Kaizen

6 steps (loop)

1)Discover Improvement Potential 2)Analyze Current Methods 3)Generate Original Ideas 4)Develop implementation plan 5)implement 6)Evaluation new Methods

Note : (4) should be left out and become "just do it" most of the time.

Discover Improvement Potential

7 types of waste :

• Overproduction (too much or too soon)
• Excess Motion (any motion that doesnt add value)
• Scrap & Rework (any repair, scrap, or rework)
• Overprocessing (overprocessing beyond requirement)
• Conveyance (Any nonessential transport beyond minimum required)
• Excess Inventory (Any more than the minimum required)
• Excess Wait Time (Waiting on parts or waiting for a machine to finish etc)

Analyze

Ex: breakdown sheets, note time, action, comment and ideas while performing a task or watching someone.

Idea generation

Creativity killers:

• Force of habit : resistance & fear of change
• Preconceptions : predict the outcome, often based on outdated data
• Common Sense : for example with kanban we can achieve more tasks with less effort, which is counter intuitive
• Not Invented Here Syndrome : the need to find a homemade solution
• Emotion : negative thinking, fear of change...

Creativity Advices:

• Separate Idea Generation and Judgment : to prevent killing an idea early
• Quantity over quality
• Think outside the box, from different perspective
• Combine ideas with others
• Review previous Analysis
• Synthesis Ideas

Brainstorming Rules :

• No criticizing or judgment during idea generation
• Speak freely
• Seek quantity
• Think together

Planification and implementation

In most case, just do it.

Evaluate the new method

Ensure an actual improvement happened, compare before/after, preferably with data. Do a presentation/showcase to co-workers with Q&A session.