Kaizen

Over the past several months we've discussed several tools of Lean as they apply to the printing industry. We've looked at creating a safer, cleaner, better organized workplace using 5S: "seeing" waste by creating value stream maps; cutting setup or make-ready times to increase capacity; and using kanban to control material consumption. These are all very appealing to the average converter, but how do we take advantage of these tools and put them to use in our own shops? The way to put these tools into use is to practice kai-zen.

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Kaizen, like many other Japanese phrases, has been translated many ways. The most common English translation is "change for the better". Note the two key words: change and better. Too often companies make changes that result in poorer overall performance. This, obviously, is not kaizen. You don't want to make changes and have things get worse! The way to avoid this is to properly plan for and carry out your "change for the better".

Kaizen event

I'll need to clarify one point before we get started. Although the word kaizen is translated as change for the better, "kaizen" is often used to describe a team event, lasting two or more days and resulting in a series of rapid improvements to a process. This is the definition or use that we'll be working with in this article, and we'll refer to it as a "kaizen event".

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Kaizen events can be very powerful instruments for positive change. Kaizen events can jumpstart a company into becoming a Lean enterprise. Kaizen events can do this only if they are planned and executed in conjunction with a well thought out business strategy that eschews waste and embraces Lean. For the sake of time (and space) we'll just assume that a company has just such a strategy.

To start, a kaizen event should be planned at least three to four weeks in advance. This is for several reasons:

First, it gives participants who normally don't work the days or hours that the event will be scheduled enough time to make arrangements for child care or other personal arrangements.

Second, it gives supervisors time to plan how the participants' job functions will be covered during the time of the kaizen event and to prepare for supporting the team with equipment maintenance requests that might arise during the event. You must allow the kaizen event team members to have an uninterrupted session and not allow them to be pulled away and back into their day-to-day roles, and you must provide them with the support resources that they'll require. Not doing so is extremely discourteous to the team and it gives team members a reason to feel that their participation--and the event itself--is not considered valuable by management.

Third, it allows time for the kaizen event team leader, team facilitator, and possibly other key players to plan out the event with members of the management team, usually some type of steering team. This planning is the most critical, and most often overlooked and ignored, part of the entire kaizen event process.

Planning for a kaizen event

Planning a kaizen event starts with documenting a scope for the event. Key questions that should be answered are:

* Why is the event being held? What is the business reason?

* Where does it fit into the company's overall business strategy?

* When and where will the event be held?

* What is the process or work area(s) that will be affected?

* Who is/are the supervisors of the area(s) that will be affected/impacted?

* Do current state and future state value stream maps (VSMs) exist for these areas?

* What is/are the current metric(s) for the area(s)?

* What is/are the desired metric(s) for the area(s)?

* What are the boundaries or limits of authority for the kaizen team? Examples include: setting a limit on purchases of supplies and equipment during the event; making decisions on authorizing overtime for non-team members.

* Who are the team members?

* Who is the team sponsor? (usually a representative of the steering team)

* Who will be responsible for follow up activities after the kaizen event?

These questions should be answered a minimum of three calendar weeks before the actual kaizen event begins. This allows team leaders and management time to clarify expectations and roles during and after the actual event.

Performing the kaizen event

Regardless of the scope or duration of a kaizen event, certain roles and expectations must be met.

The team leader (or perhaps a non-team member acting as a facilitator) must keep the team focused on the scope of the kaizen event. It's very tempting and easy for a team to veer off in a completely unexpected direction. It's the role of the team leader and facilitator to keep everyone's "eyes on the prize".

The team must focus on the process and not the person(s) performing the process. If any performance issues arise during the event, they need to be dealt with through normal company channels and not by the team. Bring them to the attention of the team sponsor and move on with the task at hand.