In order to maintain competitive priorities and remain above the competition in the global market, industries have to continuously improve manufacturing system processes. Competition and ever increasing customer satisfaction standards has been shown to be the force behind performance improvement by companies (Singh and Singh 51). Kaizen is an originally Japanese management concept for incremental improvement. It means continuous improvement in personal life, home life, social life and working life – a way of life philosophy. When used in business terms and applied to the workplace, kaizen refers to continual improvement across all functions involving all employees –managers and workers alike (Iman xx). According to Soltero and Waldrip (23) Kaizen is a workforce development methodology that can help organizations implement programs geared towards waste reduction. It is a culture of unrelenting persistent improvement that focuses on waste elimination in all systems and processes.
The foundation of the Kaizen method consists of 5 founding elements: Teamwork, Personal Discipline, Improved morale, Quality circles and Suggestions for improvement
Out of these elements three key principles arise in Kaizen:
• Elimination of waste (Muda) and inefficiency: overproduction, unnecessary transport/material handling, over processing, time delays, making defects, inventory storage, waste of motion, and underutilization of employees
• The Kaizen Five-S framework for good housekeeping: o Seiri (Sort) – Proper arrangement of workplace area and work tools; discard unnecessary tools, documents and defective products o Seiton (Orderliness) – Systemic preparation of the workplace so that things are ready for use when needed and easily accessible o S...
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Roncarti, Ron, and Cheryl Tanner. “Kaizen leads to breakthroughs in responsiveness – and the Singo Prize – at Critikon.” National Productivity Review 13.4(1994): 517+. Academic OneFile. Web. 27 Mar. 2014.
Singh, Jagdeep, and Harwinder Singh. “Kaizen Philosophy: A Review of Literature.” ICFAI Journal of Operations Management 8.2 (2009): 51-72. Business Source Complete. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.
Soltero, Conrad, and Gregory Waldrip. “Using Kaizen To Reduce Waste And Prevent Pollution.” Environmental Quality Management 11.3 (2002): 23-38. Business Source Complete. Web. 4 Mar. 2014.
Steen, Kathryn. Case Studies in Business Improvement: Kaizen at Bunge-Ergon Vicksburg, LLC. Focus Magazine (2011).
Everyone in the organization should be involved in the training process at the end of the case it says a management process that involves all the employees explain this. Kaizen means a “good change“, standardizing the operations, evaluating it and innovating a better option or solution and continue the process. The training process would be different for different groups depending on their roles and responsibilities. When it comes to the training design we have to consider the different levels of operations and their roles and responsibilities. We have to differentiate the trainees depending on their experience, abilities and trainee population. The first line managers and all the employees in the same department should go through
Lean manufacturing refers to systematic identification and elimination of waste through CI processes in pursuit of perfection (Khan et al. 2013; Yang & Yang 2013). Lean production is now used worldwide in manufacturing plants to eliminate waste from all ar...
Robbins, S. P., & Coulter. M. (2014). Management (12th ed.). Retrieved from: Colorado Technical University eBook Collection database.
...uctive interpersonal associations. Many have argued that the change effectiveness works as a fundamental hub in every one organizational scrutiny, standing-in as the objective or organization plan and organization modification. Even though, there are people that put forward that there are confines in the characterization of this perception as many have the same opinion that the organizational effectiveness perception mirrors and be a symbol of a wide range of wanted organizational results. But this can be achieved by equating the equation by means of continuous improvement, kaizen, in terms of values, culture, beliefs and norms that accept that “effectiveness of organizational change is greatest when a firm’s strategy is consistent with environmental conditions and there is internal consistency”. Reference Todd. D Jick and Maury Peiper: 2003 (2nd edition) Managing
Robbins, S. P., Decenzo, D. A., & Coulter. M. (2013). Fundamentals of Management (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
“Quality of lean systems is based on kaizen, the Japanese term for “change for the good of all” or continuous improvement” (Russell & Taylor, 2013, pg. 737). Continuous improvement involves “every employee at every level” (Russell & Taylor, 2013, pg. 737). It is the process of employees identify “quality problems, halt operations when necessary, generate ideas form improvement, analyze processes, perform different functions, and adjust their working routines” (Russell & Taylor, 2013, pg. 737). “The idea focuses on improving processes and products while using employee creativity to help define the way procedures and systems can be improved” (Wagner, N., 2015). The kaizen approach encourages an organization to achieve better operational excellence and improve their productivity. The key component to achieve a successful kaizen “is finding the root cause of a problem and eliminating it so the problem does not reoccur” (Russell & Taylor, 2013, pg. 738). One of the techniques for achieving the root cause of a problem is asking the “5 Why’s”: “repeatedly asking “why?” until a root cause is identified” (Russell & Taylor, 2013, pg. 738). Kaizen is that big results from many small changes accumulated over time. This does not mean that kaizen means small changes. What is does mean, is that everyone involved is making improvement for a more streamline process. Kaizen is part of the quality of source that involve; visual control,
Dr. William Edward Deming is known as the father of the quality evolution. To gain this status Deming developed many innovative processes and philosophies. The most recognized being the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle (PDSA), which is a method for continuous improvement of processes. Another major development in the process improvement sector was Deming’s creation of the 14 key principles; this is an outline of codes that aid in transforming business effectiveness. In addition to the 14 key principles, Deming also established the seven deadly diseases; a list of conditions that would halt continuous improvement. Also notable were Deming’s Red Bead experiment and the chain reaction philosophy which exemplified the importance of investing within the organization..The effectiveness of these philosophies and principles can be viewed from Japanese industry; where Deming spent much time in his early career sharing his knowledge about process improvement.
Robbins, S.P., DeCenzo, D.A., & Coulter, M. (2013). Fundamentals of management (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
The Goal of any business is to obtain maximum results in the most efficient manner while at the same time providing your customer with the quality product they desire. Often times this process is made difficult with waste or anything that clogs the process unnecessarily. Henry Ford aimed to eliminate this waste through looking at his manufacturing pro...
...ions, consensus management and seniority-based reward systems all suitably adapted to the local context, of course, this would force the adoption of Japanese practices such as Kanban(JIT) and Kaizen (continuous improvement), that call for flexible utilization of resourceful humans.
The Goal: A Process of Ongoing Improvement is a very popular and bestseller book in management section. Eliyahu M. Goldratt and Jeff Cox wrote the book in 1984. It comes in 390 pages. It published by The North River Press. In 20 years, over than three million copies were sold, translated into 21 languages and taught in over 200 collages. The way the book is written was like telling a story although the contents are science. That is because the author thinks it is the best way for education.
Kinicki, A., & Williams, B. K. (2011). Management: A practical introduction (5th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
The mistakes of the past need not be repeated, for hazardous waste can be controlled using methods that prevent damage to human health and the environment. These methods have been neglected in the past primarily because they cost more than indiscriminate or careless dumping, and because no law required their use(Kiefer, 1981, p.51).
Slack, N., Johnston, R. and Brandon-Jones, A. (2011).Essentials of operations management. 1st ed. Harlow, England: Financial Times Prentice Hall.
Motion Unnecessary staff movement to obtain information or supplies. Overproduction: Requesting unnecessary laboratory tests. Keeping beds or slots free “just in case”. Adapted from NHS Institute for Innovation and Improvement: Going Lean in the NHS (2007).... ...