Kaizen is a Japanese term that refers to a continuous improvement approach that is incremental and iterative that was developed as part of the Toyota Production System in the 1940's. Since it's introduction, the Kaizen method has been adopted by various industries and even by competitors. A recent article from The Wall Street Journal highlights the need and success of Kaizen by Subaru to keep up with increased demands on production. With each round of Kaizens, Subaru is able to improve on efficiency and output. The idea is that the sum of every small improvement will yield a significant impact.
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Finding the true root cause is imperative to correctly identifying deficiencies and subsequently developing effective solutions. No matter the Root Cause Analysis technique employed while conducting Kaizen Events, there should always be a conscious effort to challenge the initial root cause hypothesis. What makes this task difficult is that often Project Leaders or Investigators are not Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). Therefore, every great investigator should have some additional interrogation skills in their toolbox to help ensure that they cull the right information.
The key to finding true root cause is to realize that every testimonial implicates someone or something that has an owner. Therefore, sometimes SMEs may protect their own interest if the true root cause does not favor them or their process.
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