In a maquiladora, during a supplier tour, management claims to have work teams doing “Kaizen”. The visitors leave pleased. In another, the plant manager informs the corporate that an inconsistent production system called “Kanban Kaizen”, devised by himself, is being applied at the Nuevo Laredo subsidiary.
After a year, in the first case, the referred maquiladora has had to reduce its working day from two shifts to one, the demand for its products has decreased considerably in the US market due to the number of products rejected by its customers, and their survival is in danger. In the second example, the lack of a good programming of materials causes delays in production, defects, tight joints and deteriorates the working environment. Neither of the two maquiladoras applies "Kaizen" in their processes.
What is "Kaizen"?
The term Kaizen is relatively new. According to its creator, Masaaki Imai, it comes from two Japanese ideograms: "Kai" which means change and "Zen" which means to improve. Thus, we can say that "Kaizen" is "change to improve" or "continuous improvement", as it is commonly known.
Imai's first book on Kaizen was published in English in 1986, and three years later, in 1989, the first print appeared in Spanish. In the early 1990s, the Japanese Association for Human Relations published “Kaizen Teian 1” and “Kaizen Teian 2”, whose theme revolves around the implementation of suggestions originated by line workers to improve their production processes. In 1997 Imai published "Gemba Kaizen" and made a promotional tour visiting Mexico in May of that year. Unfortunately, outside the great reception provided by the Caterpillar plant, in Garza García, Nuevo León, Imai went virtually unnoticed
The two pillars that support Kaizen are work teams and Industrial Engineering, which are used to improve production processes. In fact, Kaizen focuses on people and the standardization of processes. His practice requires a team made up of production, maintenance, quality, engineering, purchasing and other employees that the team considers necessary. It is not exclusive to experts, masters or doctorates in quality or production systems. It is practiced on the floor with the floor people coordinated by a facilitator.
Kaizen Practice
Kaizen is performed in a Gemba area, floor, or place the action occurs, not in the offices. Its objective is to increase productivity by controlling manufacturing processes by reducing cycle times, standardizing quality criteria, and working methods by operation. In addition, Kaizen also focuses on waste disposal, identified as "Muda", in any of its seven forms.
Making a lay out analysis, we can identify three types of Muda: in inventory, in transport and in route. The other four - waiting, in process, in excess of production and rework - can be detected by observing the modifications that the part undergoes during the process. Therefore, Gemba is the work area of the improvement teams.
Instruments used in Kaizen include the Deming Circle, Kaizen's five "Ss" (so-called "suns" in GM), the seven statistical tools for problem solving, and teamwork. The correct and constant application of these techniques guarantees a minimum 5% monthly increase in productivity in any area six weeks after their implementation.
Although the concept of Kaizen is beginning to be adopted by a couple of maquiladoras, the organizational culture of the medium does not favor the flourishing and comprehensive development of this philosophy. One of the main obstacles to implementing Kaizen is the impatience of management to see immediate results, not only in the selected area, but throughout the plant.
The other, the most critical, is the organization's inability to support and recognize improvement teams (we are not talking about self-directed teams here) capable of making their own decisions in work situations that directly affect them. And the third obstacle, the final blow, is the lack of follow-up by senior management.
Kaizen, however, may be the answer for many maquila managers who want to achieve short-term results with little investment as long as they decide to take the risks of: 1) acknowledging that there is a problem; 2) create a team-based organization; 3) improve their human and productive processes; and 4) commit to the Kaizen philosophy.
"If no problem is recognized," says Masaaki Imai, "the need for improvement is also not recognized. Complacency is Kaizen's worst enemy ”
