POM Project (2012748)

PRODUCTION AND
OPERATIONS
MANAGEMENT
STUDY ON KAIZEN AND

ITS IMPLEMENTATION
SUBMITTED BY: PRABHDEEP SINGH

(2012748)
SUBMITTED TO: MR.RAJVEER SINGH
INTRODUCTION
Kaizen is the process of Continuous improvement

wherein changes are made to the organization’s process
either in one go or Step by step. One of the major
advantages of Kaizen is that it is continuous and not a
time-bound process. We have discussed more in detail
about Kaizen here.
Kaizen accepts that more optimization is always possible

and it helps empower employees and managers to
implement Kaizen in the organization.
Because of the benefit of continuous improvement,

many managers and business owners want to implement
Kaizen in their organization.
7 steps to implement Kaizen in your

organization
1) Involve your employees

Before you proceed to the 2nd step of Kaizen, first you
need to involve your employees because it will later help
you to empower your employees as well. For example –
if a customer service executive has a feedback
on improving the processes, then his feedback can be
listened to by the managers, and he can be made
individually responsible for implementing the change in
the organization.
To implement Kaizen, you need your employees

motivated and involved. You want to create a workplace
which does not resist change and in fact which is
responsible for the change. To do this, you need the full
cooperation of your employees and communications
between management and employees is critical.
Kaizen has the concept of Quality circles wherein there

are specific circles of employees from various
department who are responsible for
the holistic improvement of the firm slowly but gradually.
2) Find Problems
The second step to implement Kaizen is to accept and
find problems in your organization. For this, you need to
take a 360 degree feedback and involve your employees.
You can list out all the processes within the organization
which needs improvements.
It can be the customer service department, the

production department, the finance department or any
other place where improvements are needed. You can
list out the problems and issues in a “To Do” Place. If the
problems are too many, for better management, you can
shortlist 10 problems and then proceed with them.
Remember, Kaizen is a continuous process and you will

come back to the remaining problems later. But it is
necessary to start with a small set of problems and then
keep improving.
3) Think & Find Solutions

Again, this is somewhere where more brains and
thoughts are much better than a single brain. Managers
can make teams of creative employees who are
experienced and these employees can be focused on
problem-solving. They might have to dedicate specific
time to find solutions to the problems the firm is facing.
The time frame is critical. We want the solutions to come

forward in a relaxed and creative manner and do not
shoot down any suggestion because it might come in
later, even if it is not completely used and implemented.
Write down the solutions, and by using your own
experience and the experience of the team, shortlist the
suggestions which make the most sense. You can then
take these suggestions for implementation.
4) Implement
Small-scale implementation is the best way to test out
new theories especially in larger organizations.
Many people delay this stage due to overthinking,
complacency or plain ignorance. They think of making
organization-wide changes instead of taking small steps
at a time and running new ideas in a pilot environment (a
small office perhaps).
At the same time, the implementation must be done in a

planned manner. If the ideas need to develop a bit more,
then by all means, hold your excitement and develop the
idea on the table before implementing it in the
organization. However, a planned and controlled
implementation is important for an idea so that the
results can be tracked.
5) Check
Many times during implementation, there is just
communication of ideas to juniors wherein the buck is
passed to someone else. This is what makes it difficult to
implement Kaizen and where checking
and auditing comes into play. You need to ensure that
implementation is done to the ground level so that the
results are proper.
As managers, you need to have the correct person at all

points who is responsible for the implementation. So a
manager can appoint the task to a team leader who can
implement it in the team, keep checking on the progress
and then revert back to the manager. From time to time
audits need to be conducted and the progress needs to
be found out. Finding the results is the main objective of
this exercise.
6) Standardize
If the results are not positive, you need to go back to the
3rd step wherein you implement some other ideas which
were on the table. Don’t get frustrated and irritated
because there are many benefits to Kaizen and slowly
but surely you will notice the benefits. This is why we
took only 10 tasks to improve on in the 2nd step.
However, if the results were positive and you find the

process improving, then, by all means, standardize the
process across all departments and across all locations so
that your organization runs more smoothly and
efficiently. Standardization is the best benefit of
implementing Kaizen.
Standardization improves morale by a huge margin

because it saves time and manpower, as a result, making
employees happier and more productive.
Standardization also means empowering your employees
by setting standard procedures which they need to
follow and by cutting the bureaucracy down to a
minimum.
7) Repeat
Now that we have optimized 10 tasks which we selected
in step 2, we can then rinse and repeat the complete
procedure so that further 10 tasks can be optimized. The
true spirit of Kaizen is in “continuous improvement” and
“slow and gradual change”. Kaizen actually means
“Change is good”.
Over a period of time, it becomes a culture in the

organization to eliminate waste and to improve
processes so that everything runs in a well-oiled manner.
Kaizen empowers your employees and creates good
relations between teams so that the whole organization
can holistically look towards further improvements.
This is why many Japanese companies adopt the process
of Kaizen and which is why they are known as some of
the most productive companies in the world.
DETAILS
Point Kaizen
Point Kaizen is one of the most commonly implemented
types of kaizen. It happens very quickly and usually
without much planning. As soon as something is found
broken or incorrect, quick and immediate measures are
taken to correct the issues. These measures are generally
small, isolated and easy to implement.; however, they
can have a huge impact.
In some cases, it is also possible that the positive effects
of point kaizen in one area can reduce or eliminate
benefits of point kaizen in some other area.
Examples of point kaizen include a shop inspection by a
supervisor and he finds broken materials or other small
issues, and then asks the owner of the shop to perform a
quick kaizen (5S) to rectify those issues. Or a line worker
notices a potential improvement in efficiency by placing
the materials needed in another order or closer to the
production line in order to minimize downtime.
System Kaizen
System kaizen is accomplished in an organized manner
and is devised to address system-level problems in an
organization.
It is an upper-level strategic planning method for a short
period of time.
Plane Kaizen
This is the next upper level of line kaizen, in that several
lines are connected together. In modern terminologies,
this can also be described as a value stream, where
instead of traditional departments, the organization is
structured into product lines or families and value
streams. It can be visualized as changes or improvements
made to one line being implemented to multiple other
lines or processes.
Cube Kaizen
Cube kaizen describes the situation where all the points
of the planes are connected to each other and no point is
disjointed from any other. This would resemble a
situation where Lean has spread across the entire
organization. Improvements are made up and down
through the plane, or upstream or downstream,
including the complete organization, suppliers and
customers. This might require some changes in the
standard business processes as well.
Kaizen is a daily process, the purpose of which goes
beyond simple productivity improvement. It is also a
process that, when done correctly, humanizes the
workplace, eliminates overly hard work (muri), and
teaches people how to perform experiments on their
work using the scientific method and how to learn to
spot and eliminate waste in business processes. In all, the
process suggests a humanized approach to workers and
to increasing productivity: "The idea is to nurture the
company's people as much as it is to praise and
encourage participation in kaizen activities." Successful
implementation requires "the participation of workers in
the improvement."
CONCLUSION
Kaizen has become an important part of businesses

recently because it tends to focus on the right elements
that require change. It harps on business aspects like
creating a culture of Kaizen, changing the operational
structure, provides support and focuses on the right kind
of execution. Not only can you use Kaizen to create high
skilled workers, helps you standardize tasks, create quick
processes, reduce the number of errors that happen and
more.
No matter what kind of business or life you lead, there is
always scope for improvement and this is when you need
to utilize Kaizen to get the most out of it. Ensure your
team’s ultimate success by making all your employees be
responsible for upholding the kaizen principles in the
workplace.
KEY LEARNING
1. Start small. Are you adding Kaizen principles to learning

for the first time? Then it may be wise to choose an area
of focus and work to streamline it. Give it some time to
see how the changes work for your organization and
then expand when the time is right.
2. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Masaaki Imai wrote the book

and there are considerable Kaizen research and case
studies to show you the way. Use available resources,
including your own people. By utilizing the skills of the
experts in each part of your business, you can maximize
your in-house knowledge, energize your current
employees and educate the next generation.
3. Thinking caps. Be open to new ideas and suggestions

from everyone. Kaizen is an on-going process and by
tweaking how you train employees and how continuing
education is presented, you can strengthen your
organization and increase everyone’s knowledge at the
same time.
4. Align training with goals. As you are shaping the way you
train employees you may see areas within the
organization that need improvement or goals that need
to be redefined. This process may open the door to
better processes all around.
5. In for the long haul. Change rarely happens overnight

and positive change may take time to set in. The
organizational experts stress that consistency is critical to
any process. Whether you are conducting an orientation
for a new employee or leading a continuing education
effort, establishing clear, measurable goals and tracking
your progress is important to truly improving your
process. Notice what works and take time to celebrate it.
REFERENCES
https://blog.blueoceanbrain.com/blog/
applying-kaizen-principles-to-learning-and-
development-efforts
https://www.marketing91.com/implement-
kaizen/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaizen
THANK YOU

POM Project (2012748)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

POM Project (2012748)

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

POM Project (2012748)

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

PRODUCTION AND

STUDY ON KAIZEN AND

SUBMITTED BY: PRABHDEEP SINGH

Kaizen is the process of Continuous improvement

Kaizen accepts that more optimization is always possible

Because of the benefit of continuous improvement,

7 steps to implement Kaizen in your

1) Involve your employees

To implement Kaizen, you need your employees

Kaizen has the concept of Quality circles wherein there

It can be the customer service department, the

Remember, Kaizen is a continuous process and you will

3) Think & Find Solutions

The time frame is critical. We want the solutions to come

At the same time, the implementation must be done in a

As managers, you need to have the correct person at all

However, if the results were positive and you find the

Standardization improves morale by a huge margin

Over a period of time, it becomes a culture in the

Kaizen has become an important part of businesses

1. Start small. Are you adding Kaizen principles to learning

2. Don’t reinvent the wheel. Masaaki Imai wrote the book

3. Thinking caps. Be open to new ideas and suggestions

5. In for the long haul. Change rarely happens overnight

You might also like

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.