kaizen

A Kaizen event is a focused 2-5 day workshop with 5-10 people targeting a specific process. Day 1 maps the current state, days 2-3 analyze root causes and design solutions, and days 4-5 implement quick wins and document new standard work.

The 7 wastes are Transport, Inventory, Motion, Waiting, Overproduction, Overprocessing, and Defects, remembered with the acronym TIMWOOD. Identifying these wastes in each process step is the core of Kaizen analysis.

PDCA stands for Plan, Do, Check, Act. You plan a change based on data, implement it on a small scale, measure results against expectations, then standardize the change if successful or iterate with a new plan.

Kaizen uses small, low-risk incremental changes involving everyone continuously, while traditional improvement relies on large, top-down, project-based changes. Kaizen focuses on process improvement rather than just outcome targets.

Avoid Kaizen when you skip Gemba observation, attempt big-bang changes, or lack baseline metrics to measure improvement. It also fails as a one-time event since waste returns without continuous follow-up and standardization.