What is Kaizen Improvement System?

Sometimes segments and departments need major reorganization efforts, but obviously it can be counter productive to constantly go around reorganizing departments. There are also ways to promote improvement that doesn’t involve radical change or reorganization. A Kaizen improvement systems is one method used to foster an atmosphere of improvement. What is kaizen improvement system?

Kaizen is a Japanese word that means “change for better”, as in improvement.

Kaizen Improvement Systems

The Bizmanualz Kaizen Wall

A Kaizen is the Japanese philosophy that focuses on continual improvement. For Bizmanualz, a Kaizen is an improvement that we record, track, and follow up on to ensure effectiveness and sustainability. Kaizens can also be classified into corrective actions, preventive actions, or simple corrections used in implementing Lean process improvement..

Getting The Staff Involved

In an effort to get the whole staff involved in implementing lean thinking, we created a spreadsheet that tracks how many each employee has done for the month (the goal is two each) and the running total for the month. We also post our Kaizen forms in our office to communicate all of these improvements to the employees. Every time we put up a new Kaizen, we also take one down and follow up to make sure the change actually resulted in a sustained improvement. The more Kaizen systems implemented, the better the chance of winning.

Small Kaizen Improvements Add Up

Kaizens represent a philosophy whereby organizations, and the individuals within it, undertake small, incremental, continual improvements of all aspects of organizational life.

Kaizen systems encourage employees to spot and implement improvements around the workplace, no matter how small. Not only does this program put a systematic method in place that implements and communicates employees suggestions for improvements, resulting in a more productive workplace, it also

Creates an atmosphere were employee suggestions are valued
Makes employees more vigilant in looking for improvements
Creates awareness that even small improvements are important
Provides a system where such improvements are communicated to other employees

Kaizens Systems

The kaizen system is very simple and straightforward. An employee recognizes a positive change or an opportunity for improvement. They complete a form that describes the change in detail, with a brief description of what was occurring before, the specific improvement, and what occurs now, after the improvement. Then, the kaizen is announced and explained at the next standup meeting in front of our business performance scorecard, and the completed form is posted in an obvious and highly visible place so everyone can see and take note of the improvement.

Kaizens Goals

A Purchase Order Kaizen: Information about purchase orders was stored in two different places in two different formats (Word and Excel). This kaizen consolidated the information in one place, along with using Excel features to automatically copy information entered into one place to all other relevant places.

Another important facet of the kaizen system is that kaizen goals are set for each employee. In practical terms, this means that a number of kaizens revolve around very small improvements that do not have drastic impacts. Setting kaizen goals and even creating a stream of small kaizens, however, helps promote an atmosphere where employees are always looking for things to improve, and it is through this improvement mindset that breakthrough advances can occur.

If It Saves a 1/2 Second, It’s Worth Improving

At Bizmanualz we have had kaizens that improved the visual workplace, as well as kaizens that keep newer magazines in the lobby. We have had kaizens that improve customer order forms, purchase order processing, and kaizens that moved coffee cups closer to the coffee pot. While some might have a more significant impact than others, all kaizens are important because they promote the environment of improvement.