Kaizen - continuous improvement
- Details
- Written by: Super User
- Category: Kaizen - continuous improvement
- Hits: 18
The general picture I encountered when I discussed Kaizen at many companies up to today was as follows: a section of employees / managers who know Kaizen activities in some way tend to do some work through their own efforts; managers want Kaizen work to be done, but they want the people who will take part to devote very little time to these activities, or they carry out some practices under the name of Kaizen activities (in particular, they perceive some of the work that comes out of the suggestion system as Kaizen).
In fact, if you look into it you will see that the Kaizen applied by Japanese companies consists of certain basic steps and has certain basic principles. Let us turn to these briefly now:
Kaizen Philosophy
In Japanese management culture, Kaizen carries the meaning of "change for the better." Continuous improvement is expected here. It often advances through small improvements and provides significant improvements in the employee's productivity.
For Kaizen to be applied successfully, the basic principles must be followed:
- Participation by everyone: Kaizen requires the active participation of all employees, from the lowest level of the company to the highest, and not of management alone. In many companies that apply Kaizen well, every employee's participation in Kaizen activities is treated as a mandatory personal target.
- Process focus: Kaizen should focus on the processes that produce the results, more than on the results. Kaizen tries to improve by simplifying processes, improving them, preventing errors, and preventing waste (Muda).
- Big change through small steps: When improvements are made, employees are expected to focus on small changes rather than large changes. That is, instead of trying to renew the machine or the mold, work is done toward improvements such as reducing the inventories at the station, reducing the replenishment quantity, making the tables smaller, reducing walking, and so on.
- Elimination of waste: An effort is made to eliminate Muda (waste), Mura (unevenness), and Muri (overburden).
- Standardization: An effort is made to apply the results of successful Kaizen activities at every workstation and to ensure that they are understood by everyone.
- Details
- Written by: Super User
- Category: Kaizen - continuous improvement
- Hits: 22
Great products emerge through the collective effort of a united team. They unite because they believe in a single goal. Supporting a common goal and reaching consensus, however, can sometimes be a difficult task. When a large number of people take part in making a decision, how can you ensure that every voice is heard? How can you agree on which decision will be implemented?
Nemawashi is one of the most critical concepts of Lean Production and of Japanese management philosophy. Literally, it means "preparing the roots of a tree (by digging the soil) for planting/transplanting".
As a managerial term, it is the process of meeting one by one with all the parties concerned, before officially announcing a major change, project, or decision, taking their views, persuading them, and achieving consensus.
While in traditional Western-style management a decision is dictated from the top down, in the Japanese management system (especially in the Toyota Production System) the process begins with Nemawashi.
The first application of Nemawashi in the business world was widespread in Japanese companies, especially at Toyota. Respect for people, one of the principles of the Toyota Production System, is embodied in Nemawashi. It is one of the 13 pillars of the Toyota Production System, and it is deeply bound to this principle.
At Toyota, Nemawashi is accepted as the first step in any decision-making process. Managers share information about the upcoming change with every one of their employees. The purpose of this practice is to prepare the ground for upcoming changes in the organization and to reach consensus on specific business decisions that may affect them. In this way, less resistance, or no resistance at all, is shown to the changes, because everyone has given approval.
Creating a Culture of Reaching Agreement in the Business
Putting new processes and policies into practice suddenly will lead only to disagreement in your organization. People are naturally resistant to change. If you present the change in a way that is more digestible and more acceptable for employees, however, they will be more ready to embrace the new environment that will form. You will also gain valuable information from them, because your employees feel more competent speaking in a small-group discussion than speaking with a crowded group.
Read more: Applying Nemawashi in the Transition to Lean Management
- Details
- Written by: Super User
- Category: Kaizen - continuous improvement
- Hits: 17
The Philosophy of Kaizen and Hansei has established itself as an effective management approach, especially in markets based on competition. The basic aim of this approach is to eliminate activities that do not create value (waste) and, by making continuous improvements in processes and/or operations, to manage the entire production cycle on the axis of value.
During the lean transformation process, continuous improvement work is carried out in the business in order to solve problems and prevent them from recurring. Continuous improvement, also known as "Kaizen," is a philosophy and a body of principles focused on making small, gradual changes in order to improve processes, systems, and activities continuously. The aim of continuous improvement is to eliminate waste and to increase productivity, quality, and customer satisfaction.
In continuous improvement work, it is very important that employees are included in the improvement process and empowered. By including employees in the processes of identifying and solving problems, organizations can draw on their collective knowledge and experience in order to achieve continuous improvement. In increasing the success of applying continuous improvement work, the concept of Hansei, a lean management philosophy, is applied.
- Details
- Written by: Super User
- Category: Kaizen - continuous improvement
- Hits: 24
Adopting Kaizen not only as a strategy, but also as a culture, requires a fundamental change at every level of the organization. This cultural change begins with changing employees' mindset and way of working. Cultural transformation must include intensive effort and support from management. Otherwise it will not be possible to put successful and lasting practices in place, and every improvement that is made will return to its former state within a short time. To achieve cultural transformation, it must be put into practice step by step, always with patience, persistence, and support. Here are the detailed steps for spreading the Kaizen culture:
1. Training and Awareness
Kaizen Training
For Kaizen to be applied successfully, all employees need to understand this philosophy. By organizing training programs, explain what Kaizen is, how it works, and why it is important. Insisting on training and encouraging continuous learning are very important. Most people avoid applying it because they do not know the Kaizen practices and do not understand the techniques, and once they have learned, their participation in the practice increases. To encourage people, the scope of the training can include the following subjects:
- The basic principles and tenets of Kaizen
- Examples of successful Kaizen applications
- Tools and techniques to be used in improvement processes (for example, 5S, the PDCA Cycle, the 5 Whys)
Creating Awareness
Increase employees' motivation by sharing the benefits of Kaizen and its success stories. Using internal communication channels (email newsletters, the intranet, posters), announce examples of continuous improvement and success stories. Recognizing people's successes, and bringing them to the fore, is the best way to motivate.
Read more: Kaizen | The Importance of Cultural Transformation
- Details
- Written by: Super User
- Category: Kaizen - continuous improvement
- Hits: 20
As you know, Kaizen, one of the lean production techniques, focuses on activities carried out for the continuous improvement of problems. Nearly all successful companies apply Kaizen activities, encourage people to take part in these activities, and provide the necessary resources. What they mostly expect from this is that problems are continually thought through, that the steps required for improvement are taken, and that waste is reduced. In this way, efficient use of the company's resources is secured.
In our country, however, when improvement and Kaizen are mentioned, what comes to mind for many of our people is large and fundamental change, such as replacing machines. Mention a Kaizen activity in your company today, and you will see that most of the ideas that come forward are relatively large and, for the most part, solutions in which the person who suggested the idea does not take part. Unfortunately, this takes Kaizen activities away from being what they ought to be.
Whether a machine needs to be replaced is a matter of that machine's economic life and of the adequacy of the company's financial resources. All managers know this situation well, and in general there is always a budget and a plan. In other words, the company will want to replace machines according to its financial position and its budget.
Disadvantages of Focusing on Large Changes:
-
Difficulty of Implementation: Because large and fundamental changes require high investment costs and long implementation times, they can lead to difficulties in practice.
-
Employee Resistance: Employees may resist changing their habits and adapting to new systems.
-
Loss of Productivity: Losses of productivity can occur while large changes are being planned and implemented.
The small problems that an employee may encounter, perhaps hundreds of times a day, are either never seen by the management level or are seen only very rarely. These small problems (Chokote) occur so often, and in such numbers, that they destroy a significant part of efficiency. What is worse, these small problems have ceased to be problems and have become part of the job. When employees are asked, they will say that this is their job. For example, a person removing flash at an injection molding machine will insist that this is a job. In fact, it is a mold and machine-setup problem. It needs to be eliminated.
Characteristics of Small Problems (Chokote):
-
Frequent Repetition: The same problem appears again and again and causes waste.
-
Small Appearance: Although they look small and unimportant, over time they cause large losses.
-
Tendency to Ignore Them: Employees tend to ignore these problems or not to make enough effort to solve them.
In many places we explain that, for good Kaizen practice, employees' points of view need to change. What we mean by that change here is that small problems need to be placed on the agenda instead of discussing the large problems described above. Employees should be enabled to focus much more on these matters.