KAIZEN

Kaizen is a Japanese word that roughly translates to Continuous Improvement or

Continual Improvement. This is in contrast to Innovation which focuses on large
improvements in Productivity or Quality through a drastic change either in the product or
process. In Kaizen, the focus is on continuous improvement in a series of small
incremental steps. Kaizen can be applied at all levels of an organization. At the level of
the senior management, it would focus on changes in procedures and processes across the
organization. At the middle management level, the focus would be on improvement of
inter departmental coordination and in the case of lower level management and workers it
would focus on the particular department or job. The benefits of Kaizen also increase
dramatically as the levels in the organization go up.

Kaizen is characterized by the Kaizen mind set which believes that:

¾ The existing operations always has a lot of room for improvement
¾ The existing facilities and methods can always be improved by spending some
efforts
¾ The accumulation of small improvements makes a big difference

Kaizen is broad concept under which many other concepts, tools and techniques fit in.
Tools such as 5S, Quality circles, the PDCA Cycle, 5Ws and 1H, 3Ms, Poka-Yoke,
SMED, Kanban (Just – in –Time), 7QC Tools, etc. came under the umbrella of Kaizen.

Kaizen and Innovation:

Kaizen Innovation
1. Effect Long Term But Un dramatic Short term but dramatic
2. Pace Small steps Big steps
3. Time frame Continuous and incremental Intermittent and non-incremental
4. Change Gradual and constant Abrupt and volatile
5. Involvement Every one Few select Champions
6. Investment Limited Large
7. Orientation People Technology

Table –1

Table –1 summarizes the differences between Kaizen and Innovation. The focus of
improvement in the Western world focused more on Innovation upto the 1980s. The
result of this is the high number of Noble Prizes and Patents obtained by scientists from
these countries. On the other hand Japanese and other Asian countries focused their
efforts on Kaizen. This way they were able to compete with the Western countries and
also beat them in the performance of their industries. However, both Kaizen and
Innovation complement each other. Once a new innovation is made and introduced, it
takes some time to stabilize and give benefit to the organization. However without
Kaizen, there would be stagnation and even deterioration in the performance as the
product or process grows old. Hence, to sustain the competitive advantage obtained by
innovation, it is necessary to perform Kaizen. Kaizen on the other hand can lead to
excellent performance from old products, processes and machines sometimes even
beyond that of new ones. In some cases, the need to go in for new products, processes
and machines can be eliminated or delayed if such performance is not required by the
market. It was with such an approach that Japanese companies were able to withstand the
Oil Shock of the 1970s. In today’s world, most companies adopt a combination of both
Kaizen and Innovation depending on the requirements of the market.

Focus Areas for Kaizen:

Some of the key focus areas for Kaizen in today’s organizations are cost, safety, energy
conservation, customer service, waste, Quality, Maintenance, Environmental concerns,
etc. The key to successful Kaizen is management support and employees’ involvement
with a firm belief that there is always a scope for improvement in every thing that we do.

B. Girish, Dy. Director,

National Productivity Council, Chennai