BRIEF HISTORY OF THE KAIZEN.
At the end of the Second World War, Japan was a country with no clear future. One hundred fifteen million people inhabited an archipelago of islands with few natural resources, without raw materials, without energy and with a shortage of food.
Japanese industry was disastrous, nor did the Orientals themselves want their products lacking in quality and design.
In 1949 the JUSE (Japanese Union of Scientists and Engineers) was formed. This is given the task of developing and disseminating the ideas of Quality Control throughout the country.
Dr. William Edwards Deming was one of the great experts in quality control who had developed a methodology based on statistical methods. Deming insisted on not describing closed functions, suppressing numerical targets, not paying by the hour, breaking down departmental barriers and giving more participation to the innovative ideas of the workers.
In 1950 Deming was invited to Japan to teach statistical quality control in eight-hour seminars organized by JUSE. As a result of your visit the Deming Prize is created.
In 1954 he was invited by JUSE Joseph M. Juran to introduce a seminar on the administration of quality control. This was the first time that the CC was treated from the general perspective of the administration. Juran's contributions along with Deming's were taken in Japan, to restructure and rebuild their industry, and implemented as what they called "Kaizen Administration." Continuous improvement becomes the key to change, the main strategy of Japanese management, and begins to replace traditional product inspection in this sense.
Kaoru Ishikawa was also instrumental in the quality control movement in Japan. It introduced the concept of "Company-wide Quality Control", the auditing process to determine if a company was eligible to receive the Deming Award, Quality Circles and Cause and Effect Diagrams.
The legacy of Deming, Juran and Ishikawa has crossed borders and their worldwide recognition became evident in the 1980s, with the transformation of Japan and its merit of having become the first economic power on the planet.
THE KAIZEN CONCEPT.
The word Kaizen comes from the union of two Japanese words: KAI which means change and ZEN which means goodness.
The essence of Kaizen is simple and straightforward: Kaizen means improvement. Furthermore, it means progressive, continuous improvement that involves everyone in the organization - senior management, managers and workers. Kaizen is everyone's business. The Kaizen philosophy assumes that our way of life - be it our life at work, social life or family life - deserves to be constantly improved. All people have an instinctive desire to improve themselves.
Kaizen is a humanistic approach, because it expects everyone to participate in it. It is based on the belief that every human being can contribute to improving their workplace, where they spend a third of their lives.
Kaizen is a consumer-driven strategy for improvement. It starts with understanding the customer's needs and expectations and then satisfying and exceeding them. All activities are supposed to lead to greater customer satisfaction in the long run.
We must understand that Kaizen is a way, a means, and not an objective in itself, it is a way of doing things, a way of managing the organization.
Typically in a company there are two types of activities. On the one hand we have activities that add value, for which clients are willing to pay; and the rest is what we call dump or waste, and is everything that the client does not pay. Kaizen is based on detecting and eliminating all those activities that do not add value to the company.
The message of the Kaizen strategy is that not a day should go by without some kind of improvement being made somewhere in the company. Japanese plant engineers are often warned, "There will be no progress if you continue to do things the same way all the time."
KAIZEN AND THE ADMINISTRATION.
The Japanese perception of management has two main components: maintenance and improvement. Maintenance refers to activities aimed at maintaining current standards through training and discipline. Improvement refers to improving current standards, that is, setting higher standards. Thus the Japanese perception of the administration boils down to one precept: maintain and improve standards.
An unskilled worker who works on a machine can spend all his time following the instructions. However, as you become more efficient in your work, you begin to think about improvement. Start contributing to improvements in the way you do your work, through suggestions.
Improvement can be divided into Kaizen and innovation. Kaizen means small improvements made to the status quo, it involves gradual, slow and often invisible progress, with effects that are felt in the long term. Innovation means drastic improvement as a result of a larger investment in new technology and equipment, or the introduction of the latest administrative concepts, know-hows and production techniques, thus excluding human elements. An example of this is Reengineering. While kaizen is an ongoing process, innovation is generally a one-shot phenomenon. The difference between the two opposing concepts can be compared to a ladder and a ramp.
One of the beautiful things about Kaizen is that it does not necessarily require a sophisticated technique or advanced technology, only simple techniques such as the seven tools of quality control are needed. Common sense is often all that is needed. It also doesn't necessarily require a large investment to implement, it does require a great deal of ongoing effort and dedication from everyone in the company. This is why Kaizen is people-oriented, while innovation is technology and money oriented. It is extremely difficult to increase sales by 10%, but it is not so difficult to reduce costs by 10% for an even better effect.
There are three types of companies: those that make things happen; those who look at how things happen and those who wonder what happened. The worst companies are the ones that can do nothing but maintenance, meaning that there is no internal drive for Kaizen or for innovation; change is imposed on the organization by market conditions and competition, and the administration does not know where to go.
Kaizen does not replace or exclude innovation. Rather, the two are complementary, they are inseparable ingredients of progress. Ideally the innovation should begin after Kaizen has been exhausted and Kaizen should continue as soon as the innovation starts. Top management's job is to keep the balance between Kaizen and innovation and never forget to search for innovative opportunities.
THE PHRA CYCLE (PLAN-DO-REVIEW-ACT).
Deming also introduced the Deming Cycle, one of the vital tools to ensure continuous improvement. He stressed the importance of constant interaction between research, design, production and sales in conducting the company's business. To reach a better quality that satisfies customers, the four stages must be constantly traversed, with quality as the highest criterion. Later, this concept of always turning Deming's wheel was extended to all phases of administration. In this way, Japanese executives rebuild the Deming wheel and call it the PHRA cycle, to apply it to all phases and situations. The PHRA cycle (PDCA) is a series of activities for improvement. "Planning" means studying the current situation, defining the problem, analyzing it,determine its causes and formulate the plan for improvement. To "do" means to execute the plan; "Review" means to see or confirm if the desired improvement has occurred and "Act" means to institutionalize the improvement as a new practice to improve, that is, to standardize. There can be no improvements where there are no standards. As soon as an improvement is made it becomes a standard that will be refuted with new plans for further improvements.As soon as an improvement is made it becomes a standard that will be refuted with new plans for further improvements.As soon as an improvement is made it becomes a standard that will be refuted with new plans for further improvements.
The starting point of any improvement is knowing exactly where you are. Kaizen's strategy is a continuous challenge to existing standards. For Kaizen these only exist to be surpassed by better standards.
Logically, there is a small problem. Suppose an initial state and someone takes over a team and makes a major improvement. That improvement is "his daughter." Then a psychological problem arises: "I improved it and I am proud." Enhancing that enhancement to some extent means "killing" your creature. It takes a very strong critical spirit not to feel that way. That is why generally to improve the improvement a change is made in the analysis team, the team that achieved the improvement is assigned to another task and a new team takes over the second generation of improvements.
KAIZEN, PROCESS-ORIENTED ADMINISTRATION.
Kaizen has generated a process-oriented way of thinking, as processes must be improved before improved results are obtained. In addition, Kaizen is people-oriented and therefore supports and recognizes their efforts. This is in sharp contrast to managerial practices of strictly reviewing people's performance based on results and not rewarding effort. We can call the process-oriented criteria P criteria and the result-based criteria R criteria.
Japan is a process-oriented society. To cite one example, the national sport of Japan is sumo. In each tournament there are three rewards in addition to the tournament championship: an award for outstanding performance, an award for skill, and an award for fighting spirit. The fighting spirit award is given to the fighter who has fought exceptionally hard during the 15 days of the tournament beyond his record of wins and losses. None of these awards are based on results. However, this does not mean that victory does not count in sumo, only that, as we see, victory is not everything or the only thing that counts.
Kaizen's strategy strives to give full attention to both the process and the result, establishing separate reward systems, both for the P criteria and for the R criteria. For the R criteria financial rewards and for the P criteria recognition and honors related to the effort made. For example, in the Toyota company, the most coveted reward is the Presidential Award which is not money, but a fountain pen given to the winner by the president of the company.
KAIZEN AND TOTAL QUALITY CONTROL.
When talking about quality, one tends to think in terms of product quality. The meaning of quality must be understood in its broadest sense, since quality is associated not only with products and services, but also with the way people work, the way machines are operated and the way they that deals with systems, procedures and information. A company capable of creating quality in its staff is already halfway to producing quality articles.
Since the beginning of the century, quality was understood as the "Degree to which a product complied with the technical specifications that had been established when it was designed." The Royal Spanish Academy defines quality as the “Set of qualities that constitute the way of being of a person or thing”. From the initial meaning of quality, as product attributes, to the current one, applied to all the activities of the company, a long way has been traveled.
Quality control arises at the beginning of the 20th century where Frederick Taylor, father of scientific administration, originates a new concept in production, by breaking down work into individual tasks, separating inspection tasks from production tasks, and planning work from the of execution. He based his theory that the foremen and operators of that time did not have the necessary knowledge to be able to decide how the work should be done, they did not even know what a day's work consisted of in their industry. Thus, the foremen and operators had to settle for carrying out only the plans prepared by others. Quality control focused on inspecting the finished product and separating what is acceptable according to standards from what is not. Later the statistics are introduced to the inspection,reducing costs by avoiding controlling 100% of the parts. However, it was noted that inspection alone did nothing to improve product quality and that inspection should be integrated into the production stage. By carrying out intermediate controls in the process, it was avoided to process a product that already carried the defect for which it was going to be rejected at the end. For this reason, we went from the final inspection of the finished product to quality control in the different phases of the process. Later it was found that it was more reliable and cost less to control the process than the product. With this approach, it was possible to extend the concept of quality to the entire production process, achieving significant improvements in terms of quality, cost reduction and productivity.However, it was noted that inspection alone did nothing to improve product quality and that inspection should be integrated into the production stage. By carrying out intermediate controls in the process, it was avoided to process a product that already carried the defect for which it was going to be rejected at the end. For this reason, we went from the final inspection of the finished product to quality control in the different phases of the process. Later it was found that it was more reliable and cost less to control the process than the product. With this approach, it was possible to extend the concept of quality to the entire production process, achieving significant improvements in terms of quality, cost reduction and productivity.However, it was noted that inspection alone did nothing to improve product quality and that inspection should be integrated into the production stage. By carrying out intermediate controls in the process, it was avoided to process a product that already carried the defect for which it was going to be rejected at the end. For this reason, we went from the final inspection of the finished product to quality control in the different phases of the process. Later it was found that it was more reliable and cost less to control the process than the product. With this approach, it was possible to extend the concept of quality to the entire production process, achieving significant improvements in terms of quality, cost reduction and productivity.It was noted that inspection alone did nothing to improve product quality and that inspection should be integrated into the production stage. By carrying out intermediate controls in the process, it was avoided to process a product that already carried the defect for which it was going to be rejected at the end. For this reason, we went from the final inspection of the finished product to quality control in the different phases of the process. Later it was found that it was more reliable and cost less to control the process than the product. With this approach, it was possible to extend the concept of quality to the entire production process, achieving significant improvements in terms of quality, cost reduction and productivity.It was noted that inspection alone did nothing to improve product quality and that inspection should be integrated into the production stage. By carrying out intermediate controls in the process, it was avoided to process a product that already carried the defect for which it was going to be rejected at the end. For this reason, we went from the final inspection of the finished product to quality control in the different phases of the process. Later it was found that it was more reliable and cost less to control the process than the product. With this approach, it was possible to extend the concept of quality to the entire production process, achieving significant improvements in terms of quality, cost reduction and productivity.It was avoided to process a product that already had an implicit defect for which it was going to be rejected at the end. For this reason, we went from the final inspection of the finished product to quality control in the different phases of the process. Later it was found that it was more reliable and cost less to control the process than the product. With this approach, it was possible to extend the concept of quality to the entire production process, achieving significant improvements in terms of quality, cost reduction and productivity.It was avoided to process a product that already had an implicit defect for which it was going to be rejected at the end. For this reason, we went from the final inspection of the finished product to quality control in the different phases of the process. Later it was found that it was more reliable and cost less to control the process than the product. With this approach, it was possible to extend the concept of quality to the entire production process, achieving significant improvements in terms of quality, cost reduction and productivity.With this approach, it was possible to extend the concept of quality to the entire production process, achieving significant improvements in terms of quality, cost reduction and productivity.With this approach, it was possible to extend the concept of quality to the entire production process, achieving significant improvements in terms of quality, cost reduction and productivity.
The problem with this traditional concept of quality is to focus on correcting mistakes after the fact; This check-and-fix philosophy not only allows for bugs, but also incorporates them into the system. But Total Quality focuses on getting things done right the first time. Quality is built into the system. So-called acceptable quality levels are becoming increasingly unacceptable. Thus, quality production is promoted and quality is not controlled, since this is a costly activity that does not add value. Quality is not controlled, it is done. Controlling quality means that we aim to detect what is wrong, apart from explaining and correcting it. If quality is done, it is not necessary to spend effort and money to correct it.
The methodologies and tools that were initially applied to the production environment have transcended to all areas of the company, giving rise to the management model known as Total Quality or CTC and which we can define as a "Set of actions extended to the entire organization that aims to provide innovative products and services that fully satisfy the requirements of our customers and employees, of the entities financially involved and of the entire society in general ”. This is why quality becomes a business management model, a philosophy, a culture, which seeks to satisfy customer needs (internal / external) through continuous improvement. Customers are no longer just the ultimate users of the goods and services we sell,now the term is broadened to include the idea of Internal Customer, that is, the people in the organization to whom we pass our work. You should think that the next process is the customer. With this concept, obviously everyone in the organization becomes someone's client; Moreover, it acquires a dual character of being a Client and a Provider at the same time.
The concept of Total Quality has made it possible to standardize the concept of quality, defining it according to the client and thus avoiding a diversity of points of view as happened in the traditional conception. In a simple way we can say that in the expression Total Quality, the term Quality means that the Product or Service must satisfy the client's needs; and the term Total that said quality is achieved with the participation of all members of the organization and includes each and every one of its aspects. This is why terms like CTC or Total Quality mean company-wide Kaizen activities, and have become almost synonymous with Kaizen.
KAIZEN AND JUST-IN-TIME PRODUCTION (JIT).
The JIT is a system for controlling production and inventory. Its goal is continuous, uninterrupted processing of production. It assumes the minimization of the total time required from the start of manufacturing to invoicing.
It was devised by Taiichi Ohno, vice president of Toyota Motors at the time and was born out of the need to develop a system to manufacture small quantities of many different classes of cars. The JIT is aimed at improving the results of the company through the elimination of all those activities that do not add value.
JIT production is a method by which the production time is significantly reduced, making all processes produce the necessary parts in the necessary time. In the conventional production system, the previous process supplies the parts to the next process (push through). Ohno reversed this, so that each stage returns to the previous stage of removing the parts, based on the fact that the final assembly line is the one that can know precisely the precise moments and quantities of parts needed. It is, therefore, a system based on the demand pull (pull through). There are several ways to implement this system, the best known is the Kamban.
Kamban means sign or label and is used as a communication tool in this system. It is fixed at specific parts of the production line and signifies the delivery of a given quantity. It can be returned when the parts have been used to serve as a record of work done and as a request for new parts.
Jidohka is a word used for machines designed to stop automatically when a problem occurs. This is a basic feature of the Toyota production system. Every time a faulty job occurs, the machine stops and the whole system stops working, forcing immediate attention to the problem, the investigation of its causes and its correction, so that the same difficulty does not occur again. The worker does not have to attend to the machine when it is working properly, only when it is stopped. Jidohka manages that one worker takes charge of many machines at the same time, thus improving their productivity, expansion of responsibilities and their skills.
In advanced systems this is accompanied by a special form of machinery distribution, since the classic straight line distribution is not used where machines with identical functions are located together in an area called department. The classic distribution is replaced by what is known as production cells. These contain machines that are grouped into families in the form of cells or horseshoes (U) and are arranged so that a variety of sequential operations can be performed. Each cell is installed to produce a particular product or family of products. In this way it allows the operator to save time on unnecessary travel by shortening the assembly line.
The biggest source of delays in conventional manufacturing processes arises from producing quantities of products in excess of demand. With the JIT the size of the inventories is not optimized, they are minimized trying to reduce the setup times to zero. Inventories are seen as a form of waste, a sum of problems, causes of delays and signs of inefficiency. In the conventional production system, inventories are appreciated as a means of absorbing problems and fluctuations in demand ("just in case" system).
When products are manufactured in small batches and flow continuously from one stage to another, defective parts are detected much earlier. By reducing inventories many previously hidden problems emerge (quality, bottlenecks, coordination, unreliable suppliers).
The essence of JIT is that the manufacturer does not keep much inventory in stock, it relies on its suppliers (which means greater dependence on them) to deliver the parts just in time for them to be assembled. This is why relationships with suppliers are vital, since this system requires not only permanent quality but also precision in delivery.
THE KAIZEN APPROACH TO PROBLEM RESOLUTION.
The starting point for improvement is recognizing the need. This comes from the recognition of a problem. If no problem is recognized, the need for improvement will not be recognized. Overconfidence and complacency are the archenemies of Kaizen. The Japanese feeling of imperfection may be the one that provides the impetus for Kaizen.
In everyday management situations, the first instinct when faced with a problem is to hide or ignore it rather than face it frankly. This happens because a problem is a problem and no one wants to be accused of creating it. Furthermore, it is in human nature not to want to admit that you have a problem, since admitting problems is equivalent to confessing failures or weaknesses. However, by turning to positive thinking, we can turn every problem into a valuable opportunity for improvement. There is a saying among those who practice CTC in Japan, that problems are the keys to the hidden treasure.
A very popular term in CTC activities in Japan is warusa-kagen, which refers to things that are not really problems but are not completely correct, that is, things that are not quite right. Left unattended, they can lead to serious problems. The worker should be encouraged to identify and report such warusa-kagen to the boss, who should welcome the report. Rather than blaming the messenger, management should be glad that the problem was pointed out when it was still minor and should welcome the opportunity for improvement.
CHANGING ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE.
One of the best ways to introduce the Kaizen strategy is in a time of crisis. When facing a crisis, everyone understands that you have to change the way things are being done. It is not necessary to explain why. When one writes crisis in Chinese characters, it forms "KiKi". The first Ki means catastrophe and the second Ki opportunity. Put together they mean crisis. The concept would be: if you have a crisis you can turn it into a new opportunity. Now, what do we do when one has no problems? Let's create problems. How? Setting a goal that means a challenge. For example, cut customer complaints in half.
The Kaizen process starts from the top, it is the top management of the company that must be fully committed and dedicated to change. You must take the position of leader so that everyone recognizes the need to change. It is essential to obtain the acceptance of the workers and overcome their resistance to change.
Getting everyone involved in Kaizen in a positive way needs the right organizational culture or environment. It would be difficult to get everyone's cooperation if there are serious confrontations between management and workers.
Management can change company culture by instilling quality in people, but this can only be done through coaching and strong leadership.
Kaoru Ishikawa points out that the CTC begins with education and ends with education. To promote it, quality control education must be given to all staff, from the president to the line operators. In Japan the employment system is for life, the more they train their employees, the more they and the company benefit.
For the training to be effective, it must be theoretical-practical, not only training in the classroom, but also in the workplace, while doing daily work. It is the boss's responsibility to teach subordinates on the job itself.
KAIZEN AND THE SUGGESTION SYSTEM.
The Japanese management makes a concerted effort to involve employees in Kaizen through suggestions since a thinking worker is a productive worker.
Suggestions serve to bridge the gap between workers' ability and work. They are a sign that the worker has more skill than is required for the job. It provides workers the opportunity to speak to their supervisors and each other and is a morale booster.
Frequently the number of suggestions is posted on the wall of the workplace to stimulate competition among workers.
The introduction and direction of Kaizen should be from the top down. But suggestions should be from the bottom up, since the most specific suggestions for improvement usually come from the people who are closest to the problem and most in contact with customers.
KAIZEN'S FIVE-STEP MOVEMENT (5 S).
For people to adopt Kaizen, it is necessary to create the conditions that avoid demotivation and facilitate the performance of work. Therefore, it is necessary on the one hand to physically improve the work environment, applying techniques such as 5S; and on the other hand eliminate all other factors that cause demotivation.
The five steps of housekeeping are as follows:
Seiri: Differentiate between necessary and unnecessary elements in the gemba and eliminate the latter. A practical and easy method is to remove anything that will not be used in the next 30 days. Often times, seiri begins with a campaign of red labels that are placed on items they consider unnecessary. At the end of the red tag campaign, all managers - including the president and plant manager as well as the gemba administrators - should get together and take a good look at the pile of supplies and work in progress and begin to carry out kaizen to correct the system that gave rise to this waste.
Seiton: Arrange in an orderly way all the elements that remain after the seiri, to minimize the search time so that they can be used when needed.
Seiso: Keep machines and work environments clean. There is also an axiom that says that seiso means to verify. An operator cleaning a machine can discover many malfunctions (machine covered in oil, soot and dust; oil leakage; a crack; loose nuts and bolts).
Seiketsu: Extend the concept of cleaning to oneself and practice the three previous steps continuously and every day.
Shitsuke: Build self-discipline and form the habit of engaging in the 5 S's by setting standards. The 5 S can be considered as a philosophy, a way of life in our daily work.
Benefits of the 5 S
- Creates clean, hygienic, pleasant and safe work environments Substantially improves employee mood, morale and motivation Eliminates various kinds of shedding and frees up space Improves work efficiency and reduces operating costs.Reduces unnecessary movement, such as walking. Helps employees acquire self-discipline and take a real interest in Kaizen. Makes quality issues visible.
TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE EFFECTS OF KAIZEN.
Tangible Effects.
- Greater participation in the market due to the loyalty of our clients and their recommendation to others Greater sales volume Greater profitability Lowering the breakeven point due to lower expenses (only doing what adds value) Increasing competitiveness Success in New product development Improved quality Decreased claims Reduced cost from defects More employee suggestions Fewer industrial accidents
Intangible Effects.
- Involvement of all in management Increased sensitivity to quality and problem solving Improved quality of work Improved human relationships
How long does it take for the benefits of Kaizen to show up?
According to Kaoru Ishikawa, typically three to five years from when the CTC is introduced until there is a marked improvement in the company's performance.
CONCLUSION.
Accepting the Kaizen challenge implies social awareness, education, a desire to improve, responsibility for one's own life and that of others, a commitment to do things right the first time, and a desire to opt for a better quality of life.
BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES.
MASAAKI IMAI (1998). "Kaizen: The Key to Japanese Competitive Advantage". Compañía Editorial Continental, SA de CV
MASAAKI IMAI (1998). "How to Implement Kaizen in the Workplace (Gemba)". Mc Graw Hill Publishing.
MALLO CARLOS AND MELO JOSÉ (1995). "Management Control and Budgetary Control". Mc Graw Hill Publishing.
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