When implementing a Kaizen implementation strategy, it is essential to create a culture of continuous improvement. 

There are three critical components of a culture of continuous improvement: 

1. Aligning goals with business strategy.
2. Creating an operational excellence team.
3. Establishing the culture.

These steps will help you create a successful Kaizen implementation. If you want to make your organization an operational excellence champion, follow these steps. You'll soon be on your way to building a culture of continuous improvement!
 
Aligning goals with business strategy
Aligning goals with your business strategy is the first step in implementing a Kaizen program. This process emphasizes the need for constant improvement. Kaizen methods have helped many organizations increase employee productivity and lower costs, while improving customer service and satisfaction. The ultimate goal of any organization is operational excellence, and Kaizen implementation is one way to achieve it. While projects and tools can help, a true culture change can be achieved with Kaizen. All employees are encouraged to participate in the improvement process. 
 
The next step is to align goals with the overall business strategy. Developing an operational excellence mindset requires the company to align its goals with its business strategy. By doing this, all members can see the value flow through the business. Moreover, successful implementation of Kaizen practices requires businesses to focus on improving their value proposition and delivery. 

​​Now let's take a look at the second critical component of continuous improvement culture- creating an operational excellence (OpEx) team.

Creating an operational excellence team
​Creating an operational excellence team will require a commitment to a vision that is aligned with the company's strategic objectives. The vision can be product or growth-oriented, or even market-focused. It should be communicated to all employees, to ensure alignment of effort and resources. Once all employees are on board with the new strategy, implementation will be easier. However, a company wide OpEx strategy will require time, resources, and education to be successful.
 
Before implementing any improvement initiative, a company should define an optimal value stream and work toward achieving it. Once a company has defined the optimal value stream, it should select a project that is both timely and effective. The company should then expand its operational excellence team by hiring more staff and establishing a portfolio of improvement projects. This team should be rewarded for its accomplishments and recognize the individual contributions of its frontline operational excellence leaders.
 
In order to implement a Kaizen implementation successfully, an organization must first determine what operational excellence is. To determine if a process meets those criteria, management must identify the problem and determine how to resolve it. An effective operational excellence team must be committed to bringing changes and identifying recurring problems. However, the team must be willing to embrace change and sacrifice old ways of doing things. It is vital to measure progress and make sure everyone understands what it means to achieve the goals.
 
When implementing a Kaizen program, companies must realize that they cannot achieve operational excellence without aligning their goals with the organization's strategic objectives. Without this alignment, improvement efforts tend to float in circles, with little or no strategic impact. Ultimately, it is imperative to align goals with strategic objectives. Only then can Kaizen efforts benefit the entire organization and its customers.

Coming to the third critical component of continuous improvement culture- establishing the culture of continuous improvement at your workplace. 
 
Creating a culture of continuous improvement
Creating a culture of continuous improvement is important, but how do you make it stick? The key is to get everyone involved. Rather than enlisting the help of managers and top executives, employees should make suggestions for improvement. While not every suggestion will be successful, many will. Employees are most familiar with areas that need improving, so gaining their input can be invaluable. Below are some tips for making Kaizen work at your organization. 
 
Commitment:
Kaizen requires the commitment of every member of the organization. There must be no "us versus us" mentality. All must work toward the same goal. For example, some automobile factories hold daily meetings of small teams to discuss one small change that can improve a process. This process must be conducted regularly, daily, and in a routine. Once implemented, the company will be on the road to continuous improvement.
 
Motivation:
Employees should be encouraged to take responsibility for the quality of their work. Kaizen will improve processes while instilling a sense of teamwork and ownership. Employees will be motivated to work on the problems they select and will be more likely to find a solution if everyone is involved in it. A recent published study revealed that only 36% of US workers were engaged in their work, while 15% were ‘actively disengaged’. Globally, 20% of employees are engaged at work. Getting employees involved in the process of continuous improvement will improve processes, reduce turnover, and boost innovation.

​Read more on Kaizen here.

​Kaizen is a Japanese concept that emphasizes continuous improvement. It targets the processes and outcomes of a business to anchor it for long-term success. 

Although Kaizen is present in Japanese folklore for several decades, it was first applied in the corporate sector post-World War II, to improve manufacturing operations of the Japanese companies. It produced significant results for the Toyota Corporation, which led to the philosophy spreading across the world. Now, Kaizen is used by companies in almost all industry sectors.

Kaizen involves making small incremental improvements in a company. By implementing Kaizen into the company culture, it can be permanent. New employees will be trained in the principles of the Kaizen process, and the change will be sustained for years to come.

When considering how to improve customer satisfaction with Kaizen implementation, organizations must begin by recognizing the problem and identifying opportunities for improvement.

To do this, they should engage cross-functional personnel in the problem-solving process. Then test the proposed solution(s) in small groups before spreading them across the entire organization. The process should be supported by the top leadership of the company and include training and appropriate communication between employees.

A Kaizen committee should be formed of five to ten employees. This committee should meet weekly to discuss ideas for continuous improvement and to summarize the changes made after implementing them.

Let’s take an example of initiating Kaizen in an engineering company.

To get started, a Kaizen team must be established. The team should include a manufacturing engineer, a design engineer, two people from marketing & sales function and a quality engineer, in addition to the Kaizen leader. In some cases, the team should also include customers and suppliers to ensure success.

The team must review the current state of the business, product mix, customer base, complaint records etc. and identify the opportunities for improvement. Once the team has identified these opportunities, they can create a strategy to improve customer satisfaction.

The principles of Kaizen emphasize the value of continuous incremental improvements.

Kaizen-ing runs via Kaizen events. During Kaizen events, the Kaizen team must meet and work together with people at grassroot levels from the sales and marketing function to come up with potential solution(s) to the problem(s). These meetings should be centered around a specific problem such as- an increase in defective products, product returns, delayed deliveries etc. Also, the meetings must be held in a physical location within the company- the Gemba.

Further, two tools which will be extremely helpful in this initiative are- Kaizen board and Taguchi loss function. 

Tip: The Kaizen board is an excellent place to document ideas for improvements. 

Moreover, besides the Kaizen leader, the Kaizen sponsor aka process owner should also hold overall responsibility for the results of the Kaizen event. So, before you can implement a Kaizen board in your company, first make sure your stakeholders are willing to make it happen.

Tip: If Kaizen events are part of your business culture, you may want to consider holding them on a regular basis. Often, a Kaizen team uses a Kaizen Template to stay on track and initiate Kaizen in the organization. Using this method, each member of the team contributes to customer satisfaction and teamwork. You can read more on Kaizen here.

Besides improving the customer relationship process, Kaizen also promotes employee engagement and ownership of the company culture. With the right approach, your organization can benefit from increased employee morale and productivity. The benefits of Kaizen extend well beyond improved customer satisfaction!

Are you planning to initiate a Kaizen culture at your workplace?

​Keywords and Tags:

#kaizen #kaizenevents #gembakaizen  #customersatisfaction #gembawalks  #yamazumiboard  #kaizenboard #Taguchilossfunction

What is Kaizen? | What is Kaizen method? | How to start with Kaizen? | Kaizen explained

Kaizen is a time-tested process improvement methodology. It originated in Japan. Kaizen was first implemented in Japanese industrial set ups around 1940s and since then is being practiced in organizations world over.

Check out this video to know more about Kaizen.

​This video belongs to my YouTube video series- One-minute guide to continuous improvement where I explain various topics related to continuous improvement for operational excellence and business growth. Watch on …

Are you ready to implement Kaizen at your organization?

Follow Shruti on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn

1. One minute continuous improvement guide series.
2. Kaizen explained with examples and case studies.

Keywords & Tags-

#kaizen  #kaizenprocessimprovementmethodology   #whatiskaizen    #JapaneseKaizen    #processimprovement #continuousimprovement

ISO and Kaizen are both time-tested continual improvement techniques. Both ISO and Kaizen can be used for continuous as well as continual improvement campaigns across all industry sectors. 

Both ISO and Kaizen bring-on organizational transformation and business growth. Therefore, the choice of selecting ISO or Kaizen or both, will depend upon the organization’s goals.

In this blogpost I shall touch upon the differences between ISO and Kaizen. By the way, when I mention ISO, I am referring to ISO 9000 series.
​
Just as there are similarities between ISO and Kaizen, there are several stark differences too. I have enumerated few differences between ISO and Kaizen below. Make sure to take cognizance of them before initiating continuous improvement culture at your workplace.

To bring it all together, ISO certification builds credibility. It gives assurance to customers that the company meets a basic minimum criteria of quality standards. This can also help a company access new markets.
​
Kaizen increases value a customer gets for his/her money. This increases sales as well as market share.  Moreover, Kaizen fundamentally improves the way a business operates which increases profit figures and EPS (earnings per share). Kaizen therefore directly increases a company’s top line as well as bottom line.

Further, Kaizen implementation is simple and easy. The small, incremental improvements done regularly via Kaizen bring-on exponential benefits. Kaizen is the method of choice to bring about quick organizational transformation.

Keywords and Tags-
​
#continuousimprovement #ISO #Kaizen #businesstransfromation #qualitymanagementsystems #productquality #processcontrol #qualitycompliance #ISOcertification #differencebetweenISOandKaizen

Gemba Walk is a process of making personal observation of jobs and workflows where it happens (i.e. Gemba) with those who actually do it as against discussing about the solving the problem in a meeting room.
​
However, Gemba Walk must be done correctly for it to give desired results. The video below presents important Dos and Don’ts of Gemba Walk. Watch on …

Follow Shruti on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn

Keywords and Tags:
​#GembaKaizen  #GembaWallk  #ContinuousImprovement #BusinessProcessImprovement   #ProcessMethodology

Are you looking for ways to thrive your business thru the pandemic-induced crisis? Then, Gemba walk is your infallible tool.

Gemba in Japanese means site where work happens. It is a popular terminology of Lean Innovation as well as Kaizen based process improvement. 

​Gemba Kaizen philosophy is based on the principle that best process improvement happens when people closest to the process give suggestions for improvement of that process. Moreover, the best place to assemble for the discussion to come up with improvement ideas is the Gemba.
​
In Kaizen, process improvements can be done using multiple tools viz. Visual Management, Kaizen Events etc. Gemba Walk is one such important process improvement tool.

​​Gemba Walk is based on the philosophy- ‘Go and See’ in Gemba.

Gemba Walk is a process of making personal observation of jobs and workflows where work happens (i.e. Gemba) with those who actually do it, as against discussing about the solving the problem in a meeting room. ​It is like, you can’t be an expert in lawn tennis by learning about the sport in a classroom. You learn it best at a tennis court i.e. the Gemba.

This in-person observation allows leaders to see the difference between what they assumed is happening and what is actually happening. 

Gemba Walks may be conducted the traditional way as well as digitized.

​The objective of Gemba Walk is to better understand the value stream, its problems and how to improve upon those problems. 

By closely observing ‘the site where the value is created’ and listening to employees, business leaders and supervisors can get a fresh perspective on the business and new insights into how to make product/ service/ process changes better for their customers. 

​Tip: Note that the purpose of Gemba Walk is not to review results or make superficial comments.

Another objective of Gemba Walk is to identify wastes in a process. By identifying waste, one can save costs as well as increase process efficiency. As much as 40% overhead expenses can be saved by conducting Gemba Walks regularly at your workplace.
​
However, Gemba Walk must be done correctly for it to give desired results. The video below gives important Dos and Don’ts for Gemba Walk; watch on …

​Gemba Walks may be done singly or in a small team of 3 to 4 members.

If a department head plans to go for the Gemba Walk then I would recommend that he/she goes alone (rather than a team), so that they get a chance to have open and frank discussions with the shop floor employees working on that process. The idea is to make your employees comfortable to open up, be creative and give useful suggestions, rather than worry about petty politics.

​You could have one-on-one or many-to-one discussions during the Gemba Walk.
​
Also, leaders doing Gemba Walk must note that the walk is not an exercise for employee performance evaluation. Neither is it a time to engage in employee task management. 

​The frequency of Gemba Walk depends on the size of the organization and nature of business. Generally, process owners, supervisors must do Gemba Walk every other day. Managers and Senior Executives can do Gemba Walk once each fortnight.

​After completing Gemba Walk, make notes to capture your observations. Plan the day so that there is time to write notes and reflect on them. Document key takeaways.
​
Categorize your thoughts, findings, and discussion points, and within a week or so provide feedback to employees on your walks. 

​Gemba Walk has a dual purpose- First to observe, understand, and ultimately improve process efficiency. Second, to gain deep knowledge about the process, reflect upon the information and explore opportunities of continuous improvement.

Note that Gemba Walk is not an audit. Audit is done to check compliance to 'documented' procedures. While Gemba Walk focuses on 'process improvement'.

Gemba Walk is a rewarding tool for big and small organizations, especially Startups.

Few key areas of using Gemba Walks may be to improve value quotient of a specific product, or increase productivity of a machine, increase sales, improve area utilization, or identify wastes in a business process and increase its efficiency.
​
When done correctly, Gemba Walk can have a dramatic impact on a company's operational excellence since it entails engaged leadership. Moreover, Gemba Walks can save as much as 40 to 45% of a business’s operating costs. 

Note that, Gemba walk strategy must be appropriately designed (and executed) and customized for each business. Are you planning to initiate Gemba walk for your organization?

Follow Shruti on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn

• How to cut costs strategically using Kaizen
• ​Leadership Kaizen: How can leaders keep employees happy?
• ​Continuous Business Improvement with mastermind Shruti Bhat series- What is Gemba Kaizen?​

Keywords and Tags:

​#GembaWalk #GembaKaizen #ContinuousImprovement #ProcessImprovement  #ProcessEfficiencyImprovement #BusinessProcessImprovement #Lean #Kaizen #LeanMethodology #BusinessTransformation  #JapaneseKaizen #KaizenEvents #VisualManagement #KaizenForStartups

​A picture is worth a thousand words ... ​Visual Management hence is one of the top techniques to improve process efficiency. 

​The purpose of Visual Management is to improve communication in an enterprise. Excellent communication is the master key to good employee collaboration leading to smooth workflows.

​An example of explicit Visual Management (also called Visual Control) is flow of people at an airport. Isn’t this view familiar?

Visual Management is routinely practiced in air transport industry. ​Almost everyone at an airport follows instructions provided by signage to reach their destinations- Boarding gate, food court, restrooms, baggage pick-up, customs, immigration, transit etc.
 
A gadget placed near the boarding pass kiosk must be tried out to judge if your cabin luggage is of the permissible size allowed in the plane’s overhead baggage locker. This check prevents over-size cabin bags from getting onto the aircraft, thus, improving boarding process efficiency.
 
An example of Visual Management in daily life is a flashing red light (and siren) of an approaching ambulance or a police car which informs everyone around to stay clear and give them priority on the road. 

Visual Management is also popular in service sectors such as hotel, retail, logistics etc. ​The picture below is an example of Visual Management from the retail industry. 

This simple Visual Management approach gives bigtime boost to a customer’s shopping experience at a mall. No path-breaking innovation is always necessary ... Good creativity and a visual can do the job. The visual is bang-on to its objective. ​

​As a shopper, would you not like to visit that store again? ​

There more than 70 Visual Management tools; for example- Signage, Andon lights, Activity Boards, Huddle Boards, Gemba Walks, Kanban, 5S, Control charts, Kamishibai Boards, X- Matrices etc.  

All Visual Management tools comprise of two parts- Visual Metrics and Visual Control. 

The choice of tools depends on the organizational size, culture, product mix and geographical locations. Best results are usually obtained when 10 to 20 tools are used in synchronicity. 
​
Visual Management tools aim to do one or more of the following:

• Share information.
• Communicate standards.
• Enforce and monitor the standards.
• Bring attention to deviations and/or irregularities.
• Augment CAPA (Corrective Action Preventive Action).

​Visual Management or Visual Control can be used in each and every process of any organization.
 
Let me take an example of traffic or stop lights. Red color for ‘stop’, Orange for ‘caution’ and Green to ‘go’ is a universal sign language. Now if you were to use this traffic-light color code in a project Gantt Chart or a RACI Matrix, it will provide instant understanding of the project status; no query calls and no back-n-forth emails …
 
This color coding in project charts is exceptionally helpful for decision-makers and project teams alike situated at different locations or working remotely via cloud or those in a multi-cultural workplace as in a multi-national company.
 
A popular example of Visual Management in manufacturing setups are Andon lights. Andon lights are useful in automated as well as automatic processes. A flashing red Andon light on a production belt means that the line is held up. It draws attention so that someone on the shop floor initiates to sort out the problem and re-start operations. 
 
Another example of Visual Management is ‘Activity Board’ that depicts task status as- Doing, Done, To Do, New Ideas, On Hold etc. ​Traditionally Activity Boards used to be hand-written. However, now there are digital ones too.

Activity Boards are especially popular in the auto sector; both in auto manufacturing as well as services. 

​Next time when you go to pick-up your car at a service center, do checkout for their Activity Board. It is usually displayed on the right side of the service representative's desk. The information displayed there tells you a whole lot about their work style, processes and how good or bad an experience you would get while dealing with them.​

Here are five signs that indicate your organization needs to go for Visual Management-​​

1. There is slow progress towards achieving strategic objectives.​
   
2. Your company deals in complex projects.
3. Stalled work-in-progress happens often at workplace.
4. There are frequent bottlenecks and/or poor capacity planning.
5. Your company has multi-locational distributed teams.

Visual Management escalates process efficiency in manufacturing as well as service set ups.

​​Make Visual Management a part of your business, improve process efficiency and watch your business grow year-on-year despite adverse market dynamics.
 
The purpose of Visual Management is to improve communication at an organization. And excellent communication is the master key to good employee collaboration leading to smoother workflows.
 
Visual Management is not just a signage, furniture, or a label. It makes your workplace alive- Because it speaks!
 
To introduce Visual Management technique in your organization, start with process mapping. Then identify areas of implementation based on communication touch points. Make sure that Visual Management at your workplace evolves as you develop a deeper appreciation of stronger teamwork, workflows, product offerings and business landscape. Also do conduct a dry run before its full-scale implementation …
 
Note that there are eighteen such awesome proven process improvement techniques; learn more here. And I will see you again with yet another topic on how to improve operational efficiency at your organization.

Keywords and Tags:

#visualmanagement #visualcontrol #continuousimprovement #operationalefficiency #processefficiency #kaizen #lean #businessprocessimprovement #operationalexcellence #organizationaldevelopment #processdesign #workplaceorganization ​#activityboards #businesstransformation #operatingefficiency #projectmanagement