Six Secrets to Kaizen SuccessBy Mike Pircer, President, MAP Business Solutions

I am sold on Kaizen events as a great way to improve your business. In a series of small

steps, taken in a short, intense timeframe, you can make measurable cuts in waste. In time, the process can change

the whole culture of a company.

If you aren’t familiar with Kaizen, it’s a structured process that focuses a team of employees on an area of the

business – often a production cell or assembly line, but not always. The team looks specifically for quick, inexpen-

sive changes that can make the work more efficient. It makes the changes immediately, evaluates the results and

reports to peers and managers.

I recently facilitated a Kaizen event at a tier-one auto supplier, and it had what we could call the six secrets to

Kaizen success.1. Management Support. The highest executives of the company knew what Kaizen could do and they knew

what to expect. It’s an incremental process, not an extreme makeover, and it requires a strong commitment.2. Proper Event Selection and Preparation. Before we started, the company had decided to look at one produc-

tion cell in which a mechanical subsystem had to be assembled in a number of steps from many parts. Experi-enced executives had walked the floor and recognized that the area was a good place to start. They chose logi-cal metrics to evaluate results – primarily work-in-process inventory, walking distances, cycle time and squarefootage.

3. Teamwork. The company chose the Kaizen team well. It brought in operators from other work areas as well asthe one under scrutiny. It included a maintenance engineer, a quality control representative and a company pur-chaser. The only company manager on the team was careful to let other team members take the lead in thisunique situation.

4. Commitment. We had three full days of the team’s time for the event itself, plus preparation and follow uptime. Management supported this event by realigning the company’s resources and ensuring that the team wasnot interrupted for those three days. And perhaps most important, the company was able to make changes liter-ally overnight so our team could evaluate results immediately.

5. No Shortcuts. The team did every step thoroughly. They measured each criterion they had chosen while theyobserved the operation of the cell. They brainstormed and prioritized changes – which included moving a worktable, changing the location of parts in a warehouse and other moves. They explained to production staff whatthey were going to do before they did anything. The team worked closely with operators after the changes weremade, and made additional refinements on the spot. They measured again and found a 50% improvement indistance traveled as well as other time and resource savings.

6. Shared Success. This team documented their results and reported them to an enthusiastic roomful of seniorexecutives and other employees. Every team member and other employee involved in the changes shared in thesuccess.

One good Kaizen event doesn’t change a company, but it was pretty clear to me that this Kaizen wouldn’t be the

last one. And every event has an impact. I didn’t need a metric to know that – I could read it in the faces of every-

one who participated.

Mike Pircer is president of MAP Business Solutions, a consulting firm providing process and resource analysis

and solutions to cut waste. He can be reached at mpircer@mapbizsolutions.com.