Kaizen events are among the most important activities of a Lean enterprise. Successful Kaizens help build a Lean culture and measurably improve company performance. Kaizen success requires effective Planning, Implementation, Follow-up and Evaluation. IMEC’s expert Lean Implementers will work with your company at each phase of the Kaizen process, helping plan and prepare for events, facilitating Kaizen events, working with your team to ensure effective follow-up and completion of the improvement process, and evaluating the results to continuously improve your Kaizen process. Plan The Kaizen Planning phase, within the 6 Sigma DMAIC framework, seeks to Define, Measure, and Analyze the process that will be the Kaizen focus. There are three levels of Kaizen planning. • High-Level Planning links the Enterprise Lean Deployment Strategy to the specific processes that need to be improved and the timeline for improvement. • Mid-Level Planning uses Value Stream Mapping to select specific areas of improvement that will be addressed through Kaizen events versus 6 sigma projects and “just-do-it” activities. • Event-Level Planning uses checklists and standard documents to ensure that everything is in place so each Kaizen event is conducted successfully. Event planning includes: - Kaizen team member selection - Kaizen charter approval - Location preparation (including equipment, materials, etc.) - Data needs identification and preparation

Implement

Kaizen event implementation , within the DMAIC framework, is primarily focused on actual Improvement, although some additional Measurement and Analysis may be required. Kaizen Implementation requires a company to:

• Train members of the Kaizen team on the Lean principles that they will be applying
• Review the VSM, and perform additional measurements and analyses, if needed
• Facilitate an ideation/brainstorming processes to identify improvement options
• Implement improvements by “breaking apart” the process and putting it back together without the waste
• Prepare an action plan with a list of activities required to complete the Kaizen process
• Verify the alignment of the selected improvements with the future state VSM
• Identify expected measurable improvements
• Obtain participant feedback
• Report Kaizen results to Champions and celebrate success

Follow-up

This phase of the Kaizen process involves the completion of the Improvement and Control DMAIC elements. The success of the Kaizen depends on timely completion of the Improvement process and effective change management. This process involves:

• Following-up to ensure that action items are successfully completed
• Working with Lean Champions to breakdown obstacles
• Measuring the actual results of the Kaizen to document and quantify benefits
• Establishing process control to ensure the ability to consistently obtain improved performance

Evaluate

This is the last phase of the Kaizen process cycle. A Lean enterprise is a learning organization that recognizes Kaizen as a continuous process of improvement through:

• Identifying improvements to the Kaizen implementation process
• Encouraging employees to identify further improvement opportunities
• Establishing a schedule to re-evaluate the VSM and start a new Kaizen improvement cycle