What is a Kaizen Event?

The term Kaizen is loosely translated as Kai - change and Zen - Improve. The term became popular after Masaaki Imai's book 'Kaizen: The Key to Japan's Competitive Success' was published in 1986. The popularity of Kaizen increased over the years as more companies discover what can be achieved when they empower their staff to make improvements.

Kaizen is a way of enabling all workers to improve the process.

What is a Kaizen Event?

A Kaizen Event is a formal activity where a team come together with the intention of improving the process. The Kaizen Event is "learning by doing" exercise where team-members learn to identify waste in the process or other improvement opportunities. The team works together to find and implement improvements to the process.

Very often Kaizen teams are cross-functional and the Kaizen Event is an opportunity to share ideas and find innovative solutions that suit all departments. Well executed Kaizen Events generate rapid process improvement and instill a "can do" culture amongst workers. Kaizen events typically last between three to five days and ideally solutions are implemented before the team disbands. Kaizen Events deliver faster turnaround, improved productivity, better quality and reduced costs.

Getting ready for a Kaizen Event

Kaizen Events are more successful when they are properly planned. The Kaizen Event needs to have a

• project sponsor,
• lean six sigma champion,
• facilitator,
• team lead

Depending on the circumstances, some of these roles may merge. The Kaizen Event planner needs to consider what, why, who, where and when.

What are the conditions giving rise to the need for a Kaizen Event? Why are these conditions present? Why is it important to improve the situation? What are the high level goals for the team? What are the potential deliverables and the potential obstacles? What is the scope for improvement? What training is required beforehand?

Who are the team-members? Who is the process owner? Who is the facilitator? Who is the team leader? Who is the lean six sigma champion?

When is the start and end dates? Where will the Kaizen Event be held?

During the Kaizen Event facilitator creates an environment where all team-members feel safe about sharing their ideas. Kaizen Events follow a step by step approach to improvement. The team starts by defining the problem, the scope of the work being undertaken and the expectation of the team.

After clarifying the goals for the Kaizen Event, the team can research opportunity for improvement and consider all practical solutions. Most Kaizen Events follow either Demming's - Plan Do Check Act - formula for improvement or Lean Six Sigma's Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control (DMAIC). The choice of methodology depends on the experience of the team. Both approaches can deliver rapid improvement.

Building Kaizen culture

A successful Kaizen Events creates opportunities to spread the concept to other parts of the organization. Kaizen Events are social, team orientated and create a sense of satisfaction. A successful Kaizen culture requires

• the proper execution of Kaizen Events,
• leadership from management,
• infrastructure that supports improvement teams

If any of these factors is missing, the Kaizen programme will fail. The early successes fizzle away and people become disenchanted. However with the proper support, Kaizen delivers innovative improvements and satisfaction at a job that's well done!