KAIZEN is the Japanese word for

gradual, unending
improvement, doing little things
better; setting and achievingever higher standards.

The discipline of focusing on Never Ending

Improvement as a way of life through
identifying improvement opportunities
Identifying improvement actions
Implementing improvement actions
Measuring effectiveness
Identifying further improvement
opportunities

Without KAIZEN
Standard once set, deteriorates over time,
unless effectively maintained.
Standard is set and then continues
Improvement are made, always raising the standard. (never ending improvement )

With KAIZEN

Identify improvement opportunities

Priorities improvement opportunities
Describe current situations
Cause and effect analysis
Identify improvement actions
Verify improvement actions
Implement improvement actions
Measure effectiveness
Kaizen presentation
Standardization
Identify further improvement opportunities

IDENTIFY IMPROVEMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
There are three ways
of identifying
improvement
opportunities
1. Brainstorming
2. Tenken
3. SPC/ Charting

BRAINSTORMING
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.

There are rules for

Brainstorming
Everyone, in rotation, has
a turn.
If no idea, just say
PASS
Write all ideas down
No criticism/evaluation
allowed
Only one idea per turn
Strive for quantity, not
quality
Encourage exaggerations
end when all ideas are
exgausted

When brainstorming for

ideas to work on,
remember they must be
issues in your work
area, where you are the
experts.

IDENTIFY IMPROVEMENT
OPPORTUNITIES

TENKEN
One off the best ways of
Identifying opportunities for
improvement is by direct
observation. (TENKEN)
The Tenken Check Sheet
Identifies the important points to
be observed and noted.
IMPORTANT, when doing a Tenken,
explain to the operator the reason
and get the operators support.
From the observation noted and
from the comments of the
operator, areas for improvement
can be identified.
These should be highlighted on
the Tenken Check Sheet.

SPC/ CHARTING
SPC (Statistical Process
Control/ Charting
( Graphs, diagrams etc.)
are an ideal means for
identifying areas
requiring improvement.
Where the process is out
of control, or beyond the
tolerances set, actions
should be taken to first
stabilise the process.
Once stabilised,
improvement
opportunities can be
identified to reduce the
tolerances and improve
the standard.

PRIORITISE IMPROVEMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
CONSIDERATIONS
WHEN SELECTING AN
OPPORTUNITY
Can it be improved
within the means
available to the team?
If the problem is too
big then it needs to
be referred to
Management for them
to address.

 Do all Team members

agree Its an
improvement opportunity
they want to work on?
Agreement is vital if the
Team is to work
effectively on the
improvement.

1.
2.
3.
4.

Will it require other

people and resources
etc. to action?
These people need to
be involved, for
example;
Facilities
Maintenance
Industrial engineering
Etc.

PRIORITISE IMPROVEMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
CONSIDERATIONS WHEN SELECTING AN
OPPORTUNITY
Can it be improved within the means
available to the team?
If the problem is too big then it needs to
be referred to Management for them to
address.

 Do all team members agree its an

improvement opportunity they want to
work on?
Agreement is vital if the team is to work
effectively on the improvement

 Will it requires other people and

resources etc. to action?
These people need to be involved for
example;
1. Facilities
2. Maintenance
3. Industrial Engineering
4. etc.

Priorities Improvement Opportunities

If you have identified a number of

improvement opportunities you should
rank them in an order to work on.

VOTING TO PRIORITISE OPPORTUNITIES

Voting is one of method of selecting which

issues to work on first.
There are 5 rules for voting
1. Members vote for as many ideas as they
wish
2. Votes are recorded next to each idea
3. Vote on each idea, dont vote against it
4. When no vote is received, draw a line
through the idea
5. Rank the ideas voted on in order of priority.

THE PRIORITY
WORKSHEET
The priority worksheet is another tool
for prioritizing the issues identified.

PRIORITISE IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

PRIORITY
IMPROVEMENT
OPPORTUNITIES

IMPORTANCE
5- Important
43- Some Concern
21- Little concern

RESOURCES
NEEDED
5- Modest
43-Considerable
21- Large Amount

AUTHORITY
5- Leader
43- Area manager
21- Exec. Director

PRIORITISE IMPROVEMENT OPPORTUNITIES

WORKSHEET
COMPLEXITY
5- NOT COMPLEX
43- MODEST
21-VERY COMPLEX

TIME TO
IMPLEMENT
5- MONTH OR
LESS
43- THREE MOS.
21-SIX MONTHS

RESULTS
5- MEASURABLE
43- SSOME
INDICATORS
21-INTANGIBLE

OTHER
54321-

TOTAL
TOTAL OF
RATINGS

DESCRIBE CURRENT SITUATION

DATA COLLECTION
having the selected the issue on
which work you now need to
measure the current situation. You
need to learn the facts
Look at the improvement
opportunity you have selected and
identify WHAT additional information
needs to be collected. This you can
do by BRAINSTORMING and VOTING.

 Having identified the

information to be collected it
is necessary to identify the
following;
WHO

Is going to collect WHAT?

WHERE
WHEN
HOW

can it be collected?
Is it to be collected?
Is it to be collected?

DATA COLLECTION

There are a number of formats which can help

shorten the time to collect data and make data
collection easier.
For example:

Check Sheets (TENKEN)

Checklists
Graphs and Charts
Drawings and
Time and Distance Study

DESCRIBE CURRENT SITUATION

An example of a check
sheet is Tenken where an
operation is observed and
the findings for each
selection noted. Another
example is the Safety
Book.

 An example of a drawing is
a plan or engineering
drawing on which the
location of defects are
marked, such as this
drawing showing dents.

 An example of a
checklist is the
grocery list with
which we are all
familiar. Another
example is a workorder sheet.

 An example of a time and distance study is

this plan of an operation showing time
taken and distance walked to perform a
task.

 WHY collect data? Only by

collecting the facts will
you be able to highlight
and quantify the success
of your improvement
actions

DESCRIBE CURRENT SITUATIONS

GRAPHS AND CHARTS

Having collected the
necessary data you can
now begin to analyze it so
as to clearly define the
situation and highlight its
effects.
To help in analyzing

the situation you

should prepare graphs
and charts with the
information collected.

PIE CHART

DRAWING OR PLAN

HISTOGRAM

PARETO CHART

 Photographs should also be taken to show the

before situation. It has been said that one picture
equals a thousand words and can clearly show the
situations.
These all aid in the analyzing of the concern. The
situation can then be defined in terms of; WHAT,
WHEN, WHERE, and its EFFECTS.
In the KAIZEN Presentation you will use these
graphs, charts etc. to describe both the before
situation and highlight the changes made.

CAUSE AND EFFECT ANALYSIS

IDENTIFYING CAUSE
FOR THE SITUATION
Having clearly defined
the current situation
you now need to find
the possible causes.
Only once you know
the cause will you be
able to improve the
situation.

Here again you can use the technique ogf BRAINSTORMING so as to

get ideas from the team, and by using the FISH-BINE diagram
clearly focus your ideas on the problem.

The EFFECT as you have defined it, is written in the box on the
right. All possible causes are written to the left. Often the major
headings MATERIAL, METHODS, MACHINERY and MANPOWER are
added to guide our thoughts.

The EFFECT as you have defined it, is written in the

box on the right. All possible causes are written to the
left. Often the major headings MATERIAL, METHODS,
MACHINERY and MANPOWER are added to guide our
thoughts.

CAUSE AND EFFECT

When Brainstorming the
member indicates under
which heading he or she
would like their idea placed.
After brainstorming the
team vote on the causes
identified, following the
rules of voting so as to
prioritize the causes.
The causes should then be
where possible verified so
as to avoid spending time
and money unnecessarily.

IDENTIFY IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS

Having identified the cause/s of
your problem you can now start
looking at improvement actions.
First, identify a number of
improvement actions for each
cause identified. Brainstorming
can be use here with members
giving their ideas to address each
cause. Remember, look at both
long and short term solutions.

Having identified a number of solutions you now

vote so as to identify the best solution or solutions to
the problem.
After voting you will be left with one, and maybe
more actions. It is important now to verify, where
possible, each action before spending time and money
on what may be unworkable solutions.

IMPLEMENT IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS

Having identified your improvement
actions you can now move to the next
step, that of action planning.
The action plan details the
implementation steps for your
improvement actions in terms of:
WHAT
is going to be done?
WHO
WHERE
WHEN
HOW

is going to do it?
will it be done?
will it be done?
will it be done?

 If your improvement actions;

Will affect other people/services involve other
people/departments
Then you will need to get them involved and
get their assistance and commitment.
You may now implement your improvement
actions.

REMEMBER
keep management and supervision informed
of your actions and your progress.

IMPLEMENT IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS

ACTIONS
IMPROVEMENT
ACTIONS (what)

RESPONSIBILITY

LOCATION (WHERE)

IMPLEMENT IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS

PLAN
IMPLEMENTATION
METHOD

SCHEDULE (WHEN)

COMPLETED

MEASURE EFFECTIVNESS
When implementing your improvement actions you should, as
a team, follow the action plan you have prepared
It is important to keep a record as to what and when you do it.
Any cists involved should be recorded for use in your
presentation.
After the implementation, the results should be measured to
ensure that all improvement has taken place.
It is important to use the same data collection formats and to
take the same measurements as you did before
implementation.

 By using the same graphs,

charts and drawings as
when describing the before
situation, the improvement
can be clearly highlighted.
Photographs are a valuable
tool for showing the before
and after effects,
especially where
improvements are made in
facilities etc.

 REMEMBER:
measurements should be
in terms of: TIME, MONEY,
MANPOWER, MATERIALS,
DISTANCES, QUALITY,
VOLUME and, SAFETY.
Ensure your facts are
verified (checked) by the
relevant people. This will
add impact in your
presentation.

IMPLEMENT IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS

ACTION
Improvement Actions

Responsibility

Location

IMPLEMENT IMPROVEMENT ACTIONS

PLAN
IMPLEMENTATION
METHOD

SCHEDULE ( WHEN )

COMPLETED ( WHEN )

THE KAIZEN PRESENTATION

The Kaizen presentation provides you an
opportunity to show senior management
the project you have been working on.
The presentation provides for face-to-face
interaction about the issue addressed, the
effects, the actions identified and
implemented, and the success of the
team in terms of improvement made.
Remember to use the graphs, charts and
drawings you have prepared, these add
emphasis and can clearly put your point
across

 Follow a logical sequence in your presentation, i.e., the Kaizen

process, and get all team members to participate in the presentation.
Remember, talk the audiences language, speak in terms of;
Reduction in:
COST
MATERIAL
MANPOWER
TIME
DISTANCE
Improvements in:
QUALITY
PRODUCTIVITY
SAFETY

KAIZEN PRESENTATION WORKSHEET

1. INTRODUCTION

REMEMBER
Introduce your team
and its members
Identify your work
area and its location
State your teams
Aims and Objectives
Tell them what you
are going to tell
them

KAIZEN PRESENTATION WORKSHEET

2. IMPROVEMENT
TACKLED

REMEMBER
Show how you
identified the
opportunities for
improvement
State why you
selected to
address this issue

KAIZEN PRESENTATION WORKSHEET

DESCRIBE SITUATION REMEMBER
Present your facts of
the situation before
taking action
Show why its
important to improve
the situation
Use evidence and
examples to stress
your case
Use graphs, charts
and photographs to
illustrate

KAIZEN PRESENTATION WORKSHEET

SHOW CAUSES

REMEMBER
Describe how you
identified causes of
the situation
Show how you have
used the cause and
effect chart
Show, where
possible, how you
verified these
causes

KAIZEN PRESENTATION WORKSHEET

IMPROVEMENT
ACTIONS

REMEMBER
Show how you
identified the
improvement actions
Describe briefly each
action identified
Describe how you
verified any of the
improvement actions
State if you used any
resources outside of
the team

KAIZEN PRESENTATION WORKSHEET

IMPLEMENTATION
REMEMBER
Describe how you
implemented the
improvement actions.
Remember to
mention and thank
those people who
provided assistance.
Highlight the
successes and
problems you had.

KAIZEN PRESENTATION WORKSHEET

PRESENT
IMPROVEMENTS

REMEMBER
Present your facts show
the effect of the actions
taken
Be sure to illustrate the
facts with graphs,
charts etc.
Show the benefits on
terms of impact on
Time, Costs, Quality,
Manpower, Materials,
Distances, Productivity,
Safety etc.

KAIZEN PRESENTATION WORKSHEET

CONCLUSION

REMEMBER
Summarize your project
using the Plan, Do, Check,
Act cycle
Present verification of the
facts presented
State, where possible, the
next issue to be addressed
Thank the and others
involved and thank the
management

STANDARDISATION
On verifying that the
improvement actions have the
desired effect, that is
improved quality, safety,
productivity, reduced costs,
materials, distances etc., then
the actions need to be
standardized.
STANDARDISE; the actions are
made part of the everyday
process, is the change
becomes the new standard
This new standard should be
communicated and shared
with other sections/areas as
part of the Working Together
Process.

IDENTIFY FURTHER
IMPROVEMENT
OPPORTUNITIES
KAIZEN is Never Ending
Improvement

KAIZEN
Continuous Improvement in all
aspects of our business is essential
for our survival.

THE KEY TO OUR FUTURE

SUCCESS