KAIZEN The process of achieving continuous improvements in the workplace through workers regularly finding small ways of improving what they do.

Advantages When kaizen is introduced for the first time improvements in productivity of 30% or more is not uncommon without any capital investment. It helps lower breakeven point. It helps eliminate waste and improve processes It helps management become more attentive to customers needs and build systems that take customer requirements into consideration. The system can be applied to any workplace due to it’s simple nature and low day-to-day costs.

Disadvantages Some staff may be unhappy or unwilling to get involved. Kaizen can be hard to implement. The cost of setting up the Kaizen system can be expensive.

Implementing continuous Improvement It is difficult for workers in a business to look for continuous improvement all the time. Japanese businesses have a solution for this problem: PDCA (plan, do, check, action). Plan – Businesses must identify the improvements needed. Do – Once the plan has been finalised it must be carried out. Check – This is where the business checks whether improvement has taken place or not. Action – If improvement has taken place then then the plan will be introduced to all parts of the business.

How kaizen improves quality By introducing small incremental changes in a business this improves quality and/or efficiency. Since this process is in action all the time. A business uses that this approach has to have managers that encourage and reward employees for the contribution of this process. It is also used in quality circles.