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Kaizen
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Kaizen (改善, Japanese for "change for the better" or "improvement"; the common English usage is "continuous improvement" or "continual improvement").
In the context of this article, Kaizenrefers to a workplace 'quality' strategy and is often associated with the Toyota Production System and related to various quality-control systems, including methods of W. Edwards Deming.
Kaizen aimsto eliminate waste (as defined by Joshua Isaac Walters "activities that add cost but do not add value"). It is often the case that this means "to take it apart and put back together in a better way."This is then followed by standardization of this 'better way' with others, through standardized work.[citation needed]
Contents * 1 Introduction * 2 Translation * 3 History * 4Implementation * 5 See also * 6 References * 7 Further reading |
Kaizen is a daily activity whose purpose goes beyond simple productivity improvement. It is also a process that, when done correctly,humanizes the workplace, eliminates overly hard work (both mental and physical) "muri", and teaches people how to perform experiments on their work using the scientific method and how to learn to spot andeliminate waste in business processes.
To be most effective kaizen must operate with three[citation needed] principles in place:
* consider the process and the results (not results-only) so thatactions to achieve effects are surfaced;
* systemic thinking of the whole process and not just that immediately in view (i.e. big picture, not solely the narrow view) in order to avoid creatingproblems elsewhere in the process; and
* a learning, non-judgmental, non-blaming (because blaming is wasteful) approach and intent will allow the re-examination of the assumptions that resulted in...