Gemba Kaizen

Praise for Gemba Kaizen

It’s exciting to see an updated version of a classic book, Gemba Kaizen, whichshares a wealth of new healthcare examples and case studies from aroundthe world. A true sensei and master of kaizen, Mr. Imai shares sage andtimeless advice on engaging all team members in process improvementsand radical redesigns which are deeply meaningful to all stakeholders. Themethods in this book will help you improve quality and safety, reducewaiting times, and improve the long-term financial position of yourorganization. Highly recommended!

—Mark Graban, author of Lean Hospitals

and co-author of Healthcare Kaizen

Every business faces the iron triangle of quality, cost, and delivery.Conventional thinking claims you cannot have all three. Not only does Mr.Imai turn that thinking on its head, but he shows you in Gemba Kaizenexactly how to do it.

—Matthew E. May, author of The Elegant Solution

and The Laws of Subtraction

Masaaki Imai has done it again. The second edition of his famous bookGemba Kaizen not only describes all the tools necessary for any type ofbusiness to implement a lean strategy but also includes a large number ofexcellent case studies. These show how kaizen can be used to improvehospitals, supermarkets, airport management, a bus line, and even softwaredevelopment. This is a must-read for the leadership of any business.

My first exposure to lean [the term hadn’t been invented yet, we calledit Just-in-Time or the Toyota Production System] was at the beginning of1982, during my first General Manager job at the General Electric Company.We created a simple kanban system between one of my plants and one of mysuppliers. We dropped raw material inventory from 40 days to 3 days andgot a lot of unexpected side benefits in the areas of productivity, quality,freed up space, 5S improvements, etc. Professor Schoenburger later did astory on this where he said that this was the first real lean activity at TheGeneral Electric Company. In late 1985 I joined the Danaher Company asone of two Group Executives. One of my company presidents, GeorgeKoenigsaecker, and I began introducing lean to Danaher in 1986. One of

the things that really helped us improve our knowledge of lean at the timewas Masaaki Imai’s first book, Kaizen. This was the most definitive work onthe subject and was a great help. Imai helped us even more in early 1987when he ran a seminar in the Hartford, CT area [just down the street fromJake Brake]. Imai used a Japanese consulting firm, Shingijutsu, to help runhis seminar and be responsible for the hands-on factory kaizen part of theweek. The three principals of Shingijutsu all had spent years working forTaiichi Ohno, the father of the Toyota production system. Koenigsaeckerand I agreed that getting Shingijutsu to help us at Danaher would be a homerun for us and George worked diligently the rest of the week convincingthem. We became their first, and for four years, only American client and ourlean knowledge increased dramatically.

In 1991, I left Danaher to become CEO of The Wiremold Company,also in the area. I, of course, brought Shingijutsu along with me and by 1996Masaaki Imai was back in my life as he included a chapter on Wiremoldand what we had done in his new book, Gemba Kaizen. We have stayed intouch over the years and Imai has become a true leader in the leanmovement throughout the world through his Kaizen institute. He clearlyunderstands that lean is a strategy, not just “some manufacturing thing”and that it can apply to any business. He and I have discussed why is it sodifficult for most business leaders to understand this and to embrace lean.Unfortunately there is no simple answer to this other than the fact that mostpeople just don’t like to change and implementing lean is massive change(everything has to change) if you are to be successful. This latest edition ofGemba Kaizen goes a long way to helping to solve this problem. First of all,it lays out the lean philosophy and tools in a very simple way so thatexecutives should not only understand them but more importantly, not beafraid to try them. More importantly however, Imai makes the case thatlean is a strategy and that it can be applied to any business. His case studiesof non-manufacturing companies where lean has had a dramatic impactreally help to make the point. Every leader of any type of organizationshould read this book and follow what it says.

—Art Byrne, Operating Partner at J W Childs Associates, LP and author of The Lean Turnaround

Gemba Kaizen

About the Author

More than any other business authority in the world, Masaaki Imai haschampioned the concept of kaizen over the past three decades in thought,word, and action. Mr. Imai is considered one of the leaders of the qualitymovement and a pioneer of modern business operational excellence. Mr.Imai is an international lecturer, consultant, and founder of the KaizenInstitute, a leading continuous improvement consultancy with officesworldwide. Mr. Imai’s first book, Kaizen—translated into 14 languages—isthe reference on the subject. Gemba Kaizen picks up where Kaizen left off,introducing real-world application of continuous process improvementmethods in production and service businesses. The second edition is fullyrevised with brand-new case studies, updated chapters, and currentreferences. In 2010 Mr. Imai was honored for his lifetime of achievementwith the first ever Fellowship of the Quality Council of India, the apexquality body of the government of India.

Gemba Kaizen

A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy

Masaaki Imai

Second Edition

New York Chicago San Francisco Lisbon London Madrid Mexico City Milan New Delhi San Juan Seoul Singapore Sydney Toronto

Copyright © 2012, 1997 by the Kaizen Institute, Ltd. All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the United States Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permis-sion of the publisher.

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vii

CONTENTS

Preface . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xiiiAcknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xviiAbout Kaizen Institute. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix

CHAPTER 1 An Introduction to Kaizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Major Kaizen Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2Kaizen and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3Process versus Result . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Following the PDCA/SDCA Cycles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4Putting Quality First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6Speak with Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7The Next Process Is the Customer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Major Kaizen Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7Total Quality Control/Total Quality Management . . 8The Just- in-Time Production System . . . . . . . . . . . . 8Total Productive Maintenance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9Policy Deployment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9The Suggestion System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10Small -Group Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

The Ultimate Goal of Kaizen Strategy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

CHAPTER 2 Gemba Kaizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Gemba and Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14The House of Gemba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19Standardization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19The Five S (5S) of Good Housekeeping . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21Muda Elimination . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21The Golden Rules of Gemba Management . . . . . . . . . . 23

Go to the Gemba First . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24Check the Gembutsu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28Take Temporary Countermeasures on the Spot . . . 29

Find the Root Cause . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30Standardize to Prevent Recurrence . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31

Application of the Golden Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33

CHAPTER 3 Quality, Cost, and Delivery at the Gemba. . . . . . . 37

Quality: More Than Just a Result . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37Quality Management at the Gemba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40Cost Reduction at the Gemba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44

Improve Quality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Improving Productivity to Lower Costs . . . . . . . . . . 45Reduce Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45Shorten the Production Line . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Reduce Machine Downtime . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46Reduce Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47Reduce Lead Time (Throughput Time) . . . . . . . . . 47Role of the Gemba in Overall Cost Reduction . . . . 48

Delivery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48Quality Improvement and Cost Reduction

Are Compatible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

CHAPTER 4 Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Maintain and Improve Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51Operational Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53Key Features of Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54Toyoda Machine Works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57The Kaizen Story . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57The Toyota Business Practice: The Standard

Problem-Solving Story at Toyota . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58Kaizen and International Quality Standards . . . . . . . . . 61

CHAPTER 5 The 5S: The Five Steps of Workplace Organization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Good Housekeeping in Five Steps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 665S for the City: Civic Pride in Romania . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67A Detailed Look at the Five Steps of 5S . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Seiri (Sort) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

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Seiton (Straighten) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72Seiso (Scrub) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74Seiketsu (Systematize) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75Shitsuke (Standardize) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75

Introducing 5S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

CHAPTER 6 Muda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79

Muda of Overproduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80Muda of Inventory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Muda of Defects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82Muda of Motion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Muda of Processing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83Muda of Waiting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Muda of Transport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84Muda of Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Categorizing Muda in the Service Sector . . . . . . . . . . . . 87Muda, Mura, Muri . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Mura (Variation) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90Muri (Overburden) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

Removing Muda from Public-Sector Organizations . . . 91

CHAPTER 7 The Foundation of the House of Gemba . . . . . . . . 95

A Learning Enterprise . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96Suggestion System and Quality Circles . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99Building Self- Discipline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

CHAPTER 8 Visual Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

Making Problems Visible . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 103Staying in Touch with Reality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 104Visual Management in the Five Ms (5M) . . . . . . . . . . . 106

Manpower (Operators) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106Machines . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Materials . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Methods. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107Measurements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107

Visual Management to Manage Complexity . . . . . . . . 108

Contents | ix

Visual Management with 5S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109Posting Standards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110Setting Targets . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

CHAPTER 9 The Supervisors’ Roles in the Gemba . . . . . . . . . . 113

Training Within Industries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113Managing Input (Manpower, Materials,

and Machines) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117A Day in the Life of a Supervisor at Toyota

Motor Manufacturing Kentucky. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120Morning Market (Asaichi) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126Best- Line Quality- Assurance Certification . . . . . . . . . 130Defining Challenges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132Pseudo managerial Functions of Supervisors

in the Gemba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132

CHAPTER 10 Gemba Managers’ Roles and Accountability . . . 135Kaizen at Toyota Astra Motor Company

Role Manuals at TAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136TAM Group Leaders’ Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139TAM Foremen’s Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140TAM Supervisors’ Responsibilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140Items That Need to Be Managed in the Gemba . . . . . . 141

Group Leaders’ Daily Schedule of Activities: Examples from the TAM Manual . . . . . . . . . . . 142

Group Leaders’ Activities: Production, Cost, andQuality Examples from the TAM Manual . . . . 143

Foremen’s Activities: Cost -Reduction Examples from the TAM Manual . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145

Supervisors’ Activities: Personnel and TrainingExamples from the TAM Manual . . . . . . . . . . . 146

Section Managers’ Roles and Accountabilities:Examples from the TAM Manual . . . . . . . . . . . 148

The Conditions Necessary for Successfully DefiningRoles and Accountability at TAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148

Staff Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149On- the- Job Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

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Formal Classroom Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Voluntary Activities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150

The Identification of Potential Problems . . . . . . . . . . . 150Hiyari Reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150Training in the Anticipation of Problems . . . . . . . 151

The Benefits of Kaizen at Toyota Astra Motor Company. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151

CHAPTER 11 From Just- In- Time to Total Flow Management . 153

Just-In-Time at Aisin Seiki’s Anjo Plant . . . . . . . . . . . 154Takt Time versus Cycle Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 156Push Production versus Pull Production . . . . . . . . . . . 157Establishing Production Flow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158The Introduction of JIT at Aisin Seiki . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160

The First Step of Kaizen at Aisin Seiki . . . . . . . . . 161The Second Step of Kaizen at Aisin Seiki . . . . . . . 162

Spreading the Benefits of JIT to Other Industries . . . 163Total Flow Management. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164TFM Transformation in Company A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 167

CHAPTER 12 Just -In -Time at Wiremold . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 183

CHAPTER 13 The CEO’s Role in Kaizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 195

CHAPTER 14 Going to the Gemba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205Gemba Kaizen and Overall Corporate Kaizen

Two-Day Kaizen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 207Checklists as a Kaizen Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 210Gemba Kaizen Workshops . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 211

Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 217

Lessons from a 20-Year Kaizen Journey . . . . . . . . . . . . 219Changing the IT Culture at Achmea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 225Daily Kaizen at Tork Ledervin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 229Kaizen in Public Spaces: Transforming

Rome’s Airports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 233

Contents | xi

Sonae MC: The Silent Revolution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 239Surpassing Expectations through Kaizen at Embraco . . 249Kaizen at Oporto Hospital Centre:

Making Patient-Centric Care A Reality . . . . . . . . . . 261Kaizen Enables Innovation and Customer

Intimacy at Densho Engineering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269Kaizen Enables Innovation and Customer Intimacy . . 273Cutting Red Tape at a Public Utility: Enexis. . . . . . . . . 275People Power: Participation Makes the Difference

for Electrical Manufacturer in China . . . . . . . . . . . . 279Rossimoda: Kaizen and Creative Product

Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 283Finsa Uses Kaizen to Emerge Stronger from a Crisis . . 293Innovating with Kaizen at Group Health . . . . . . . . . . . 301Kaizen Helps Caetano Bus Deliver on Schedule. . . . . . 307Kenyan Flour Producer Uses Kaizen to Increase

Capacity, Improve Efficiency . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313Kaizen as the Foundation for Innovation at Medlog . . 317Growing with Kaizen at Supremia. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 323Exceeding Customer Expectations at

Walt Disney World . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329Kaizen Experience at Alpargatas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 335Transforming a Corporate Culture: Excel’s

Organization for Employee Empowerment . . . . . . 345Quality in a Medical Context: Inoue Hospital . . . . . . 353The Journey to Kaizen at Leyland Trucks . . . . . . . . . . 359Tightening Logistics at Matarazzo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 369Stamping Out Muda at Sunclipse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373Housekeeping, Self- Discipline, and Standards:

Tokai Shin ei Electronics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 381Solving Quality Problems in the Gemba:

Safety at Tres Cruces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389

Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 407

Worldwide Contact Information for Kaizen Institute Consulting Group . . . . . . . . . . . . 423

xii | Contents

xiii

PREFACE

My two books, Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success (McGraw -Hill, 1986) and Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low-Cost Approach toManagement (McGraw-Hill, 1997) laid the foundation for exploration ofkaizen as both a personal philosophy and business improvement system forpeople outside of Japan. Initially grasped as a set of methods such as totalquality control, total productive maintenance, just- in- time management,quality circles, and suggestion systems, the West is ever closer to under -standing kaizen for what it truly is: a strategy to win by developing peopleinto problem solvers.

The second edition of Gemba Kaizen reveals how kaizen has spread toevery continent and culture, met with various unique challenges anddemonstrated its success. Gemba means “actual place” or “workplace” inJapanese, and this book gives you a look into more than thirty actual placeswhere kaizen was successfully made a part of the culture. The book explainshow to use a commonsense, low -cost approach to managing the work -place—the place where value is added—whether that place be the produc -tion line, hospital, government department, shopping center, airport, orengineering firm. This is not a book of theory, but a book of action. Itsultimate message is that no matter how much knowledge the reader maygain, it is of no use if it is not put into practice daily. Gemba Kaizen providesnot more theoreti cal knowledge, but a simple frame of reference to use insolv ing problems. To that purpose, it provides many checklists, examples,and case studies.

The Commonsense, Low- Cost Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy

Today’s managers often try to apply sophisticated tools and technologies todeal with problems that can be solved with a commonsense, low- costapproach. They need to unlearn the habit of trying ever more sophisticatedtechnologies to solve everyday problems. Furthermore, leaders must

xiv | Preface

embrace kaizen and business excellence not as a tool or technique but as anever-finished pillar of their strategy.

Putting common sense into practice is the subject of this book. It is foreverybody: managers, engineers, supervisors, and rank and file employees.Along with putting common sense into practice, Gemba Kaizen deals withthe roles of managers and the need to develop a learning organization. Ibelieve that one of the roles of top management should be to challenge allmanagers to attain ever higher goals. In turn, first-line supervisors need tochallenge workers to do a better job all the time. Unfortunately, manymanagers today have long ceased to play such a role.

Another problem besetting most companies today is the tendency toplace too much emphasis on teaching knowledge, while disregarding grouplearning of fundamental values derived from common sense, self- discipline,order, and econo my. Good management should strive to lead the companyto learn these values while achieving “lean management.”

There are two approaches to problem solving. The first involvesinnovation—applying the latest high -cost technology, such as state- of- the- art computers and other tools, and investing a great deal of money. Thesecond uses commonsense tools, checklists, and techniques that do not costmuch money. This approach is called kaizen. Kaizen involves everybody—starting with the CEO in the organization—planning and working togetherfor success. This book will show how kaizen can achieve significant improve -ment as an essential building block that prepares the company for trulyrewarding accomplishments.

Back to Basics: Housekeeping, Muda Elimination, and Standardization

During the past 27 years since Kaizen was first published, many have lookedfor and asked “what is next?” but many times they are overlooking what isdirectly in front of them. We must go back to the basics and ask how wellwe have kept a steady, long-term focus on kaizen. Everyone in the companymust work together to follow three ground rules for practicing kaizen inthe gemba:

▲ Housekeeping ▲ Muda elimination

Preface | xv

▲ Standardization

Housekeeping is an indispensable ingredient of good man agement.Through good housekeeping, employees acquire and practice self -discipline.Employees without self-discipline make it impossible to provide productsor services of good quality to the customer.

In Japanese, the word muda means waste. Any activity that does notadd value is muda. People in the gemba either add value or do not add value.This is also true for other resources, such as machines and materials.Suppose a company’s employees are adding nine parts muda for every onepart value. Their productivity can be doubled by reducing muda to eightparts and increasing the added value to two parts. Muda elimination canbe the most cost-effective way to improve productivity and reduce operatingcosts. Kaizen emphasizes the elimination of muda in the gemba rather thanthe increasing of investment in the hope of adding value.

A simple example illustrates the cost benefits of kaizen. Suppose thatoperators assembling a household appliance are standing in front of theirworkstations to put certain parts into the main unit. The parts for assemblyare kept in a large con tainer behind the operators. The action of turningaround to pick up a part takes an operator five seconds, while actualassembly time is only two seconds.

Now let’s assume the parts are placed in front of the oper ator. Theoperator simply extends his or her arms forward to pick up a part—anaction that takes only a second. The opera tors can use the time saved toconcentrate on the (value- adding) assembly. A simple change in the locationof the parts—eliminating the muda involved in the action of reach ingbehind—has yielded a four -second time gain that trans lates into a three foldincrease in productivity!

Such small improvements in many processes gradually accumulate,leading to significant quality improvement, cost benefits, and productivityimprovements. Applying such an approach throughout all managementactivities, especially at top management levels, gradually achieves a just -in -time, lean management system by teaching people the skills to see their workin a new way and by teaching them the skills to change how they work. Bycontrast, management primarily focused on innovation and breakthroughsmight be inclined to buy software, equipment or capabilities that wouldenable the organization to perform their work much faster. But this wouldnot elimi nate the muda inherent in the current system. Furthermore,

investing in the new device or capability costs money, while eliminatingmuda costs nothing. We must innovate, but on a foundation of kaizen. Thecase study from Densho Engineering and others in this book reveal howthis is done.

The third ground rule of kaizen practices in the gemba is stan -dardization. Standards may be defined as the best way to do the job. Forproducts or services created as a result of a series of processes, a certainstandard must be maintained at each process in order to assure quality.Maintaining standards is a way of assuring quality at each process andpreventing the recurrence of errors.

As a general rule of thumb, introducing good housekeep ing in thegemba reduces the failure rate by 50 percent, and stan dardization furtherreduces the failure rate by 50 percent of the new figure. Yet many managerselect to introduce statisti cal process control and control charts in the gembawithout mak ing efforts to clean house, eliminate muda, or standardize.

Supporting these rules of kaizen is the foundation of the house ofgemba—namely, the use of such human-centered activ ities as learningtogether, teamwork, morale enhancement, self -discipline, quality circles,and suggestions. These are all methods not only for generating improve -ments in safety, quality and cost, but positive means to kaizen and developour people.

Management (especially Western management) must regain the powerof common sense and start applying it in the gemba. These low- costpractices will provide management with the opportunity for a future phaseof rapid growth via innovation—something Western management excelsat. When Western management combines kaizen with its innovativeingenuity, it will greatly improve its competitive strength.

MASAAKI IMAI

Tokyo

xvi | Preface

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The first edition of Gemba Kaizen was born out of 10 years of teachingkaizen, following the publication of my book Kaizen: The Key to Japan’sCompetitive Success in 1986. The second edition of Gemba Kaizen comes 15years after the original publication, and much has changed in the world. Ihave been fortunate to see the transforming effect of kaizen on people andorganizations worldwide over the past three decades.

I wish to recognize and thank everyone who has taken up kaizen. Themany cases and explanations of kaizen which are documented in this secondedition are the fruits of the many workers, engineers, administrators, nurses,officials, managers and professionals who practice continuous improvementand were engaged in gemba kaizen at our clients’ sites around the world.This book is truly a result of teamwork, collaboration and the kaizen spiritat work.

I would like to thank those people who assisted in writing the cases inthe first edition of this book. They include Kevin Meyer of SpecialtySilicone, and Arthur Byrne of J.W. Childs, Inc., Iwao Sumoge of DenshoEngineering, Joao-Paulo Oliveira of Bosch, Natacha Muro and FernandoColetti of La Buenos Aires, Nestor Herrerra of Molinos Rio de la Plata, GaryBuchanan and Valerie Oberle of Disney University, Darla Hastings ofQuality Inc., Shoji Shiratori of Aisin Seiki, and Yutaka Mori of ToyodaAutomatic Loom Works as well as Yoshikazu Sano and Katsuo Inoue ofToyoda Machine Works.

Besides those whose names appear in the book, I am particu larlyindebted to Professor Zenjiro Sawada at Kurume University, who gave methe inspiration for the House of Gemba Management through his bookVisual Control of Factory Management (published in English in 1991 fromNikkan Kogyo Shinbun); Ichiro Majima, Dean of Faculty of BusinessAdministration of Miyazaki Sangyo Keiei University, who provid ed muchvaluable information in writing this book; Kaizen con sultants KenjiTakahashi, Yukio Kakiuchi, and many others who worked together with usin giving many gemba kaizen sessions at the clients’ sites around the world.

xvii

Once again I am deeply indebted to my colleagues at the KaizenInstitute since their work has made it possible to advance the ideas frommy books into actual practice. I would like to thank those who led the effortsto document their experiences and the stories of our customers, includingAntonio Costa, Daniel Simoes, Vinod Grover, Sebastian Reimer, JayanthMurthy, Bruno Fabiano, David Lu, Mike Wroblewski, Julien Bratu, JeffersonEscobar, Aakash Borse, Chris Schrandt, John Verhees, Wijbrand Medendorp,Brad Schmidt, Ruy Cortez, Alexandra Caramalho, and Euclides Coimbra. Iwould like to thank Jon Miller for managing this book project.

I must thank Jacob Stoller of StollerStrategies for bringing his editorial,journalistic, and creative skills, which were essential to the successfulcompletion of this project.

I wish to thank my wife Noriko for her patience and for accompanyingme on my travels around the world; also to those who assisted in the makingof this book, in particular Patty Wallenburg of TypeWriting for the compo -si tion, and from McGraw-Hill, Pamela Pelton and David Fogarty for theproduction, and Judy Bass, who provided the spark for making the secondedition of this book a reality.

xviii | Acknowledgments

xix

ABOUT KAIZEN INSTITUTE

Founded by Masaaki Imai in 1985, Kaizen Institute is the pioneer and globalleader in promoting the spirit and practice of kaizen. Its global team ofprofessionals is dedicated to building a world where it is possible for every -one, everywhere, every day is able to “kaizen it.”

Kaizen Institute guides organizations (public and private) to achievehigher levels of performance in the global marketplace—easier, faster, better,and with lower costs. Kaizen Institute experts challenge clients to helpdevelop leaders capable of sustaining continuous improvement in all aspectsof their enterprise, which ultimately leads into Kaizen Institute’s vision ofa worldwide community of practice in kaizen.

Major services of Kaizen Institute, include, but are not limited to:

▲ Consulting and Implementation▼ Partnering with clients for long-term kaizen implementation▼ Operating system design and deployment▼ Breakthrough projects and turnarounds

▲ Education, Training, and Events▼ Business training, academic, and online training curriculum design▼ Kaizen practitioner, coach, and manager level certification▼ On/off-site training, workshops, seminars, corporate events, and

leadership sessions▲ Tours and Benchmarking

▼ “Kaikaku” benchmark to best-in-class organizations in Japan andaround the world

▼ Building peer-to-peer learning and tour exchange network

Visit www.kaizen.com to learn more about kaizen and the world-changing purpose of Kaizen Institute.

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Gemba Kaizen

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1

CHAPTER ONE

An Introduction to Kaizen

Since 1986 when the book Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Successwas published, the term kaizen has come to be accepted as one of the keyconcepts of management. In the first decade of the twenty-first century asthe Toyota Motor Company surpassed General Motors to become the topautomotive manufacturer in the world, awareness of the vital differenceplayed by kaizen in Toyota’s success also increased.

Today, organizations worldwide from manufacturers, to hospitals, tobanks, to software developers, to governments are making a difference byadopting kaizen philosophies, mind-sets, and methodologies. Even thoughthe names of these strategies may change over the decades from continuousquality improvement and total quality management, to just-in-time andoperational excellence, to six sigma and lean manufacturing, the mostsuccessful of these strategies are customer-focused, gemba-oriented, andkaizen-driven.

The 1993 edition of the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionaryrecognized the word kaizen* as an English word. The dictionary defineskaizen as “continuous improvement of working practices, personal effi -ciency, etc., as a business philosophy.” Readers who are unfamiliar withkaizen may find it helpful to begin with a brief summary of the concepts ofkaizen. For those who are already familiar with kaizen, this chapter mayserve as a review.

In Japanese, kaizen means “continuous improvement.” The word impliesimprovement that involves everyone—both man agers and workers—andentails relatively little expense. The kaizen philosophy assumes that our way

*Kaizen Institute AG has exclusive right to the use of kaizen®, as well as gemba kaizen®, astrademarks registered in major countries of the world.

2 | Chapter 1 An Introduction to Kaizen

of life—be it our work ing life, our social life, or our home life—should focuson con stant improvement efforts. This concept is so natural and obvi ous tomany Japanese that they don’t even realize they possess it! In my opinion,kaizen has contributed greatly to Japan’s competitive success.

Although improvements under kaizen are small and incre mental, thekaizen process brings about dramatic results over time. The kaizen conceptexplains why companies cannot remain static for long in Japan. Westernmanagement, mean while, worships innovation: major changes in the wakeof tech nological breakthroughs and the latest management concepts orproduction techniques. Innovation is dramatic, a real attention-getter.Kaizen, on the other hand, is often undramatic and subtle. But innovationis one- shot, and its results are often prob lematic, whereas the kaizenprocess, based on commonsense and low -cost approaches, ensuresincremental progress that pays off in the long run. Kaizen is also a low- riskapproach. Managers always can go back to the old way without incurringlarge costs.

Most “uniquely Japanese” management practices, such as total qualitycontrol (TQC) or companywide quality control and quality circles, and ourstyle of labor relations can be reduced to one word: kaizen. Using the termkaizen in place of such buzzwords as productivity, total quality control(TQC), zero defects (ZDs), just- in- time (JIT), and the suggestion systempaints a clearer picture of what has been going on in Japanese industry.Kaizen is an umbrella concept for all these practices. However, I has ten toadd that these practices are not necessarily confined to Japanesemanagement but rather should be regarded as sound principles to beapplied by managers everywhere. By following the right steps and applyingthe processes properly, any compa ny, no matter what its nationality, canbenefit from kaizen. The widespread acceptance of kaizen into managementthinking, including the successes of Kaizen Institute clients in more than50 countries, bears this out.

Major Kaizen Concepts

Management must learn to implement certain basic concepts and systemsin order to realize kaizen strategy:

▲ Kaizen and management ▲ Process versus result

Major Kaizen Concepts | 3

▲ Following the plan- do-check-act (PDCA)/standardize-do-check-act(SDCA) cycles

▲ Putting quality first ▲ Speak with data. ▲ The next process is the customer.

By way of introduction, top management must put forth a very carefuland very clear policy statement. It then must establish an implementationschedule and demonstrate lead ership by practicing a kaizen procedurewithin its own ranks.

Kaizen and Management

In the context of kaizen, management has two major functions: mainten -ance and improvement (see Figure 1.1). Maintenance refers to activitiesdirected toward maintaining current techno logical, managerial, andoperating standards and upholding such standards through training anddiscipline. Under its maintenance function, management performs itsassigned tasks so that everybody can follow standard operating proce dures(SOPs). Improvement, meanwhile, refers to activities directed towardelevating current standards. The Japanese view of management thus boilsdown to one precept: Maintain and improve standards.

As Figure 1. 2 shows, improvement can be classified as either kaizen orinnovation. Kaizen signifies small improve ments as a result of ongoingefforts. Innovation involves a drastic improvement as a result of a largeinvestment of resources in new technology or equipment. (Whenevermoney is a key fac tor, innovation is expensive.) Because of their fascination

Figure 1.1 Japanese perceptions of job functions.

Improvement

Maintenance

Top management

Middle management

Supervisors

Workers

4 | Chapter 1 An Introduction to Kaizen

with innovation, Western managers tend to be impatient and over look thelong -term benefits kaizen can bring to a company. Kaizen, on the otherhand, emphasizes human efforts, morale, communication, training,teamwork, involvement, and self -dis cipline—a commonsense, low- costapproach to improvement.

Process versus Result

Kaizen fosters process- oriented thinking because processes must beimproved for results to improve. Failure to achieve planned results indicatesa failure in the process. Management must identify and correct suchprocess- based errors. Kaizen focuses on human efforts—an orientation thatcontrasts sharply with the results- based thinking in the West.

A process-oriented approach also should be applied in the intro -duction of the various kaizen strategies: the plan- do-check-act (PDCA)cycle; the standardize-do-check-act (SDCA) cycle; quality, cost, anddelivery (QCD); total quality manage ment (TQM); just-in-time (JIT); andtotal productive maintenance (TPM). Kaizen strategies have failed manycompanies simply because they ignored process. The most crucial elementin the kaizen pro cess is the commitment and involvement of top man -agement. It must be demonstrated immediately and consistent ly to ensuresuccess in the kaizen process.

Following the PDCA/SDCA Cycles

The first step in the kaizen process establishes the plan- do- check-act (PDCA)cycle as a vehicle that ensures the continu ity of kaizen in pursuing a policy

Figure 1.2 Improvement broken down into innovation and kaizen.

Kaizen

Maintenance

InnovationTop management

Middle management

Supervisors

Workers

of maintaining and improving standards. It is one of the most importantconcepts of the process (see Figure 1. 3).

Plan refers to establishing a target for improvement (since kaizen is away of life, there always should be a target for improvement in any area)and devising action plans to achieve that target. Do refers to implementingthe plan. Check refers to determining whether the implementation remainson track and has brought about the planned improvement. Act refers toperforming and standardizing the new procedures to prevent recurrence ofthe original problem or to set goals for the new improvements. The PDCAcycle revolves continuously; no sooner is an improvement made than theresulting status quo becomes the target for further improvement. PDCAmeans never being satisfied with the status quo. Because employees preferthe status quo and frequently do not have initiative to improve conditions,management must initiate PDCA by establishing continuously challenginggoals.

In the beginning, any new work process is unstable. Before one startsworking on PDCA, any current process must be sta bilized in a process oftenreferred to as the standardize- do- check- act (SDCA) cycle (see Figure 1. 4).

Every time an abnormality occurs in the current process, the followingquestions must be asked: Did it happen because we did not have a standard?

Major Kaizen Concepts | 5

Figure 1. 3 The plan- do- check- act (PDCA) cycle.

Improvement

A P

C D

Plan

Do

Act

Check

Did it happen because the stan dard was not followed? Or did it happenbecause the standard was not adequate? Only after a standard has beenestablished and followed, stabilizing the current process, should one moveon to the PDCA cycle.

Thus the SDCA cycle standardizes and stabilizes the current process es,whereas the PDCA cycle improves them. SDCA refers to maintenance, andPDCA refers to improvement; these become the two major responsibilitiesof management.

Putting Quality First

Of the primary goals of quality, cost, and delivery (QCD), quality alwaysshould have the highest priority. No matter how attrac tive the price anddelivery terms offered to a customer, the company will not be able tocompete if the product or service lacks quality. Practicing a quality -firstcredo requires manage ment commitment because managers often face thetempta tion to make compromises in meeting delivery requirements orcutting costs. In so doing, they risk sacrificing not only quality but also thelife of the business.

6 | Chapter 1 An Introduction to Kaizen

Figure 1 .4 The standardize- do- check- act (SDCA) cycle.

Maintenance

A S

C D

Standardize

Do

Act

Check

Speak with Data

Kaizen is a problem -solving process. In order for a problem to be correctlyunderstood and solved, the problem must be recog nized and the relevantdata gathered and analyzed. Trying to solve a problem without hard data isakin to resorting to hunch es and feelings—not a very scientific or objectiveapproach. Collecting data on the current status helps you to understandwhere you are now focusing; this serves as a starting point for improvement.Collecting, verifying, and analyzing data for improvement is a theme thatrecurs throughout this book.

The Next Process Is the Customer

All work is a series of processes, and each process has its sup plier as well asits customer. A material or a piece of informa tion provided by process A(supplier) is worked on and improved in process B and then sent on toprocess C. The next process always should be regarded as a customer. Theaxiom “the next process is the customer” refers to two types of customers:internal (within the company) and external (out in the market).

Most people working in an organization deal with internal customers.This realization should lead to a commitment never to pass on defectiveparts or inaccurate pieces of information to those in the next process. Wheneverybody in the organiza tion practices this axiom, the external customerin the market receives a high -quality product or service as a result. A realquality- assurance system means that everybody in the organiza tionsubscribes to and practices this axiom.

Major Kaizen Systems

The following are major systems that should be in place in order tosuccessfully achieve a kaizen strategy:

▲ Total quality control (TQC)/total quality management (TQM)▲ A just -in- time (JIT) production system (Toyota Production System) ▲ Total productive maintenance (TPM)▲ Policy deployment ▲ A suggestion system ▲ Small -group activities

Major Kaizen Systems | 7

Total Quality Control/Total Quality Management

One of the principles of Japanese management has been total qualitycontrol (TQC), which, in its early development, empha sized control of thequality process. This has evolved into a sys tem encompassing all aspects ofmanagement and is now referred to as total quality management (TQM), aterm used internationally.

Regarding the TQC/TQM movement as a part of kaizen strategy givesus a clearer understanding of the Japanese approach. Japanese TQC/TQMshould not be regarded strictly as a quality-control activity; TQC/TQM hasbeen developed as a strategy to aid management in becoming morecompetitive and profitable by helping it to improve in all aspects of busi ness.In TQC/TQM, Q, meaning “quality,” has priority, but there are other goals,too—namely, cost and delivery.

The T in TQC/TQM signifies “total,” meaning that it involves everybodyin the organization, from top management through middle managers,supervisors, and shop-floor workers. It fur ther extends to suppliers, dealers,and wholesalers. The T also refers to top management’s leadership andperformance—so essential for successful implementation of TQC/TQM.

The C refers to “control” or “process control.” In TQC/TQM, keyprocesses must be identified, controlled, and improved on continuously inorder to improve results. Management’s role in TQC/TQM is to set up aplan to check the process against the result in order to improve the process,not to criticize the process on the basis of the result.

TQC/TQM in Japan encompasses such activities as policy deployment,building quality-assurance systems, standardization, training and education,cost management, and quality circles.

The Just- in-Time Production System

Originating at Toyota Motor Company under the leadership of TaiichiOhno, the just- in- time (JIT) production system aims at eliminating non- value- adding activities of all kinds and achiev ing a lean production systemthat is flexible enough to accommodate fluctuations in customer orders.This production system is supported by such concepts as takt time (the timeit takes to produce one unit) versus cycle time, one -piece flow, pull pro -duction, jidoka (“autonomation”), U-shaped cells, and setup reduction.

8 | Chapter 1 An Introduction to Kaizen

To realize the ideal JIT production system, a series of kaizen activitiesmust be carried out continuously to elimi nate non-value- adding work ingemba. JIT dramatically reduces cost, delivers the product in time, andgreatly enhances compa ny profits.

Total Productive Maintenance

An increasing number of manufacturing companies now prac tice totalproductive maintenance (TPM) within as well as outside of Japan. WhereasTQM emphasizes improving overall management performance and quality,TPM focuses on improving equipment quality. TPM seeks to maximizeequip ment efficiency through a total system of preventive mainte nancespanning the lifetime of the equipment.

Just as TQM involves everybody in the company, TPM involves every -body at the plant. The five S of housekeeping (discussed in Chapter 5),another pivotal activity in gemba, may be regarded as a prelude to TPM.However, 5 S activi ties have registered remarkable achievements in manycases even when carried out separately from TPM.

Policy Deployment

Although kaizen strategy aims at making improvements, its impact may belimited if everybody is engaged in kaizen for kaizen’s sake without any aim.Management should establish clear targets to guide everyone and makecertain to provide leadership for all kaizen activities directed towardachieving the targets. Real kaizen strategy at work requires closely supervisedimplementation. This process is called Policy Deployment, or in Japanese,hoshin kanri.

First, top management must devise a long- term strategy, broken downinto medium- term and annual strategies. Top management must have aplan-to-deploy strategy, passing it down through subsequent levels ofmanagement until it reaches the shop floor. As the strategy cascades downto the lower echelons, the plan should include increasingly specific actionplans and activities. For instance, a policy statement along the lines of “Wemust reduce our cost by 10 percent to stay competitive” may be translatedon the shop floor to such activities as increasing productivity, reducinginventory and rejects, and improving line configurations.

Major Kaizen Systems | 9

Kaizen without a target would resemble a trip without a destination.Kaizen is most effective when everybody works to achieve a target, andmanagement should set that target.

The Suggestion System

The suggestion system functions as an integral part of individ ual-orientedkaizen and emphasizes the morale- boosting bene fits of positive employeeparticipation. Japanese managers see its primary role as that of sparkingemployee interest in kaizen by encouraging them to provide manysuggestions, no matter how small. Japanese employees are often encouragedto discuss their suggestions verbally with supervisors and put them intoaction right away, even before submitting suggestion forms. They do notexpect to reap great economic benefits from each suggestion. Developingkaizen -minded and self-disciplined employees is the primary goal. Thisoutlook contrasts sharply with that of Western management’s emphasis onthe economic benefits and financial incentives of suggestion systems.

Small -Group Activities

A kaizen strategy includes small -group activities—informal, voluntary,intracompany groups organized to carry out specific tasks in a workshopenvironment. The most popular type of small- group activity is qualitycircles. Designed to address not only quality issues but also such issues ascost, safety, and pro ductivity, quality circles may be regarded as group- oriented kaizen activities. Quality circles have played an important part inimproving product quality and productivity in Japan. However, their roleoften has been blown out of proportion by overseas observers, who believethat these groups are the mainstay of quality activities in Japan.Management plays a leading role in realizing quality—in ways that includebuilding quality-assurance systems, providing employee training, estab -lishing and deploying policies, and building cross -functional systems forQCD. Successful quality-circle activities indicate that management plays aninvisible but vital role in supporting such activities.

10 | Chapter 1 An Introduction to Kaizen

The Ultimate Goal of Kaizen Strategy

Since kaizen deals with improvement, we must know which aspects ofbusiness activities need to be improved most. And the answer to thisquestion is quality, cost, and delivery (QCD). My previous book, Kaizen:The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success, used the term quality, cost, andscheduling (QCS). Since that time, QCD has replaced QCS as the commonlyaccepted terminology.

Quality refers not only to the quality of finished products or services butalso to the quality of the processes that go into those products or services.Cost refers to the overall cost of designing, producing, selling, and servicingthe product or ser vice. Delivery means delivering the requested volume ontime. When the three conditions defined by the term QCD are met,customers are satisfied.

QCD activities bridge such functional and departmental lines asresearch and development, engineering, production, sales, and after-salesservice. Therefore, cross -functional col laborations are necessary, as arecollabo rations with suppliers and dealers. It is top management’s responsi -bility to review the current position of the company’s QCD in the market -place and to establish priorities for its QCD improvement policy.

Following the chapters of this book, I have assembled a number of casesthat illustrate how various companies from both manufacturing and servicesectors have implemented the concepts and systems of gemba kaizen.

The Ultimate Goal of Kaizen Strategy | 11

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