Kaizen

Mar 4 2013

Michel Baudin’s review of The Spirit of Kaizen | Amazon.com

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The key message of this book is that, no matter what your situation is, you should only try to improve it with small changes and that large changes never work because “we are built to resist radical change.” The author explains that the perspective of change sets off an alarm in a part of your brain called the amygdala, which confuses the change with a charging lion, triggers a flight-or-fight response, and prevents you from thinking rationally.

According to the author, a series of small steps works because they manage not to set off your alarms, and you are like the legendary frog who doesn’t react to small increases in water temperature until he is boiled. But wait! The author does not use this metaphor. To him, the fear response is purely irrational. The production manager who has spent 25 years working up from the shop floor should have no fear of losing her job to the young whippersnapper touting the latest change program.

See on www.amazon.com

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Feb 27 2013

Kaizen management in Central Asia | Times of Central Asia

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BISHKEK, February 26 (TCA) — The market economy requires new competitive advantages to develop companies and retain leadership in a particular industry. Part of the solution is to attract investments and loans, but it still does not guarantee success and stable profits. International donors have volunteered to help Central Asian businessmen, offering to introduce the concept of Japanese management called Kaizen. The author of the concept of doing business which excludes loss is Masaaki Imai, and it is based on the idea of “continuous improvement”.

“The principles of lean production are becoming fundamental in some enterprises in Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan,” said Anatoly Maslov, an expert…

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

News about Lean fron Kyrgyzstan! The author can’t tell the difference between Lean, Kaizen, and ISO 9001, but this kind of confusion also occurs outside of Central Asia.

Most interesting, as usual, are the examples of companies achieving performance improvements so spectacular that they make you wonder about the starting point.

See on www.timesca.com

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Feb 16 2013

Please Don’t Steal THIS Idea – Paying a % Bonus for Cost Savings | Mark Graban

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“In the Kaizen approach, stealing the ideas of others isn’t a negative thing. If somebody else implemented an idea and you can use that idea in your area, a Kaizen organization ENCOURAGES the borrowing, stealing, adoption, and adaptation of ideas. There’s no shame in that. This idea was being preached at one hospital I visited yesterday, which was nice to see.

But… USA Today had a blurb the other day about one idea you shouldn’t steal. It’s an idea that’s already proven not to work – paying bonuses based on the value of improvement ideas.”

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

Mark exposes a “common sense” payment scheme that in fact discourages teamwork and turns employees into bounty hunters who withhold information from each other.

See on www.leanblog.org

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Jan 23 2013

Companies use kaizen to improve

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It used to take 34 steps to open a checking account at Great Western Bank.

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

This article is focused on improvement done at Great Western Bank, a regional bank with 200 locations and 1,600 employees, inspired by similar work done at mid-size manufacturers Raven Industries and Daktronics, and contractor Muth Electric.

The improvements seem substantial. The article otherwise contains a few minor eyebrow raisers that, to be fair, may be due to misunderstandings by the reporter.

The subtitle describes Kaizen as a “Japanese method,” but later explains that “the work is done in Kaizen events,…” Kaizen events are an American method and unknown in Japan. And what is implemented through Kaizen events is not Kaizen as understood in Japan.

“Kaizen is considered the building block of lean production…” Well, I can think of a few other building blocks.

“… the resulting strategies are implemented […] within days of the event.” Kaizen events don’t just identify strategies, but changes implemented primarily during the event itself, not in the days that follow.

See on siouxfallsbusinessjournal.argusleader.com

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Jan 11 2013

Mike Rother: You already have a Kaizen Promotion Office… It’s called “Management” » The Lean Edge

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Mike Rother: You already have a KPO… It’s called “Management” » The Lean Edge http://t.co/qlQvRAZB

Michel Baudin‘s insight:

I agree. What Rother depicts is what most Kaizen Promotion Ofices degenerate into, but it shouldn’t be taken to mean that there should be absolutly no one in the company working full time on Lean. Even Toyota, for example, has the OMCD (Operations Management Consulting Division). The OMCD, however, has on the order of 60 members for more than 300,000 employees, which works out to one for every 5,000. This ratio guarantees that they won’t be the ones carrying out improvement projects for everybody else.

See on theleanedge.org

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1976 jishuken (from Jon Miller)

Nov 18 2012

Value-Stream Mapping, Kaizen Blitzes, and Jishuken

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The American literature on Lean gives the impression that all it takes to implement it is Value-Stream Mapping (VSM) and Kaizen Blitzes. Mention these to Toyota people, however, and you may be surprised that they have never heard of them, and certainly not as part of the Toyota Production System (TPS) that Lean is based on. Likewise, General Tso’s Chicken, the most popular Chinese dish in the US, is unknown in China and was traced by Jennifer 8 Lee to a chef in New York City in 1976.

See on www.linkedin.com

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