Forming a high-performing Kaizen Team is a strategic activity, which requires a fair amount of forethought and planning. Ultimately, the team must meet seemingly conflicting quality and quantity criteria. Without all the necessary expertise, the team will be handicapped [...]
In the world of continuous improvement (CI), Kaizen may perhaps be the most misunderstood concept. We’ve heard executives refer to their organizations as “Kaizen Organization” when there is little evidence of ongoing improvement being designed and implemented by the [...]
Learning to identify the seven types of waste (MUDA) is first challenge in implementing Lean Kaizen. There is a big difference in looking and observing and it requires lot of focus to to see the waste. Famous “Standing in [...]
Many companies begin their lean improvement journey by first implementing 5S, the Japanese methodology minimizing errors and mistake proofing: seiri (sort), seiton (set in order), seiso (shine), seiketsu (standardization), and shitsuke (sustain). 5S has been translated in local languages [...]
What is the benefits of implementing Kaizen and economic rationale for pursuing lean manufacturing. Much of the Kaizen Lean literature is concerned with the nuts and bolts of lean, and the economics of lean are somewhat less publicized. Firms [...]
Why Why Analysis or 5 Whys is a well-known root cause analysis technique that originated at Toyota and has been adopted by many other organizations that have implemented lean manufacturing principles.By repeatedly asking the question “Why?” at least five [...]
The story of Kaizen and Lean thinking began in the early 1900s in Japan with the Toyoda family business, the Toyoda Automatic Loom Works, which developed a key business principle known as jidoka. Jidoka loosely translates as automation with [...]
Improving Plant OEE and reducing downtime is biggest concern most of the organisation have. Here are steps on how to Reduce downtimes and Improve your Plant OEE Number 1: Learn about Kaizen & TPM (Total Productive Maintenance) & other world [...]
The 4th National KAIZEN Conference took place at the Mulungushi International Conference Centre in Lusaka on the 14th and 15th of February, 2013. The event was co-hosted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) and the Zambia Development Agency [...]
