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Kaizen is a combination of two Japanese words joined by 'kai' - ongoing and 'zen' - improvement,
translated into English as "continuous improvement". -
Kaizen is not a one-time event but a systematic way of thinking about improving business
performance. The improvement does not come from investing in new technology or equipment
but through the ideas of the workers themselves. Small groups of workers meet regularly to
discuss problems and possible solutions. - Advantages: + Improved teamwork:
Kaizen is a quality improvement tool driven by teamwork. It does not benefit only a selected few, but
everyone involved in the business process. As the kaizen team solves problems together, they develop a bond and build team spirit.
+ Improved employee satisfaction and dedication:
Employees can make suggestions and contribute ideas for changes through group meetings. So when
employees are involved in decision making, it gives them a sense of belonging and worth. The
employees are motivated and productivity increases. + Eliminate wastes:
For example, by eliminate large amounts of inventory or reducing unnecessary time workers have to walk between jobs - Disadvantages:
+ Training requirement: training staff to adapt to new changes could be expensive and very demanding.
+ Reluctant to change: employees might think “change is difficult” and be unwilling to change the system that they have been used to. - Cell production:
+ is where the production line is divided into separate, instead of having a flow or mass production line.
+ Each team or ‘cell’ is responsible for a significant part of the finished article - Advantages:
+ Workers become multi-skilled and more adaptable to the future needs of a business: because team
members are skilled in several roles rather than just performing one very specific task.
+ Greater worker motivation, coming from variety of work, team working and more responsibility - Disadvantages:
+ The allocation of work to the cells must be efficient so that they have enough work but not so much that they cannot handle it.
+ The company may have to invest in new systems suitable for cell production -
This approach is usually divided into 6 steps as follows: + Come up with ideas
+ Measure: ensure processes are performed effectively using data.
+ Compare: Compare data from calculations with set business goal.
+ Innovation: Look for new and improved ways to maintain expected results.
+ Standardize: Once the majority of employees are satisfied with a new idea or process being tested,
make it a habit that can be performed easily and repeatedly.
+ Repeat: Start approaching the above steps again with a new change. -