|
Today's topic in our week-long kaizen coblogging initiative is kaizen blitz. While kaizen represents continuous, incremental improvement, kaizen blitz is a team event, a focused effort up to a week long in which everyone in a work team or workstream works together to create a sudden, radical change in a business or manufacturing process.
In concept, kaizen blitz - or kaikaku - is similar to radical innovation. A kaizen blitz begins with a vision of the future, an ideal state that can be used to help the group work backwards to develop action steps that they can do during the blitz to bring about this desired future state. It also relies on data about the current state of the business or manufacturing process, and may involve developing value stream or process maps of the current situation. This is similar to developing a clear problem or challenge statement in an ideation session. In order to generate ideas, you must clearly understand the nature and nuances of your current situation.
Unlike a brainstorming session, however, a kaizen blitz is not just about developing ideas on what should be changed. It's also about action, about making these changes quickly - usually within a week. It's a great way to show employees that they can make a difference, and can build their confidence to try other things.
To be successful, a kaizen blitz must be properly planned and executed. The Kaizen-training.com website contains an excellent article on this topic. And be sure to read this article from the SuperFactory website on the 10 Commandments of Kaikaku, which also contains some great advice.
Here's what my compatriots have to say about kaizen blitz today:
Norman Bodek explains the birth of kaizen blitz at Toyota in Japan, and his early successes with it at Jake Brake.
Joe Ely reflects on his experiences with kaizen blitz.
And Hal Macomber demonstrates how to revisit and rethink your project using kaizen blitz.
Hal has plans to develop a booklet based on our blog posts of this week - some 50 in all - plus a new kaizen website and a Yahoo discussion group. Be sure to watch his Reforming Project Management blog for all of the details in the weeks ahead. |
