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LESSON 9:APPROACHES TO QUALITY-KAIZEN

Good Morning students, today we are going to introduce theconcept of kaizen.

Introduction to Kaizen

Another key aspect of KAIZEN is that it is an on-going, never-ending improvement process. As the reader may already know,it is not too difficult to introduce something new into anorganization. The difficult part is, how to keep it going andmaintain the momentum once it has been introduced. Manycompanies have tried to introduce such projects as quality circles,reengineering, and lean production. While some of them havebeen successful, most have failed to make such a project a goingconcern. For instance, many Western companies introducedquality circles by involving employees but most companies havesimply given up the idea of quality circle activities by now. Thishappened because management failed to build internalinfrastructures, systems and procedures that would assure thecontinuing of quality circle activities. This has happened becausemost Western companies lacked the concept of KAIZEN. Inthis lesson , various aspects of KAIZEN will be explained.

Kaizen and PeopleThe true nature of Kaizen is in the human content it carries.Improvement through Kaizen practice means deep, systematicand continuous involvement of people (everybody), that, byusing certain techniques, but mainly their brain, cause a processof improvement to start, develop, and never end. The Kaizenmotto is “....today better than yesterday, tomorrow better thantoday....”. The concept of continuous improvement is appliedin all directions: industrial processes can be improved - workingmethods can be improved - quality defects can be eliminated -waste can be reduced - customer service can be bettered - theworking environment can be improved - boss/subordinatesrelationship can be improved..... the sky is the limit.Now, improvements in industry can be obtained in many ways:new technology can bring improvement to a process or toproducts’ quality - technology can also bring improvements inproductivity and in efficiency - it can also bring improvementsto customer service - external consultants can bring improve-ments to working methods, to processes, to interpersonalrelations. But these types of improvements do not fall underthe Kaizen umbrella. Kaizen is improvement through the poorman approach: the poor man does not spend money onimprovements because he has no money to throw at it - herather uses his wisdom, and his brain, and his creativity, and histalent, and his patience....

Kaizen And Innovation

A Chinese Man said Saying as Follows“ When a man has not seen his friend for three days, he shouldhave a good look at his friend with widely opened eyes to seewhat kind of changes have happened.”Probably, this saying represents a Chinese way of describingtheir belief in continuous improvements. In the West, on theother hand, managers worship at the altar of innovation.Innovation means to make improvements by investing a largesum of money in equipment, or introducing a latest technologyto make a big change. While KAIZEN subscribes to a gradualimprovement, innovation subscribes to a big revolutionarychange. Some may wish to call it a “big bang” philosophy.Kaizen InnovationJapan Strong WeakWest Weak Strong

KAIZEN Innovation

1. Effect Long-term and long-lasting but undramatic Short-term but dramatic

2. Pace Small steps Big steps

3. Timeframe Continuous and incremental Intermittent and non-incremental

4. Change Gradual and constant Abrupt and volatile

5. Involvement

Everybody Select few “champions”

6. Approach Collectivism, group efforts, systems approach

Rugged individualism, individual ideas and efforts

7. Mode Maintenance and improvement Scrap and rebuild

8. Spark Conventional know-how and state of the art

Technological break -throughs, new inventions, new theories

9. Practical requirements

Requires little investment but great effort to maintain it

Requires large investment but little effort to maintain it

10. Effort orientation

People Technology

11. Evaluation criteria

Process and efforts for better results Results for profits

12. Advantage Works well in slow-growth economy Better suited to fast -growth economy

Innovation KAIZEN

Creativity

Individualism

Specialist-oriented

Attention to great leaps

Technology-oriented

Information: closed, proprietary

Functional (specialist) orientation

Seek new technology

Line + staff

Limited feedback

Adaptability

Teamwork (systems approach)

Generalist-oriented

Attention to details

people-oriented

Information: open, sha red

Cross-functional orientation

Build on existing technology

Cross-functional organization

Comprehensive feedback

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Figure above shows a difference between KAIZEN andinnovation. While KAIZEN comes in small steps, innovationcomes in big steps. KAIZEN subscribes to conventionalknow-how and common sense, while innovation pursuestechnological breakthroughs.KAIZEN is effort-based, whileinnovation is investment-based. In KAIZEN, we constantlyreview the process to see if the desired result is obtained, whileinnovation looks for the result only.The following story is a good illustration of the two differentapproaches betweenKAIZEN and innovation.Recently, our KAIZEN consultant in Germany reported thatthe plant manger at one of his clients was about to buyadditional machines to handle an increase in business. At theconsultant’s advice, he collected data on the usage of themachines and found that they were actually used only 38% ofthe time. Therefore, consultant advised the manager tointroduce various KAIZEN projects, such as better mainte-nance, setup time reduction and quality improvements. As aresult, company saved 15 million Deutsche marks and yetwas able to meet the increased orders.Innovation-mindedmanagers tend to resort to buying new machines, hiring morepeople, or introducing new technologies when businessprospects are bright. However, whenever management wishesto buy more machines, whenever management wishes to hiremore people, whenever management needs more budget – thatis the best time to do KAIZEN. In today’s stagnant businessenvironment, KAIZEN may be a more desirable alternativethan innovation.A popular phrase often heard in Japan is: “If you have nomoney, use your brain. If you have no brain, sweat it out!”

Kaizen ToolsFollowing tools are used for kaizen:

(Some) Tools of Kaizen

Numerical and text based descriptions of quality control issues

7 Old & New Quality tools

Educate staff to allow them to improve their own areas Workstation improvement

Root cause problem solving 5 Whys

Determine value adding activities from non-value adding ones

Value Stream Mapping

Celebrate the success of your teams Success Stories

Distinct classifications of waste found on the shop floor or office.

7 Wastes

Set the scene for Continuous Improvements, de-clutter the work place & raise morale

5S

Sequence of activities that show/discover what is going on.PDCA or Story Boards

What is 5s, and why do we want to do it?5S represents 5 disciplines for maintaining a visual workplace.These are foundational to Kaizen and a manufacturing strategybased “Lean Manufacturing” concepts. 5S is the starting pointfor improvement activities that ensure our company’s survival.The 5 disciplines are:1. Sort: Remove all items from the workplace that are notneeded for current operations. Leave only the bare essentials.• Targets excess inventory, obsolete items, quality defects,

unneeded tools/equipment• Will use red tags, local and central red tag holding areas;

Account for discarded items• Take before and after pictures2. Set in Order: Arrange needed items so that they are easy tofind, use and put away.• Consider motion economy• Use painting, outlining and signboard strategies, Visual 5S3. Shine: Sweeping, wiping-off equipment, painting andassuring everything stays clean.• Create 5S schedules for painting• Must create cleaning inspection checklists• Create current and future shine targets4. Standardize: Method to maintain the first 3 disciplines(sort, set-in-order, shine)• Prevention steps for clutter-suspension, incorporation,

elimination• Integrate 3S duties into regular work with 5S job cycle

charts, 5 minute 5S, visual 5S activities5. Sustain: A top-down support of the ongoing 5S process.• Must create the conditions to support 5S• Allocate time• Create awareness• Provide a structure

To Sort Eliminate what’s not absolutely necessary

To Sanitize Improvement of the workstation. Be organized to reduce clutter.

To Straighten Ensure space for each thing, and a thing for each space. No more searching.

To Sweep Maintain a clean and orderly space to make problems easily identifiable. Eliminate rejects and scrap..

To Sustain Maintain continuous effort. This is a way of life.

The 5 S

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• Show support

• Offer rewards and recognition• Encourage training/participation

What are the 7 Wastes?

These wastes are...Defects.- Quality defects originate rework, scrap and lost rawmaterials. If these defects go all the way to the customer, theloss will be even greater. To avoid this, we move from thetraditional and obsolete “Quality Control” still in use in somefacilities, to the innovative “Quality at the Source” (Jidoka)concept. Here, each member of the organization is empoweredand will make sure that no faulty products leave or arrive at theirwork-stations. This is supported with ingenious “MistakeProofing” (Poka-Yoke) devices.Waiting.- Caused mainly by low reliability and/or availability ofthe equipment, lack of stock or poor scheduling. Here we haveseveral tools, strategies and disciplines that will prevent this typeof loss. Analyzing your process, we will be able to proposecost-effective improvements, from simple relocations or re-mapping to TPM and other implementations.Processing.- Over-processing takes place everywhere. Think ofthose steps that do not add any real value. Processes that can beinaccurate and/or incorrect. We can team up with your manufac-turing force and find the appropriate actions that will startsaving you time, materials, space and money.Production.- Over-production is just as bad as under-production. Production may also be too early or too late. Makesure production is performed at the right time in the rightquantity. Lean Manufacturing establishes a one-piece flowenvironment where production obeys the market. We helpdrastically reduce this disagreement between supply anddemand.Motion.- There are many cases of people required to performunnecessary motion, or awkward movements, or where motionis not efficient (not adding value to the product). One of ourcustomers saw in just a few hours, the reduction from 42 milesof motion of 24 people in three shifts to less than 2 miles ofmotion with 16 people in two shifts. Our mission is to use thesame resources to produce more.

Inventory.- Having too much raw material, WIP (work inprocess), finished goods because of large lots is sometimesoverlooked and is a financial loss. SMED (Quick-Setup Strategy)implementations assist manufacturers to reduce lot sizes.Cellular organization or re-organization cuts WIP drastically. JITdeliveries provide instant solutions to the “conventionalwarehouse” problems. We are ready to help!Transportation.- A defective or poor layout of the plant, anineffective material handling system, an inconvenient location,all cause too much transportation which adds cost and risk tothe operation. A value stream mapping will give you a cuttingedge to reduce some of that overlooked unnecessary transporta-tion. We are prepared to introduce these improvements andhelp many companies achieve their goals.

7 Old Quality Tools:

1 Measles Chart2 Scatter (Correlation) Diagram3 Check Sheet4 Run Graphs5 Control charts6 Pareto 80:207 Fishbone Diagram

7 “New” Quality Control Tools

Affinity Diagram

Interrelationship Diagraph

Tree Diagram

Prioritisation Grid

Matrix Diagram

Process DecisionProgram Chart

Activity Network Diagram

5 Whys:

• Ask why five times so that the underlying cause can beidentified

• Don’t accept excuses for why things can’t be done.• Importantly blame is not assigned, problems are found and

solutions implemented.

Value Stream MappingIdentify and eliminate as much non-value adding activity aspossible

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Visual Control & the Workstation

Ergonomics•Adapt the workstation to theemployee

- more security

- more comfort

•Reduce waste

- excessive fatigue

- useless efforts and movement

- less physical constraints

Success Stories

Good ideas should be promoted,through Success Stories

• Record condit ions, before and after the improvement

• Show who (or which team) made the suggest ion and implemented the improvement

• What gains occurred• Have them prominently located

Staff should write their own successes as well as the new standards. They can be formatted, typed etc later on, but not changed.

Process Improvement

Before After

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V a l u e A d d i n g A c t i v i t i e s t h a t f r o m t h e v i e w p o i n t o f t h e f i n a l c u s t o m e r m a k e t h e p r o d u c t o r s e r v i c e m o r e v a l u a b l e .

N o n -V a l u e A d d i n g

A c t i v i t i e s t h a t f r o m t h e v i e w p o i n t o f t h e f i n a l c u s t o m e r a d d n o v a l u e e v e n u n d e r p r e s e n t c i r c u m s t a n c e s .

N e c e s s a r y N o n -V a l u e A d d i n g

A c t i v i t i e s t h a t f r o m t h e v i e w p o i n t o f t h e f i n a l c u s t o m e r a d d n o v a l u e b u t a r e n e c e s s a r y u n d e r p r e s e n t c i r c u m s t a n c e s .

Examples of Improvements Through Kaizen

With that, we come to the end of today’s discussion. I hopeit has been an enriching and satisfying experience. See youaround in the next lecture. Take care. Bye .

Notes