Kaizen Based Lean Manufacturing

Kaizen Based Lean Manufacturing (KBLM)
from Business Basics, LCC

kblmt-intro

7-Basics of Kaizen and the Balanced Scorecard

Lean Six Sigma Lessons – Lesson 5

Kaizen DMAIC

Kaizen is a method of accelerating the pace of process improvement in any setting. It evolved in the application of Lean methods in manufacturing settings, but has since been adapted to the broader DMAIC framework.

Characteristics of a Kaizen approach

The term Kaizen is used for any intensive project where employees are pulled off their regular jobs.

·         Team works 3 to 5 days full time (vs. typical team approach of spreading project work over 3 to 6 months)

·         Resources dedicated:

o   Participants spend 100% of their time on the project during the Kaizen event

o   Participants should be treated as if they are on vacation from their regular responsibilities

o   Project sponsor, event leader, and participants must work together to make arrangements to have work covered

o   The handling of emails, voicemails, etc. is minimized (if not outright forbidden) during project time

·         Project I well-defined going in:

o   There is not time to redefine the purpose or scope, so the boundaries must be well defined ahead of time

·         Beside data already gathered (by a Black Belt or Team Leader)

·         Implementation is immediate!

o   Bias for action (will act when 70% to 80% confident vs. 95% confident as in typical DMAIC projects)

o   Implementation is completed as much as possible during the week of the event

o   Doing something now that is “roughly right” is OK (vs. typical DMAIC approach of waiting until solutions have been refined)

o   Items that cannot be finished during the Kaizen event are to be completed within 20 days

·         Management makes support areas (maintenance, information technology, human resources, marketing, etc.) available during the Kaizen event

When to use Kaizen

·         When obvious waste sources have been identified

·         When the scope and boundaries of a problem are clearly defined and understood

·         When implementation risk is minimal

·         When results are needed immediately

·         In the early stages of deployment to gain momentum and build credibility of the DMAIC problem-solving approach

·         When opportunities to eliminate obvious sources of instability and waste have been identified through process mapping, work area tour, data collection, etc.