Kaizen should be a way of life for all things; it is a mindset of small continuous improvements. Let’s use a simple example that many can relate to. Let’s say you own a house, and that house eventually will need to be painted, a new roof, new flooring or perhaps a new kitchen. What most […]
At the heart of every organization is a business model with processes that were created to serve their customers. These processes not only determine how well the customer is satisfied, but alternatively can become frustrating and inefficient for the workers. In fact, many businesses don’t understand the details of these processes, and therefore make decisions […]
Within the context of manufacturing Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) refers to a system of maintenance and improvement of production and quality systems through the use of machines, employees, processes and equipment which give an organization its value. A 3 – 5 day TPM event is focused on ensuring that your work process equipment is kept […]
5S is a popular and commonly-used tool in Lean manufacturing, and is used for optimization of workplace conditions. Often, 5S is used as a key building block within many lean continuous improvement efforts. This is because the tool not only offers a solid base on which improvements can be established, but also gets workers from […]
A Kaizen Burst event, which is also called a Rapid Process Improvement (RPI), is a 3-5 day event whose focus is achieving dramatic improvements to particular parts of a specified process by the time the event ends. Unlike a process mapping event, whose focus is on planning a list of improvements, a burst event is […]
Besides being one of the most powerful tools in the lean toolbox, Standard Work is one of the least understood and seldom used. Through documentation of current best practices and evaluation of the process flow, Standardized Work provides a baseline for continuous improvement, or Kaizen. “Where there is no standard, there can be no kaizen” […]
One of the core skills in Lean Six Sigma practice is knowing how to identify areas where a business creates value, so that essential processes are easily streamlined. This holds true, whether the process is used to process transactions, or to manufacture products. Value Stream Mapping helps an organization to view value flowing from one […]
Kaizen is a Japanese philosophy that helps achieve incredible changes by using small continuous improvements until the desired results are achieved. Kaizen is an honorary addition to Six Sigma, but not actually Six Sigma. However, Kaizen’s basic principles are very much that of Six Sigma, so they actually belong with the Six Sigma methodologies. Kaizen […]
The future of Six Sigma is here! Who knew it would come in the form of robots working at Tesla’s production line? It takes Tesla three days to build a car, starting from raw materials — to finishing the very last detail. They seem to practice the Kaizen system of constant improvements. According to Gilbert […]
As with any great system of operations or technique of processes, it advances and evolves on its own. Kaizen is one of those simple miracles that actually implements its own technique automatically. So what will be the state of Kaizen in 100 years? As we all know, kaizen is a Japanese word which means “change […]
The word Kaizen means “improvement” in the Japanese language. When the same word is used in the workplace, it means a continuous improvement that involves the entire staff. It is a philosophy or mindset; the entire organization is involved and engaged in its own improvement. It is a company culture where everyone is truly interested […]
In the beginning, W. Edwards Deming and Joseph Juran, who were knowledgeable in American workplace improvements, went to Japan as part of a plan to help Japan rebuild after World War ll. Taking the information that these two Americans gave the Japanese regarding Training Within Industry (a service created by the US Department of War […]
Before we describe the happy union of grocery chain Trader Joe’s and Kaizen, let’s introduce the definition of Kaizen. It is the Japanese word for improvement or change for the better. If you apply this to the workplace, it is a practice that focuses on every aspect of the processes that it takes to run […]
Isn’t it amazing how Amazon has embraced Six Sigma, Lean Six Sigma and has made Kaizen a way of life? Financially, Amazon has been doing extremely well — Amazon has been in the black for the last four quarters! Jeff Bezos has been continuously putting the profits back into Amazon for continuously improving every aspect […]
Wouldn’t it be great if we could find a tool existed that could fix every issue that comes up? That would actually be an appropriate response when asked the age-old question: what is the difference between Six Sigma, Lean, and Kaizen? First let’s define each business process improvement term separately: Kaizen is more of a […]
In business, nothing is perfect. That is why adapting the principal of Kaizen is a smart idea. Japanese for “change for the better,” Kaizen is known as an approach of continuous small improvements over time. Kaizen isn’t an actual tool, but a mindset. When using this philosophy, you can apply the various Six Sigma tools […]
The foundation of Six Sigma team work, Green Belts are, in many ways, the core of your project team. As such, they are essential to the smooth-running of projects and completion of process improvement objectives. Six Sigma Green Belts all share a range of key qualities that make them stand out from the rest. These […]
One of the most useful tools in Six Sigma is Root Cause Analysis (RCA). One of the most effective tools in your RCA Toolkit is the Pareto chart. In today’s practical guide, we look at what a Pareto chart can do for you, as well as how, and when, to create your own Pareto chart […]
Many reasons exist for a business failure but the technique to solve the business problem is not reinvented each time we face problems. The methodology to solve the business problem is merely conceivable through the ‘Continuous Process Improvement’. Continuous process improvement is considered as one of the techniques to react to the business problem or […]
You can use Process flow diagrams in just about any industry to organize process steps in sequential order. Process flow diagram are incredibly useful tools in Six Sigma and Lean, as they allow you to arrange data in a detailed, comprehensive manner by which to easily identify areas where corrective action is needed. This article […]
