It is undeniable: Kaizen Events have been helping people improve their business and accept the fact that change is mandatory and beneficial for all. Along with the magnificent strength of the Lean Manufacturing Strategies comprised in the Toyota Production System, the Kaizen Event was born as the best alternative to adult Education and Training.
How to Develop a Kaizen Event? and WHY?
For any company willing to embark into Lean Manufacturing there is a procedure that will be the key to successful implementation of any of the appropriate strategies. Our customers have found it easier than they thought and the results have been surprising and consistent, so they keep improving again and again… even after the consultant has left the plant.
Many of our visitors at http://www.TPMonLine.com/, and www.PapaKaizen.com have expressed interest in developing Kaizen Events on their own. That is exactly the purpose of this electronic book: Help you develop your own Kaizen Events.
Let us analyze some guidelines that may help us norm the development of our workshop.
Start Always On Time
If you are not punctual, you can never be a leader
Use times like 7:59 13:31 to make the appointments unique and memorable
Start even if only one person has shown up
Publish Agenda and Follow Published Agenda
Review Objectives And Desired Outcome and let people tell you what they expect from the workshop and from you
Make sure some Operators Are Present
Appoint Appropriate Mixed Roles
Establish Reasonable Break Times
Usually 13 or 14 minutes for every 90 minutes of work
Actively Participate When You Think is Appropriate
Let people express their opinions and concerns
Stay On The Subject
Especially when people get enthused with the improvements they could lose focus
Only One Person Should Talk At A Time
Do Not Allow Side Conversations
No Interruptions
Turn off pagers, telephones, etc.
As each session ends:
Recap Findings, Decisions And Action Plan
Acknowledge each person's contributions to the team
Do Effectiveness Evaluation
Ask the participants how they feel about the achievements
End On Time
As the Workshop Reaches the End:
Complete Management Presentations
Kaizen, the Key to
Lean Manufacturing Implementation
Graphic 1
Created by Masaaki Imai, Kaizen is a “New Way” of conducting business. It would be fair to say… a “Much Better Way” of doing business. The awareness of a more competitive business world is the first step in the process.
If you can admit that the business environment today is not the same that it was thirty or more years before, then you will also admit that in order to succeed today or even to survive, your ways of doing business will have to change too. You must objectively develop an image of the new setting that you will have in your plant. That will be your new “comfort level”.
In the past, just keeping the same process with the same cost of operation at the same pace was enough to remain in business. Today, after some important movements in world politics and economy, along with technological advances, conditions are substantially different.
The most interesting part of this is: You and your people already know what to change and how to do it! That is the Power of your company and the most important resource: your people. So, let’s put all that creativity and intelligence to work for you and support all these new ideas. That is your commitment to your own success.
Some times, though, being so obvious it is at the same time overwhelming. It is very hard to define what the starting point should be in this transformation. If you look at the whole change it may seem an impossible task. The good news is that Kaizen Events are the Method to get started and take you step by step to the achievements that your business requires. We have seen Kaizen Events work for all kinds of plants, service companies and even administrative areas and health care institutions. We are confident that you will also be able to experience a successful transformation in your operations with the Power of Kaizen.
This electronic manual is obviously under “Kaizen” continuous improvement all the time, and you will be able to access the newest version every time you come to read it. We are also open 24/7 to your comments so we can improve the service that our manuals can provide to all our customers.
