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A kaizen process. Some successful implementations use the approach known as kaizen (the translation of kai ('change') zen ('good') is 'improvement'). This method became famous from Imai's 1986 book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success. [7] Key features of kaizen include:
Masaaki Imai made the term famous in his book Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success. [1] In the Toyota Way Fieldbook, Liker and Meier discuss the kaizen blitz and kaizen burst (or kaizen event) approaches to continuous improvement. A kaizen blitz, or rapid improvement, is a focused activity on a particular process or activity.
The principles of the Toyota Way are divided into the two broad categories of continuous improvement and respect for human resources. [7] [8] [9] The standards for constant improvement include directives to set up a long-term vision, to engage in a step-by-step approach to challenges, to search for the root causes of problems, and to engage in ongoing innovation.
Mr. Imai’s sequel book on this subject, "Gembakaizen: A Commonsense, Low-cost Approach to Management", was published in 1997. This book uses relevant case studies to detail 21 practical kaizen management practices, including methodologies and tools to apply where the real action occurs.
Bodek's fascination with manufacturing led him to Japan and a lifelong exploration of the methods behind Japanese quality and productivity. [5] Over three decades, up until 2016, Bodek went to Japan 86 times, [citation needed] visited more than 250 plants and published over 250 management books. As a fortune cookie once told him, "You have the ...
Lean thinking was born out of studying the rise of Toyota Motor Company from a bankrupt Japanese automaker in the early 1950s to today's dominant global player. [4] At every stage of its expansion, Toyota remained a puzzle by capturing new markets with products deemed relatively unattractive and with systematically lower costs while not following any of the usual management dictates.
Kaizen costing is a cost reduction system used a product's design has been completed and it is in production. [1] Business professor Yasuhiro Monden [ 2 ] defines kaizen costing as The maintenance of present cost levels for products currently being manufactured via systematic efforts to achieve the desired cost level.
Many of the methods provide techniques and have associated quality culture (i.e. people factors). These methods are now adopted by the same western countries that decades earlier derided Japanese methods. Customers recognize that quality is an important attribute when choosing and purchasing products and services.