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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.
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:
In 1986, Imai published "Kaizen, The Key to Japan's Competitive Success", which was an instant global bestseller, firmly embedding the word kaizen in the corporate lexicon. It was the first book to introduce the Lean philosophy to the world.
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.
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.
Advanced analysis and statistical techniques are used, It is coordinated by a core team and the team consists of experts also. [4] Kaikaku projects can be of four different types: [5] [6] Locally innovative implementation - e.g., introducing a production robot, well-known to the industry, but new to the company
Quality circles were at their most popular during the 1980s, but continue to exist in the form of Kaizen groups and similar worker participation schemes. [2] Typical topics for the attention of quality circles are improving occupational safety and health, improving product design, and improvement in the workplace and manufacturing processes.
Example of a worksheet for structured problem solving and continuous improvement. A3 problem solving is a structured problem-solving and continuous-improvement approach, first employed at Toyota and typically used by lean manufacturing practitioners. [1]