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Kaizen / Gemba
Why use it?
Kaizen is a tactical tool to help organizations strive for continuous improvement.
What does it do?
Kaizen eliminates waste and inefficiencies; it puts forward good housekeeping and use of standards.
What question will it help you answer?
Q. How can I get my organization to improve its performance and process continuously?
The Big Picture
Kaizen literally means change (kai) to become good (zen). Key elements of kaizen are quality, effort,
willingness to change and communication. The Gemba house, as the basis of kaizen, has five fundamental
elements:
▪ Teamwork
▪ Personal discipline
▪ Improved morale
▪ Quality circles
▪ Suggestions for improvement
Based on the foundation, kaizen focuses on the elimination of muda (waste and inefficiencies).

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When to use it?
Kaizen can be used to solve several types of problems: process inefficiencies, quality problems, large
inventories, and delivery and lead-time problems. Employees are encouraged to come up with
suggestions during weekly meetings (kaizen events) for small and large improvements. Kaizen suggests
eliminating muda (waste and inefficiencies) first. The types of waste are:
▪ Defective product. Defects in quality prevent customers from accepting the manufactured product.
The effort to create these defects is wasted. New waste management processes must be added in an
effort to reclaim some value from an otherwise scrap product.
▪ Over production. Over-production is the production or acquisition of items before they are actually
required. It is the company s most dangerous waste, because it hides production problems. Over-
production has to be stored, managed and protected.

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▪ Transportation. Each time a product is moved, it runs the risk of being damaged, lost, delayed, etc.,
as well as being a cost with no added value. Transportation does contribute to the transformation of
the product that the consumer is disposed to pay for.
▪ Waiting. Refers to the time spent by the workers waiting for resources to arrive, the queue for their
products to empty, as well as the capital sunk into goods and services that have not yet been delivered
to the customer. It is often the case that there are processes to manage this waiting.
▪ Excess inventory. Whether in the form of raw materials, work in progress (WIP) or finished goods,
excess inventory represents a capital outlay that has not yet produced an income for either the
producer of the consumer. If any of these three items are not being processed actively to add value, it
is waste.
▪ Motion. In contrast to transportation, motion refer to the worker or equipment, and is represented by
damage, wear and safety. It also includes the fixed assets and expenses incurred in the production
process.
▪ Extra processing. Using a more expensive or otherwise valuable resource than is required for the
task, or adding features that are included in the design but are not needed by the customer. There is a
particular problem with this factor. People may need to perform tasks for which they are overqualified
to maintain their competency. This training cost can be used to offset the waste associated with over-
processing.
After the reduction of waste, good housekeeping is put forward, which comprises the 5-Ss:
1. Seiri tidiness. Separate what is necessary for the work from what is not. This should help to
simplify the work.
2. Seiton orderliness. You can increase efficiency by making deliberate decisions regarding the
allocation of materials, equipment, files, etc.
3. Seiso cleanliness. Everyone should help to keep things clean, organized, and looking neat and
attractive.
4. Seiketsu standardized clean-up. The regularity and institutionalization of keeping things clean and
organized as part of visual management is an effective means of continuous improvement.
5. Shitsuke discipline. Personal responsibility for living up to the other 4-Ss can make or break the
success of housekeeping.

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The last building block of the Gemba house is standardization. Standardization of practices and
institutionalization of the 5-Ss will make it easier for everyone in the organization to improve continuously,
including new comers. Top management plays an important role in guarding and acting for the
widespread implementation and coordination of kaizen, the 5-S method, and the standardization of work.
A correct implementation of the kaizen concept will lead to:
▪ Improved productivity
▪ Improved quality
▪ Better safety
▪ Faster delivery
▪ Lower costs
▪ Greater customer satisfaction
▪ Improved employee morale and job satisfaction
How to use it?
The following steps should be taken in kaizen events:
▪ Define the problem and the goal of the event.
▪ Analyze the facts.
▪ Generate possible solutions.
▪ Plan the solution.
▪ Implement the solution.
▪ Check and secure the solution.

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The final analysis
The kaizen philosophy resonates well with the speed of change at operational levels in the organization.
The sustainability of the improvements proposed and implemented by people on the work floor is perhaps
the strongest argument in favor of kaizen. Its sheer simplicity makes implementation easy, although some
cultures may not be as receptive to the high level of self-discipline that the Japanese are able to maintain.
Kaizen has more potential in incremental change situations than in abrupt turnarounds. A culture focused
on short-term success and big hits is not the right environment for kaizen. Cooperation and widespread
discipline at all levels of the organization are the absolute keys to its success.
REFERENCE
Imai, M. (1997) Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-cost, Approach to Management. London: McGraw-
Hill
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