Kaizen
Continuous and gradual improvement of an activity to create more value and less waste.
The pursuit of perfection through continuous improvement allows for the nourishment of the source of the competitive advantage created. Resources made available through process simplification are employed in continuous improvement activities (structured and measurable).
Over the past decade, much has been done in an attempt to understand the reason behind Japan's economic miracle.
Total Quality Control, Just-In-Time, Quality Circles, the suggestion system, and technological progress have been for many the fundamental reasons for the productive growth of the Japanese industrial system.
But the true source of the evolution of Japanese industry is to be found upstream of all these undeniable changes in the production system. It lies in the old philosophical principle: “everything deserves to be improved.”.
The entire economic growth of Japan has been based on the systematic and methodical application of this simple principle. The success derived from transforming this principle into an excellent business management system is explained by Japan's different approach to improvement.
Indeed, while in Western culture improvement is mostly pursued with drastic change operations from which an immediate return on investment is expected, in Japan Improvement is seen as a continuous and gradual process. More precisely, it is seen in the true meaning of the Japanese term “kaizen”.
The meaning: In Japanese, Kaizen literally means “improvement.”. It is the commitment to make small improvements every day wherever possible: in personal, private, social, and professional life.
In the industrial/production sector, kaizen means continuous improvement that involves the entire company structure – managers, supervisors, and workers alike. It has its roots in the old Japanese saying:
If you don't see a man for three days, his friends should observe him closely to discover what changes have occurred.
This saying implies the belief that everything, even if only slightly, is constantly changing. Bringing this concept into the company means not letting a day go by without some improvement being made, even if it's small. This belief, rooted in Japanese culture, is less known in the Western industrial reality, where companies can essentially remain unchanged in structure and form for many years, and where the only visible changes are in high-investment technological innovations.
Kaizen and innovationJapanese management sees improvement divided into two phases: Kaizen and innovation. Kaizen, as mentioned above, means improving with small, but continuous efforts. Innovation means radically changing through temporary, but large-scale efforts.
With continuity as its primary characteristic, kaizen (many small improvements) contrasts with kakushin (innovation) and kairyo (a large improvement). Kakushin and kairyo are decided by management and require significant investment; kaizen is done every day by all personnel.
The substantial difference between Kaizen and innovation can be attributed to the difference between a ladder and a climb: in fact, ideally, innovation leads to a sudden improvement in the standard, which will remain so until the introduction of a new innovation (step-like trend). The principle of Kaizen, on the other hand, leads to continuous, small improvements in standards (a continuous upward trend). The pattern of innovation, in reality, will necessarily show a downward trend after each step, due to the natural decay of innovation over time. Without continuous effort, it is impossible to maintain and improve the standard achieved. Even when innovation leads to a revolutionary standard, it will decline unless it is constantly challenged and improved.
From what has been said, it is evident that the best management system is one that foresees the coexistence and use of both systems within the company: that of innovation, to define the new revolutionary standard, and of Kaizen, to ensure that innovations are not eroded over time.
A company that applies this strategy will have standard procedures subject to continuous changes and improvements; at the same time, however, these procedures constitute absolute standards and as such must be respected until the introduction of the new improvement.
If until yesterday the 5th principle of Lean Thinking, the Pursuit of Perfection, was the natural extension of kaizen, from today with the Six Sigma methodology new perspectives are opening up to achieve continuous improvement ever more effectively.
Watch WHO video “A Kaizen Day at Miroglio Textile Srl”which testifies the beginning of a change at Miroglio Textile with the acquisition of adequate techniques for the relentless attack on inefficiencies, problem-solving, and defect reduction.
