Kaizen Tutorial

Organizations with a successful track record of continuous improvement know that the path to excellence isn’t about individual projects or the vision of a single leader. Instead, it’s building a culture of continuous improvement – from the boardroom to the shop floor – that drives the leadership behaviors and day-to-day standard work that deliver results. This idea is embodied in the Japanese word kaizen, which literally translates to “good change,” or change for the better. And while kaizen often is associated with discrete, multi-day events focused on improving processes, it is a philosophy first and process second.

The notion of kaizen centers on a core set of principles that emphasize eliminating all forms of waste in an organization through a series of ongoing, incremental changes, driven by employees at all levels. Many companies have institutionalized the practice of Kaizen by shop floor teams, and have achieved significant performance advancement through the accumulation of incremental advancements over time. This inclusive, detail-oriented approach to problem solving stands in stark contrast to costly, top-down directives that can lack the staying power of kaizen’s “small and steady” ethos.

The Core Principles of Kaizen

Kaizen is centered on five key principles:

• Know the customer: In line with the foundational philosophies of Lean management, continuous improvement in a kaizen-centered culture starts and ends with the customer. That means aligning any process improvements with how to generate more value for the customer, notably by eliminating non-value-added steps and identifying other productivity challenges.
• Let it flow: One of the reasons the kaizen philosophy involves employees at all levels of the organization is that waste - ‘muda’ in Japanese - can be lurking in any part of the value stream. The small, incremental changes at the heart of kaizen and its associated events seek to remove waste and improve flow in order to maximize customer value.
• Go to gemba: Organizations that practice kaizen also know that seeking out waste means going to gemba, or where the work is done. That means viewing processes and their attendant problems up close, whether that’s the shop floor or a more “invisible” digital space. Going to gemba not only ensures that are employees involved in potential process changes, but also allows those solving problems to see how the changes would realistically roll out.
• Empower people: Involving employees at all levels of the organization doesn’t just mean paying “lip service” to problems they’ve identified. It means giving them the agency to be valuable members of cross-functional kaizen teams that study processes, identify solutions, and then test and evaluate changes. Those closest to the process, after all, know it best - and could possess the most valuable insights to increase customer value.
• Be transparent: Fundamental to the kaizen philosophy is the notion that changes tested in an organization more than likely will be part of a feedback loop that transforms lessons learned into further incremental improvements. To make this happen, a kaizen-practicing organization must commit to keeping data visible and accessible.

The Kaizen Event

While Kaizen is sustained in the long term through a broader cultural shift, individual process improvements are largely driven by action-oriented “events” that take place over a two- to five-day timespan. Kaizen events, which may be led by a trained Continuous Improvement Professional or Experience Area Leaders at an organization, span team formation; problem identification; new process implementation; and debriefing, which can include translating lessons learned into further adjustments. The goal is to identify the smallest changes to organizational processes and their associated standard work that can reap the greatest benefits in terms of customer value, process flow, and cost.

Kaizen event structures vary based on the organization, team leadership, and strategic priorities but may resemble this structure:

Monday: Current State - On the Kaizen event’s kickoff day, a cross-functional team is assembled, with a goal of gaining clear, initial visibility of the process under study so problems can be later identified and solved. This day often involves creating a value tream Map, which visually documents the activities necessary to produce and deliver a product or service. Crucially, the initial map details the value stream “as-is,” meaning it includes data on both value-added and non-value-added steps that may be sources of waste. By the time the first day is over, the team should have a working picture of the process and an initial idea of what wasteful steps might best fit the “small change, big impact” goal of Kaizen.

Tuesday: Root Cause - With wasteful, non-value-added process steps identified, the team can move in the direction of brainstorming solutions that might range from new standard work for employees to the physical rearrangement of equipment or inventory. But this brainstorming process starts with taking a deep dive into why the problems under study exist. Process waste often exists as a symptom of larger “root causes” that can remain unaddressed without the proper problem-solving steps. A key tool in this phase is 5-Why analysis, an exercise that involves asking “Why?” - not once but five times - after identifying a symptom. With tools like 5-Why analysis drilling down to root causes, it’s possible to begin envisioning a “future state” that eliminates non-value-added steps in the value stream and reconfigures the standard work that moves products or services through it.

Wednesday: Future State - By midway through the week, it’s time to transform the current-state value stream map into a future-state map that includes process changes and other improvements seeking to eliminate process waste and maximize flow. The map, however, documents the new value stream in theory, so the team also works to envision what the changes will look like in practice, in the short and long term. That includes high-value but “low-tech” adjustments to process steps and their associated standard work that can be tested inside of the week. This includes securing approval and buy-in from affected areas of the value stream for initial pilot testing.

Thursday: Test and Learn - The beauty of the Kaizen philosophy, when executed properly, is that it allows for small, minimally disruptive process changes that create a big impact. With the end of the week approaching, it’s time for the team and stakeholders to test out initial ideas for those changes. As process adjustments are being tested, team members are gathering data on cycle time and other variables to review against data gathered for the initial Value-Stream Map. By the end of the day, the team should have a working idea of how the proposed changes fared and additional adjustments that need to be made.

Friday: Reflect, Communicate, Celebrate - The final day of the Kaizen event brings to life the importance of transparency as the team communicates the results of the initial adjustments to leadership and other stakeholders. This includes reflecting on what worked, what didn’t, and what future changes may be rolled out as a result of that learning. It’s also time to celebrate; small wins are still wins and a long-term Kaizen culture is sustained by embracing the small steps that ultimately add up to a giant organizational leap. Continuous improvement is just that - continuous - but there’s always time to celebrate when collaboration on systematic problem solving leads to greater customer value and a workplace culture of empowerment regardless of rank.

Kaizen Follow Up - sometimes referred to as “Kaizen Newspaper” is the implementation of the concepts developed and tested on Thursday. The kaizen newspaper should only include items that can be completed in 30 days or less. Any items that are larger than 30 day implementations should be broken down and addressed in the next kaizen event.

Building Strong Kaizen Leaders

The day-to-day work of process improvement in a Kaizen culture is carried out by a range of employees in different functional silos but the work itself is guided by the Kaizen leader, who must possess a mix of technical know-how and the “soft skills” necessary to generate buy-in and manage collaborative efforts. MoreSteam’s Kaizen Leader course is designed to help you develop and hone those skills so your organization’s events are smoothly run and successful.

MoreSteam's Kaizen Leader course begins with a foundational refresher of Lean and Six Sigma concepts, then moves through the pre-planning and execution stages. This includes targeted instruction on building Value-Stream Maps, guiding teams to identifying and understanding root cause, and piloting proposed solutions. After taking this course, you’ll enter your organization’s next Kaizen event cycle with a stronger ability to guide others through Lean and Six Sigma methodology and your own tools for sustaining change after project close-out.