Certified kaizen practitioner v1.0

(C) The School of Continuous Improvement
1
Certified Kaizen Practitioner
By The School of Continuous Improvement

Disclaimer
2
This Certified Kaizen practitioner is being offered to the interested and qualified
individuals so that they can apply this simple process improvement methodology in their organizations.
Our sincere thanks to San Masaaki Imai, the pioneer of Kaizen and Toyota Production Systems to have
bought this simple methodology to the world.
We don’t intend to reinvent the wheel and thus, we present to you this module on Kaizen sources of which
you would find on the Internet aplenty.
Don’t attempt to reproduce sections of this module.
Of course, you would have an assessment and a project at the end of the module based on which you
would be certified.

Body of knowledge
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a. Introduction to Kaizen
b. Kaizen as a culture, a set of events and a philosophy
c. Prerequisites of a Kaizen event
d. Steps to do a Kaizen event
e. The A3 Deployment
f. Kaizen project closure and signoff

4
Introduction to Kaizen

Introduction to Kaizen
5
1. Any form of improvement is known as Kaizen. Kaizen means “Change for
the better”.
2. Kaizen can be applied to improve:
a. Processes
b. Equipment
c. People

Types of Kaizen
6
1. Point Kaizen – These are discrete and unrelated events in an organization, or
in the organization’s business units.
2. Line Kaizen – These are two or more connected discrete Point Kaizen events
all belonging to the same process.
3. Plane Kaizen – Connection of various Line Kaizen events is further known as
Plane Kaizen. Think of a value stream of the production, marketing and sales
departments.
4. Cube Kaizen – Finally, when Kaizen as a philosophy and a culture is applied
to the entire organization, you have said to have applied Cube Kaizen.

Types of Kaizen
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Examples
Kaizen event idea Kaizen event type
Improvement to a set of 3 machines
in a factory having 25 machines
Point Kaizen
Improvement to a particular shift
maintaining operations of all 25
machines
Line Kaizen
Improvement to the manufacturing
flow
Plane Kaizen
Improvement to the manufacturing
flow, planning, procurement and
sales functions
Cube Kaizen

Types of Kaizen
8
1. Broadly, it can be said that point kaizen events need the least amount of
resources as well as time but the improvement will be very localized.
2. It is not mandatory for Kaizen events to have a direct financial impact.
For example, a contact center reduces a metric, After Call Work % from 4% to
2%. This will not have a direct financial impact.
3. Reducing ACW% will result in higher ability of the work floor to receive more
calls. Importantly, it could also reduce wait time during high call volume
periods, which will result in less Abandoned Calls %.
4. This could result in less customer dissatisfaction, if the correlation between
Abandoned Calls % and customer dissatisfaction is proven.
As you can see, it is not necessary for Kaizen events to have a direct
financial impact.

Standards for Kaizen
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1. Whether Point or Line or Plane or Cube, you need standards before you
implement any Kaizen activity.
2. Can standardization be termed as a Kaizen event? --- Interesting
question, and as you guessed it, yes. It can be termed as a Kaizen event. Why -
-- When you standardize you are preparing the base for the process to
improve. And even by standardizing, you would improve certain bits of the
process.
3. Standardization could include things below (A limited list):
a. Documentation of procedures
b. Training of associates
c. Integrating to the Standard Operating Procedures

10
Kaizen as a culture, a
philosophy and a set of tools

Kaizen as a culture
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1. Factories or service centers that wish to use Kaizen as part of their continuous
improvement efforts need to focus a lot on operator involvement.
2. In spirit, Kaizen demands that you respect people. The concept of GEMBA
KAIZEN illustrated in the infographic in the next slide clearly points out how
Kaizen can be instituted as a culture in organizations.

Kaizen as a culture
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GEMBA Kaizen principles teach all of us that we should spend most of
our day’s time should be spent on the shop floor.
Some mistakes most of us make
1. Organizing a team meeting at the start of the
shift in a closed cabin.
2. Seeking explanations on what happened
wrong, if targets were not met for the last day.
3. Counseling individuals for how they can
improve for the day at hand.

Kaizen as a philosophy
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The below mentioned principles govern Kaizen as a philosophy:
1. Respect for people at all times.
2. “Improve it even if it is not broken”
3. Continuous Improvement
4. Everyone in the organization should come up with an idea for
improvement.
5. Little changes on regular basis, i.e. small and incremental improvements.
6. Setting standards, improving on the standards and set new standards.

Kaizen as a set of tools
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The below mentioned tools can be used in Kaizen Blitz events:
1. Genchi Genbutsu
2. VA-NVA Analysis
3. TAKT Time
4. Standardized Work
5. Creative Thinking
6. Financial Benefits Calculation
7. Control Plan
8. Root Cause Analysis
In further chapters, we shall be discussing these tools in detail.

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Pre-requisites of a Kaizen event

Prerequisites of a Kaizen event
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• Kaizen as a philosophy is implemented by ways of events known as Kaizen
Blitz events.
• Successful running of Kaizen events need full support of management and
operators, i.e. all stakeholders’ support is important.
• Standards are a must for running of any Kaizen. You need standardized
processes, i.e. documented and repeatable.
• A good sustenance culture to sustain the benefits of a Kaizen event.

17
Steps to do a Kaizen event

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• Standardize
• Identify opportunity
• Set goal
• Current state map
• VA-NVA Analysis
• Root Cause Analysis
• Improvement plan
• Documentation and Standardization
• Result validation
• Planning for next Kaizen

19
Manufacturing
Let us first take a manufacturing case. A factory manufacturing nuts has 20
machines and produces a throughput of 4 tons of nuts daily as against a design
capacity of 6 tons. The gap exists because the machines experience heavy
downtime.
Services
An insurance firm reports a 20% dropout in paying insurance premiums after the
1st year due to poor customer service provided by the company. This 20% dropout
has resulted in a financial loss of approximately $300,000 per year to the
company.

20
Identify the opportunity
Manufacturing
The opportunity for improvement here is Reduction in machine downtime. The
downtime is measured at 37% of the operational time with the factory operating
for 450 minutes a day.
Services
The opportunity for improvement here will be analyzed after we review reasons
for customer service with the help of a Pareto Chart.

21
Identify the opportunity
Services
Pareto Chart for Customer complaints
The unscaled Pareto charts tell us
that customers complain 67% of
the times because the company
doesn’t send statements on time.
Customer impact – When
customers receive delayed
statements, they pay the bills
late, resulting in late charges.

22
Set goal
1. Setting the goal for Kaizen improvements shouldn’t be difficult although you
may want to use a whole hoard of statistical tests to determine what is the
apt goal.
2. As the top management and process experts would be involved ask them,
“How much do you want accomplished in one-two week’s time”?
3. A very realistic improvement goal could be anywhere in the range of 10-20%
in the operational indicator for the first Kaizen and thereafter work on
increments of 5% each until you reach the break point of improvement.

23
Set goal
Manufacturing
The manufacturing company decided to trim the downtime to 25% of the
operating time, i.e. reduce the downtime by 12%.
Service
The services company decided to reduce the dissatisfaction levels due to not
sending statements on time to 30% of all complaints, i.e. a 36% reduction from
the existing 66% of all customer complaints.
Since the goal most of the times would be provided by the top
management, buy-in is a given. Cases where you/ project team
decides the goal, make sure the same is communicated.

24
Current State Map
1. After finalizing the goals for improvement, the project team needs to draw
the current state map of the process.
2. This could be in form of a Value Stream Map, a Flow Chart, or a simple write
down of all the tasks being performed in the process.
3. This is important because once you know the goal, you’d also want to know
the process you would want to improve.
4. During documentation of the current state process, make sure you walk the
floor and document the process as it is.

25
Current State Map
Manufacturing
Machine
commences run
Operator notices
possible fault.
Operator stops the
machine
Operator removes
settings and
troubleshoots
Operator calls the
maintenance
team.
Maintenance team
troubleshoots.
If spare parts needed,
maintenance team requests
spare parts
Maintenance team
adds spare parts
Machine testing
Machine re-
commences run

26
Current State Map
Services
New insurance
file opened
Insurance plan
approved.
Backend operator
enters details.
Every week Friday,
backend operator batches
policy numbers by
premium due date
Operator codes
REFX to the
system
Correspondence
team receives
REFX
One day after receipt
correspondence team prints
statements
Correspondence
sends to Mailing
department
Mailing
department mails
out.
Statements
received.

27
VA-NVA Analysis
1. Now that you have documented the current state process, make sure you get
this signed off by the top management/ process experts. Of course, they
would be with you when you do this, but still get this done.
2. Ensure you show this process map to the operators as well. Note some
keen operators would drop their jaws when they see this.
3. What do you think you should do next? --- Alright put these activities up on
an Excel spreadsheet and gather some data on how much time these
activities consume.
4. Once done, mark the activities as Value added or Non-value added. Value
added are those activities that add value to the customer’s product or to the
value chain.

28
VA-NVA Analysis
Manufacturing
Interpretation
1. 45 minutes of downtime out of
450 minutes isn’t too huge. You
would think so!!
2. But machines undergo this cycle of
events 3-4 times a day.
3. 135 – 180 minutes time lost in
downtime.
4. And that explains our
predicament!!

29
VA-NVA Analysis
Service
Interpretation
1. Now, this is tricky. The first 3 steps
take all of just 25 minutes.
2. The value added time for the last 4
steps take all of 35 minutes.
3. But, there are days delays between
these steps, resulting in a lead time
of approximately 32 hours addition.
4. See T+1. This means
Correspondence team receives REFX
next day after completion of step 3.

30
VA-NVA Analysis Summary
Manufacturing
1. Value added time for repairing machines is only 13 minutes whereas
remaining 32 minutes are non-value added.
2. The goal is to reduce 155 minutes of downtime to 105 minutes of downtime
per day (37% baseline to 25% future state).
3. We need to reduce the non-value added time of 33 minutes per downtime
resulting in 132 minutes of total downtime due to non-value added tasks.

31
VA-NVA Analysis Summary
Services
1. If due dates are for the upcoming week and if the backend operators code the
policies properly for due collection, the mails should leave the company office
by Friday.
2. Activities 4-7 cannot take 1 day lag between them to process out the letters.
3. Considering the average letter-outs at approximate 1,500 per week, this issue
is relatively simple to tackle.
4. The goal is to ensure reduction of late deliveries of letters by 36%.

32
Root Cause Analysis
1. Nothing happens without a reason and in our case, the non-value added times
are seen because something is resulting in them to happen.
2. These things we can’t see with our naked eyes. These are known as Root
Causes.
3. To uncover root causes, you need to conduct a technique called Root Cause
Analysis.
4. Root cause analysis can be done using a variety of tools. We use the simplest
of them all --- 5 WHY Analysis.
5. Ask the question WHY 5 times for a symptom and more or less, you would
find out the root cause.

33
Root Cause Analysis
Manufacturing
Action Root Cause
Operators remove settings
from the machines
Parts are fixed with one another and screws
and nuts need to be loosened for parts to be
removed.
Operators call maintenance
team
Maintenance team are located at the other
end of the factory and sound signals cannot
be heard by the maintenance team.
Spare parts retrieval time Operator goes to CNC workshop to retrieve
spare parts

34
Root Cause Analysis
Services
Action Root Cause
Correspondence team sorts
statements in ascending
order of names
Old standard guidelines outlined by previous
process owner requiring to do so.
Coding of RPX involves
correspondence
Correspondence team is the only one to have
access to RPX retrieve. Dependency on
Correspondence team.
RPX coding lag Coding issue on application. When RPX is
entered by a department, it will move to the
next department only the next day.

35
Root Cause Analysis Summary
1. When you identify the root causes, make sure you share them with the entire
team and also to the operators.
2. This is a big breakthrough for you because you have found something which
has not been found before, or has been found before but no action has been
taken.
3. What you have found is good, but you now need to put an improvement
action in place. In most Kaizen projects, this is known as Countermeasure.
4. Whenever we talk of countermeasures, we talk CAPA – Corrective action and
Preventive Action.
5. Corrective actions will correct the faults after it occurs, while preventive
action will prevent the fault from happening.

36
Improvement Plan
Brainstorm with the process experts and the operator team and identify how can
you fix the root causes.
Manufacturing
Root Cause Improvement action
Parts are fixed with one another and screws and
nuts need to be loosened for parts to be removed.
New turning hammers and screwlifts to be
ordered which will do this faster.
Maintenance team are located at the other end of
the factory and sound signals cannot be heard by
the maintenance team.
All machines to be connected with a circuit
breaker connected to an alarm signal (Red and
Green). Red signal indicates problem with
machine and maintenance team to attend quickly
on seeing the red signal.
Operator goes to CNC workshop to retrieve spare
parts
Spare parts to be listed as by priority and backup
spares to be kept in the main workshop.

37
Improvement Plan
Services
Process Re-design
1. The IT Department will enable Backend operations team to code RPX
directly.
2. The IT Department will add the logic to mailing and correspondence for
due date – 7.
3. The IT Department will code for self-printing of letters from mailing
department.

38
Improvement Plan
Services
The process re-design we spoke about in the previous slide was just a way of
dealing with the situation at hand.
We could have developed a set of KPIs for the correspondence and the mailing
department, or increased the number of staff or done a VA-NVA Analysis for
the activities to be done in the correspondence and the mailing section.

39
Improvement Plan
1. If need be, conduct a Cost Benefit Analysis. Given the fact that Kaizen events
are short run events, you wouldn’t want to bother with costing technicalities.
2. In special cases where a preventive equipment needs to be bought, or a special
purchase has to be made to deliver the benefits, Cost Benefit Analysis is
required.
3. Don’t bother with doing Risk Analysis at this point of time. As this is a short
run event, we can highlight the risks for sustenance phase and guess what ---
We could do a Kaizen on Kaizen to tackle the risks.

40
Improvement Plan
Data collection for pre-post validation
Manufacturing
1. Collect data for 7 days.
2. Use Box Plots to show pre-post comparison.
3. Downtime before improvements were at 155
minutes.
4. Downtime after improvements are at 105
minutes.
5. We have managed to generate a 50 minute
improvement per machine, which was the goal
of our project.

41
Improvement Plan
Data collection for pre-post validation
Service
1. Collect data for number of complaints
received daily due statements not received
for 7 days.
2. Use Box Plots to show pre-post comparison.
3. Complaint % before improvement was at
66%.
4. Median complaint % after improvement was
at 32%.

42
Documentation and Standardization
1. Once we have been able to achieve pilot gains, make sure you standardize
this.
2. Document the new way of operating in all operating manuals.
3. Setup visual controls so that all operators and the management can see what
is happening.
4. Setup a space on the shop floor where you can enter daily production/
attrition numbers.
5. The shop floor manager will enter the data for the concerned metrics on the
board, which can then be seen by the operators and the management.

43
Result Validation
1. In the Improvement section, we managed to complete a pilot round of
improvement with satisfactory results.
2. We reduced the machine downtime for the manufacturing company by 50
minutes and the complaint % due to late delivery of statements by 35%
(3,500 basis points).
3. All this could mean something to the business in terms of finances.
4. Is it possible we could check the financial returns from our respective
projects?
5. Note – Not all Kaizen projects need to be financially beneficial.
But, as a golden rule, if you are improving something in the
office, it would fetch you money, directly or indirectly.

44
Result Validation
Manufacturing 1. As we can see from the data line
plot displayed for 14 days, the
post improvement production
capacity has moved up to about
5.2 tons a day from the baseline
of 4 tons a day.
2. You don’t need to do this during
the Kaizen event.
3. Officially the Kaizen event can
close with setting of new
standards. This can be done to
verify sustenance of the Kaizen
event.

45
Result Validation
Service 1. The customer attrition has
dropped from past levels of 20%
to approximately 16%. Of course
we can mirror this to the drop in
client dissatisfaction due to late
receipt of statements.
2. You don’t need to do this during
the Kaizen event.
3. Officially the Kaizen event can
close with setting of new
standards. This can be done to
verify sustenance of the Kaizen
event.

46
Planning for the next Kaizen
1. Once results have been sustained for approximately 14 days after pilot
results and standardization, the footprints for the next Kaizen event can
start.
2. By the 1 month end of the Kaizen sustenance, the factory would have shown
a downtime being maintained at approximately 25% and the service
company would have still been stable at 16% attrition of customers.
3. Should you feel the need, you can increase the sustenance period to 2-3
months before planning for the next Kaizen.
4. Once ready, repeat the steps from Slide 20 – Slide 45 to gain the best
benefits out of Kaizen events.

47
Kaizen events Timeline
Activity Deliverable Timeline for completion
Top leadership buy in Top leadership commitment with
timelines for project
1 day
Standardize All processes documented 2 days
Set goal Goals for improvement set 1 day
Current State Map Have current state map prepared 1 day
VA-NVA Analysis Time study and all activities time mapped 3 days
Root Cause Analysis Root cause of all NVA activities 2 days
Improvement Plan Set the improvement plan 2 days
Validation of results Pilot and results collection 8 days
Sustenance Controlling achievements of Pilot 1 month

48
Kaizen events Timeline
1. As you can see from the timeline, the main Kaizen event would run for
approximately 14-17 days.
2. A lot of literature would mandate running these Kaizen events for 1 week. It is
quite possible, for which you would need a lot of time involvement from the
project team itself.
3. A successful Kaizen event will ensure all sustenance bases are covered and
thus in 2 months from the start of the Kaizen event you would have delivered
a well-sustained Kaizen event.

49
The A3 deployment

A3 Deployment
50
1. A3 is actually a paper size, which symbolizes a problem solving approach
conceptualized by Toyota.
2. According to Toyota, if you cannot summarize a problem and its solution in 1
paper, you didn’t do a good job.
3. The A3 Problem solving approach follows pretty much the methodology we
have discussed in Slide 20-46.
4. When you put all the findings from Slide 20-46 in a structured A3 format
template, we are said to have used the A3 Deployment approach.
5. Sounds too simple isn’t it!!

A3 Deployment
51
The A3 Deployment Template
A snapshot has been attached here for your review

A3 Deployment
52
The A3 Deployment Template
Here is the updated A3 Sheet for the Service sector case for your review. You can
keep using this sheet as and how you make progress with the Blitz project.

53
Kaizen Project Closure and
Signoff

Kaizen Project Closure and Signoff
54
1. Kaizen project closure should ideally happen only after the 1-month
sustenance plan passes off successfully, i.e. you don’t see a lot of fluctuations
in the data.
2. The project closure means all new initiatives and standards have been
documented, operators have been trained, managers know how to track
improvements and stakeholders know how and when they would be
communicated.
3. Signoff should happen on the version controlled Standard Operating
Procedure and the A3 template for the project.
4. At the time of Project Signoff, a commitment must be made by the team to
initiate a new Kaizen/ PDCA activity to continue improving.

Bottom-up Deployment
55
1. Ideally Kaizen events need top management support right from the start of
the event; ideally before the start.
2. In cases where top management support is not forthcoming, or if they want to
see the results before they could commit, you could do Bottom-up
deployment.
3. As these events are fairly simple to conduct in their approach, you could run
these events to improvement an operational metric in a localized manner.
4. Once you improve the performance showcase this to the top management.
5. As the top management likes to see results, be sure they’d commit once they
see your results.

56
Next Steps
1. Take the Technical Assessment for the Certified Kaizen Practitioner here.
(Click on the link).
2. Proceed with identifying an opportunity and completing a Kaizen Blitz
project.
3. Provide the final presentation of the Kaizen Blitz project to
vishy@theschoolofci.org .
4. Attend pre-scheduled interview of the project.
5. Successful evaluation of the project will lead to certification as Certified
Kaizen Practitioner.

Certified kaizen practitioner v1.0

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