1. What is KAIZEN?

Kaizen is a Japanese term that means "change for the better" or "constant improvement." It is a
Japanese business philosophy that addresses processes that continuously improve operations while
involving all employees.

The term Kaizen is derived from two Japanese words ‘Kai’ denoting ‘change’ and ‘Zen’ denoting ‘good’.

Kaizen is a broad concept that encompasses many ideas. It entails making the workplace more efficient
and effective by fostering a collaborative environment, improving daily procedures, ensuring employee
engagement, and making a job more fulfilling, less tiring, and safer.

It is a statistical strategy that improves quality in every aspect of the business. It is a strategy where
employees at all levels work ardently to achieve quality, efficiency, profitability, and create an
empowered environment at their workplace. With the implementation of this strategy, workers are
engaged in looking for opportunities for change and improvement. This is not a one-time event but a
process that occurs every day.

2. When KAIZEN came into existence?

"Toyota Production System," a well-known Japanese automobile manufacture first introduced this
Japanese philosophy in the 1980s, to developed a business process that can detect issues in production
at the point of occurrence, and since then it has been adopted by many companies all over the world.

The motive behind implementing the method was to never let the same problem occur again.

Over time it was observed that there was a visible improvement in the Toyota production system which
empowered it to be known as the most efficient and reliable production company.

Since then Kaizen has been one of the respected instruments in Japan as well as an important pillar for
them in becoming one the strongest industrialized countries in the world.

Toyota made it clear when they introduced Kaizen that continuous improvement was everyone's
responsibility. The goal of modern organizations is to foster an improvement culture that encompasses
every member of the team.

3. Where KAIZEN is implemented?

Like in Toyota, the principles of Kaizen can be implemented in nearly every level of a company, from the
production line up to management. At the core of Kaizen is the incremental improvements in the
manufacturing processes. What sets Kaizen apart however, is the involvement of people form every
level of the company. It is important in Kaizen that all workers feel respected, so they are comfortable
making suggestions for process improvements.

Kaizen can be used in many other departments than just manufacturing. As Kaizen has developed over
the years, the implementation of Kaizen can be used in areas like service and customer care, marketing,
logistics, sales, human resources, etc. Employees in these departments can go to management with
ideas to improve certain processes in their department.
 4. Why KAIZEN is needed?

The Kaizen methodology is beneficial for diverse business models and operational philosophies.

It is also a philosophy that produces better long-term results, a method of gradually and steadily
improving. The story of the Tortoise and the Hare has resurfaced in modern times.

It is always more cost effective to work on retaining existing customers rather than going out and trying
to win new ones.

Advantages in implementing KAIZEN:

Improvement & Utilization of Resources

The Japanese method focuses on enhancing the products through utilizing the present resources that
encompass the people, to achieve constant incremental improvement

Increased Workplace Efficiency

Efficiency is an imperative part of almost every business. Kaizen enables businesses to realize the
importance of improving productivity by providing a systematic workplace, avoiding unnecessary
movements and operations, and appropriately training all the employees.

Safety Improvements

Creating a safe work environment is another important criteria of Kaizen. Safety improvement idea is
developed and implemented to make the workplace surrounding safe, clean and organized.

5. Who can do KAIZEN?

Kaizen practitioners believe that small changes can produce big results and that positive change should
come from the people doing the work.

Senior Leaders

The executive leadership team is responsible for setting the tone for Kaizen and providing the necessary
support and resources to foster an environment conducive to positive change.

Department Leaders and Supervisors

Department leaders and supervisors must also lead by example in order to foster an improvement
culture. They will assist team members in learning how and when to apply Kaizen techniques. They are
also in a position to coach members of their department and ensure that performance evaluations
include improvement activities. Department leaders and supervisors are also responsible for ensuring
that Standard work is implemented and applied consistently.

Team Members

Front-line employees are best positioned to identify opportunities for improvement, develop solutions,
implement changes, and sustain long-term improvement. Kaizen cannot exist in an organization unless
every team member participates and commits. Everyone should understand how their work relates to
the organization's overall goals and objectives. They should be able to report and respond to quality or
performance issues. It should go without saying that innovation is not a top-down endeavor. Anyone can
have a breakthrough idea.

Human Resources

New employees should be screened for "Kaizen aptitude," which does not require them to have
previously worked in a Kaizen environment or even be familiar with the term, but they should be willing
to embrace the philosophy and look forward to contributing to positive change. HR is frequently
responsible for both employee training and performance measurement, both of which should be
infused with Kaizen.

6. How KAIZEN is implemented?

Kaizen is a continuous improvement process in which changes to an organization's processes are made
either all at once or in stages. One of the primary benefits of Kaizen is that it is a continuous rather than
a time-bound process.

7 steps to implement Kaizen in your organization

1) Involve your employees - First, you must involve your employees, as this will help you later
when it comes to empowering them. For example, if a customer service representative provides
feedback on how to improve processes, managers can listen to it and hold him personally
accountable for implementing the change in the organization.
2) Find Problems - The second step in implementing Kaizen is accepting and identifying problems
in your organization. You must administer a 360-degree feedback survey and include your
employees in the process. Make a list of all the organizational processes that need to be
improved.
3) Think & Find Solutions - Managers can form teams of creative and experienced employees who
are focused on problem solving. They may need to devote specific time to finding solutions to
the firm's problems.
4) Implement - Small-scale implementation is the most effective way to test new theories,
particularly in larger organizations. Many people put off this stage because they are
overthinking, complacent, or simply ignorant. Instead of taking small steps at a time and testing
new ideas in a pilot environment, they consider making organizational-wide changes (a small
office perhaps).
5) Check - During implementation, ideas are frequently communicated to juniors, and the buck is
passed to someone else. Kaizen is difficult to implement because of this, and it is here that
checking and auditing come into play. In order for the results to be accurate, you must ensure
that implementation is done at the ground level.