Kaizen Concept Research Articles

Improvement of fly ash brick manufacturing industry using kaizen concept

Improvement of fly ash brick manufacturing industry using kaizen concept

Going beyond Triviality: The Toyota Production System—Lean Manufacturing beyond Muda and Kaizen

Personal consulting experience has been showing that even many proven managers responsible for Lean Six Sigma Operational Excellence (OPEX) techniques have not fully understood the profound and comprehensive significance of Lean. Apart from the idealized interpretation of Lean boiled down to the limited concepts of Muda and Kaizen, the classical “temple” representation of the Toyota Production System (TPS) often leads to the interpretation that Lean is a toolbox from which one can select supposedly independent tools. By picking just some tools, however, the full potential of the TPS certainly cannot be exploited and—in the worst case—it may even cause production disruption. This essay criticizes the wide-spread ultra-simplification of concepts and, as a consequence, the distorted interpretation leads to an inappropriate use of the Lean tools. It presents two additional representations of the classical TPS temple model stressing the intrinsic systemic effects as well as the underlying theory concepts of the TPS to allow a flawless Just-in-Time (JIT) production. In fact, the original TPS is not a toolbox, but a comprehensive synergic tool system.

Skuteczność działań lean w polskich przedsiębiorstwach – wybrane aspekty rozwiązań przy zachowaniu ducha kaizen. Badania empiryczne

The method of lean management is very successful in Polish enterprises. In today’s turbulent world, many companies want to increase their efficiency and reduce costs. The lean gives them the opportunity to do so, eliminating all activities that do not bring value from the point of view of the customer, and implementing standardized processes and procedures that contribute to the activities of workers in continuous improvement – kaizen. The purpose of this article is to present the theoretical and empirical effectiveness of lean management in Polish companies basing on the conducted research. The article consists of two parts. The first part is theoretical and based on studies of the literature it describes concepts of lean, kaizen, standardization and visualization, their main objectives and principles. The second part presents the solely empirical research, the responses of managers, specialists in lean or kaizen activities in Polish enterprises on the tools of lean, standardization and visualization.

Accounting and Methodical Provision of Management Accountants in the Kaizen Concept

This article describes the concept of kaizen, developed under the Russian accounting methodology. Theoretical propositions are presented in the context of the base and superstructure levels of kaizen, each of those are elements characterizing the concept-binders. Within the concept of kaizen change of terminology field is proposed, the transformation of the basic categories of management accounting - marginal income - from the position of the cash method. The effect of the proposed categories at the maintenance break-even analysis formulas, and rules decision-making management in the short term. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2015.v6n5s3p35

Kaizen and the 'accumulation of marginal gains'

Sometimes new concepts and ideas can come from the most unexpected of quarters. Ad Gandhe (Portsmouth Queen Alexandra) recently started his argument in a debate on distal radius fractures with the concept of Kaizen. A word which may sound to you like it did to me, surprisingly familiar, having been brought into the English subconscious by David Brailsford, the TeamGB cycling coach. I was slightly surprised it had found its way onto an AO Advances course – but Ad gave some surprisingly good arguments as to why it is essential in surgery. The Japanese concept is that of ‘accumulation of margin gain’. The British Cycling Team used it with resounding success, as have Team Sky in the recent Tours. The concept is that whilst a small individual variable may make no difference to the overall outcome (say …

Kaizen as a Method of Management Improvement in Small Production Companies

Abstract„Quality is not everything but everything is nothing without quality”. The famous quotation from K. Ishikawa brings to our attention the fact that nowadays quality is one of strategic concepts from the point of view of functioning of companies, especially production-oriented ones. The lack of quality often eliminates a product from the basket of potential further choices. That means that quality is a prerequisite in the contemporary, highly competitive and saturated market. In order to ensure quality, enterprises introduce various concepts and methods to support quality management. They include, among others, the kaizen philosophy, which allows to minimize unnecessary actions (losses). It is especially recommended to small firms as an inexpensive method assuring high quality of products because they are constantly improved, which, in turn, guarantees maintaining a high position among competitors. This article aims to introduce the concept of kaizen by describing how it works and considering whether it can be successful in Polish companies.

Kaizen concept and its application in logistics

Kaizen concept and its application in logistics

Relationship between Kaizen Events and Perceived Quality Performance in Indian Automobile Industry

Relationship between Kaizen Events and Perceived Quality Performance in Indian Automobile Industry

Kaizen koncept i njegova primena u logistici / Kaizen concept and its application in logistics / Применение практики Кайдзен при решении логистических задач

Kaizen je japanska filozofija koja se fokusira na kontinualno poboljsanje, pojednostavljenje i ubrzanje procesa, smanjenjem ili eliminisanjem rasipanja, troseci minimum potrebnih resursa, a pri tome isporucuje najbolji moguci kvalitet proizvoda ili usluga. To je proces koji, kada se uradi pravilno, humanizuje radno mesto, eliminise preterano težak rad i uci ljude kako da vrse ispitivanja sopstvenog rada (koristeci naucne metode), eliminisuci skart u procesu poslovanja. Mnoge vojne organizacije prepoznale se prednosti Kaizena i implementirale ga u svoju praksu. Kaizen je jedna od najprihvatljivijih metoda kontinualnog unapređenja procesa u logistici. Omogucava inkrementalno poboljsanje procesa, jeftin je i fleksibilan. Istovremeno, pruža mogucnost organima logistike da brzo, efektno i efikasno reaguju na sve promene u njenom turbulentnom i složenom okruženju.

Cost management in the internal value chain of integrated application of activity-based costing, Kaizen concept and target costing

The objective of this paper is an effort to view the possibilities of integrated use of target costing, activity based costing and Kaizen concept in the internal value chain as the central link of the entire chain. The idea is to stimulate the company management to think about the costs, position they take in the structure of price cost and their influence on forming the sales price since it is very important to produce right product for the consumer, of desired quality and functionality but along with as low production costs as possible. It is therefore needed to construct the right design of a product and provide its production at the shortest possible time along with as low costs as possible which will impact the efficiency of the entire value chain.

The 5S and kaizen concept for overall improvement of the organisation: a case study

The purpose of this study is to implement some of the 5S and kaizen principles to assist small scale manufacturing organisations to become more efficient and more productive. The paper systematically categorises, analyses, and reviews methodically the published literature. In the frames of a case study, the 5S and kaizen rules in the organisation have been analysed and implemented. On the basis of the case study, it can be stated that introducing the 5S and kaizen rules brings great changes in the organisation, for example, increasing of effectiveness and efficiency in the processes, improved visibility of the process, improved morale and safety of the employees, reduced delays, searching time and dangerous conditions. 5S and kaizen is a powerful tool and can be implemented in any industry, whether it is micro, small, medium or large. Implementation of 5S and kaizen has large horizontal development and they can be implemented in all the workstations of the organisation. The 5S and kaizen method begins each programme of improvement in a company. Its result is the effective organisation of the workplace. The publications and case study presented in the paper will be useful to researchers, professionals and others concerned with this subject to understand the significance of 5S and kaizen.

Efekti primene kaizen koncepta u maloprodaji hrane

Efekti primene kaizen koncepta u maloprodaji hrane

Combining Six Sigma with Kaizen Blitz for Enhancing Process Interaction

It’s imperative to find appropriate way for company to achieve the goal to quickly respond to customer requirement and increase customer satisfaction. This encouraged them to adopt either Six Sigma for improving process through process interaction or Lean for reducing waste in processes. However, both Six Sigma and Lean have limitations. As a result, the enterprises tend to combine their strengths. This paper represents similarities and differences between Lean, Six Sigma and Kaizen. Furthermore, the integration between the techniques and tools of TQM, Six Sigma and Lean help to find a way integrating Six Sigma and Kaizen. The paper combines Six Sigma with Kaizen Blitz (DMAIC-KB) which is based on advantages of Six Sigma and Kaizen concept under PDCA cycle. This approach emphasizes on small project, customer requirement response and customer satisfaction in short time by detecting, analyzing and improving the problems and dysfunctions during process via process interaction.

Lean‐kaizen public service: an empirical approach in Spanish local governments

PurposeRecently, the operations management academic literature has seen articles focusing on the transfer of “lean” thinking or kaizen concept from the private to the public sector. In Spain, during the last 15 years, some local councils have also followed similar improvement initiatives sometimes under the umbrella of “global quality programmes” trying to support continuous process and service improvement. The research question for this article is: How is lean‐kaizen applied in local councils in Spain? The aim is to shed light on how lean thinking is applied in order to improve those services provided to the public by local councils by describing empirical studies in specific Spanish contexts.Design/methodology/approachThe case study approach was adopted in this research. The research design conducted was of the longitudinal and retrospective type.FindingsThe results of the empirical evidence show that three techniques related to lean‐kaizen have a direct effect on the processes and management systems in local councils. The three techniques are: 5S, gemba kaizen workshops and process mapping. These techniques improved the processes and quality of public services provided by the councils. These results suggest the first indications of documented lean‐kaizen public service.Originality/valueA review of the academic literature of lean thinking and kaizen concept indicates that the managerial application of the techniques in the public sector are few and far between and have been barely explored at the empirical level. The paper makes a contribution to the deeper understanding of the usefulness of applying lean‐kaizen in local government in order to improve the processes and services provided to the public – the emergence of lean‐kaizen public service.

How the Japanese Interpret Kaizen: An Exploration of Japanese Spirit

Following its comprehensive defeat in Pacific theatre of World War II and destruction of much of its production capacity, between early 1950s and Oil Crisis of 1973, Japan recorded an average annual economic growth rate of 10% and an average annual export growth rate of 20%. During Oil Shock of 1973, when other countries fell into economic decline, industrial production efficiency enabled Japan to become a competitive and dominant force in world markets (Barnwell, 2007). Such achievement, when other major economies were faltering, lead to intense (Western) analysis and discussion in a hunt to discover source of such success. Ultimately, this success was attributed to two factors: relationship between Government and industry, and success of name corporations including Toyota, Sony, Panasonic, and Honda (Abe & Fitzgerald, 1995). Investigation of these large successful corporations leads to field of and underlying concept of -- a cornerstone of Japanese management -- with Toyota Production System being exemplar of Japanese quality management and operations management techniques.This literature review notes that while much is known about concept of kaizen within organization there remain aspects that are still not fully understood or are misunderstood; that current (English language) academic literature may fail to provide accurate accounts of Japanese point of view, and differences between Japanese and perspectives. For this paper, author has considered only English language literature, including contributions from Japanese academics. For simplicity, reference made to both the US and Western by cited works is considered to imply same entity or idea.

Bridging Cultures in the Schools

Bridging Cultures in the Schools

Quality Management in Pakistan's Readymade Garments' Industry

ABSTRACT Pakistan's readymade garments' industry is a key player in Pakistan's industry in general, and its textile industrial output and exports in particular. In a liberalizing international trade regime, quality will be a critical success factor in the international competitiveness of Pakistan's readymade garments. Research in quality management in Pakistan's readymade garments' industry was undertaken. To gain further information, a postal self-completion questionnaire was mailed to 101 members of the Pakistan Readymade Garments' and Exporters' Association (PRGMEA). The response rate was 32%. It was found that while this industrial segment was in various stages of development, it needs to graduate fast to advanced quality management concepts of Kaizen and total quality management in order to maintain its competitive advantage in an environment that will soon be liberalized fully.

NLP to promote TQM for effective implementation of ISO 9000

In today’s scenario, even after achieving ISO certification, quality is still wanting. There is always a gap in people adhering to the standards. The aim of this paper is to discuss the use of neuro linguistic programming (NLP) in aiding total quality management (TQM). 5S and kaizen are identified with lateral thinking tools, using NLP. Case studies on 5S and kaizen applications in civil engineering, with and without the use of NLP, are discussed. The concept of creative kaizen and model Kaizen is introduced for better understanding of the benefits of using NLP. Finally, for the first time, a scientific appraisal of use of NLP for three different civil engineering trades has been attempted and their effects are discussed.

Kaizen and technology transfer instructors as work‐based learning facilitators in overseas transplants: a case study

This study takes the Japanese concept of kaizen, that is, continuous quality improvement, as a means of looking behind the Toyota Production System (TPS), to examine in some detail the work of kaizen and technology transfer instructors in overseas transplants. Special attention is paid to their role as learning facilitators. The research provides insights into how these workers prepare for their overseas transplant assignments, the methods they use to instruct other workers and the kinds of problems they experience in relating to and communicating with foreign employees of Toyota. The findings show the commitment the technology transfer instructors have to doing their work well and living by example the corporate culture and values of Toyota. These workers recognize the special challenge of communicating effectively as learning facilitators across different national cultures and languages and make practical suggestions for improvements in this regard.

Continuous improvement and kaizen: standardization and organizational designs

Proposes to delineate a set of core principles from the Japanese kaizen concept and illustrate the contingent nature of the design and organization of continuous improvement (CI) processes, especially with respect to product/process standardization and work design. Given differences in the overall degree of standardization related to product design and process choice, two types of standards to reduce variability at operator work process level should be considered: indirect system standards, e.g. for skills, organization, information and communication; and direct standard operating procedures (SOPs). It is proposed that two team‐based organizational designs for CI (organic CI and wide‐focus CI) are functionally equivalent to the Japanese kaizen model, particularly when combining indirect system standards of skills with a group task design and low degree of product/process standardization. Expert task forces and suggestion systems are complementary organizational designs for improvement processes, particularly when work design is based on individual tasks and direct SOPs.