- Year not given
Kaizen
Short answer
A Japanese philosophy of continuous, incremental improvement involving everyone in the organisation. It uses the PDCA cycle and tools like 5S, quality circles, and suggestion systems. Small, gradual improvements are preferred over occasional large changes.
What do you mean by KAIZEN?
Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning "change for the better" (kai = change, zen = good), and refers to the philosophy of continuous, incremental improvement involving everyone in the organisation, from top management to workers. Masaaki Imai popularised it in the West. It is a key part of TQM and lean production.
Principles
- Small, continuous improvements are better than occasional large changes.
- Everyone participates, including workers who know the process best.
- Focus on processes, not on blaming people.
- Use data and standardise improvements.
- Respect for people and teamwork.
- Eliminate waste (muda).
Kaizen cycle (PDCA)
Plan -> Do -> Check -> Act
^ |
+---------------------+
- Plan: find a problem, analyse cause, set a goal.
- Do: try the improvement on a small scale.
- Check: measure the result.
- Act: adopt as standard or revise, then repeat.
Tools
5S (sort, set in order, shine, standardise, sustain), suggestion systems, quality circles, 5 Whys, visual management, standard work.
Kaizen versus innovation
| Kaizen | Innovation |
|---|---|
| Small, gradual | Large, radical |
| Continuous | Occasional |
| Everyone | A few specialists |
| Low cost | High investment |
In IT projects
- Sprint retrospectives in agile are kaizen events.
- Regular review of code, automating repeated tests, lessons learned after each phase.
Benefits
Improved quality, lower cost, better morale, flexibility and less waste.
Example: A support team notices 20% of tickets are about password resets. They add a self-service reset page, a small improvement that cuts workload and response time.
✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)