Have you heard of Kaizen? Well you might have or you might’ve not

But this article would do justice to the topic.

Kaizen is a Japanese word, Kai means change, Zen means good, when translated literally it means change for good but most translate it as continuous improvement hence the topic of the article.

Kaizen was initiated by Toyota in the 1980s after the second war, it is used to eliminate waste, increase teamwork, quality of goods and services and increase productivity.

Its principle is focused on the fact that minor changes taken now would have a huge impact on future productivity

Kaizen methodology believes that people who perform the tasks are most knowledgeable about the task and would correct problems effectively and faster.

In Kaizen methodology, it is more about a culture change, everyone is involved in effecting change from the executive to the front line employee like the janitor.

I’ll explain, supposing the janitor notices that after cleaning the hall, there is a stench smell that comes from the wet mop used and decides to get a new mop, as little as that change might be, the stench smell that stops would increase the comfort of customers who walk into the hall.

Kaizen methodology believes that the problems you see in your department or line of duty are your opportunity to invest into the productivity of the company, if something is wrong, correct it.

If you improve 1% everyday, in a month you will improve by over 20% and that’s huge.

To get improved results, you need to get improved processes

A problem could be identified by using the 5W and 2H (what is the cause of the problem, Why did it happen, Where did it happen, When does it normally happen, Who is in charge, How can we stop it, How is the best way to go about it)

When a problem has been identified, members who are part of the department should select time and date and brainstorm using the 5S framework (this would be discussed later) or 5W2H or the PDCA circle (Plan, Do,Check, Act) or PDAC (Plan, Do, Analyse, Change)

While trying to solve the problem, please document the improvement so that it can be standardised and shown to other employees so that it can be understood.

Advantages of using the Kaizen methodology are

1. It takes less to actually improve the company since it doesn’t need much resources.

2. It reduces errors and eliminate waste

3. It encourages scrutiny from all employees since they are the ones in charge of bringing about the improvement.

4. It encourages employee morale improvement and teamwork as employees can partner with themselves to bring about the improvement together.

This methodology is used in various companies like Toyota, Martin, Ford, Lockheed and many other Fortune 500 companies.

Hope you’ve learnt how to bring about continuous improvement in your place of work

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