competitive advantage and a culture that cannot be bought and transferred from the outside.
It is a lasting and unique culture of the
company
,
retained within.
There are a number of reasons why Kaizen can be an advantage for an organization; however, there are some situations for which it is less suited.
Some of Kaizen's advantages are:
· With its focus on gradual improvement, Kaizen can create a gentler approach to change in contrast to big efforts that may be abandoned due to their tendency to provoke change resistance and abandonment.
· Kaizen encourages scrutiny of processes so that mistakes and waste can be reduced.
· Inspection needs are lessened because errors are reduced.
· Employee morale grows because it can bring about a sense of value and purposefulness.
· Teamwork increases as employees think beyond the specific issues of their department.
· Client focus increases as customer requirements awareness are raised.
· Systems are in place to ensure improvements are encouraged both in the short term and the long term.
Some of Kaizen's disadvantages are:
· Companies with cultures of territorialism and closed communication may first need to focus on cultural changes to create a receptive environment.
· Short-term Kaizen events may create a burst of excitement that is shallow and short-lived and, therefore, gets abandoned before long.
