Kaikaku / Kaizen - Which aspects of lean fit in kaikaku and which in kaizen?

[Claire]

Hi guys, newbie here!
I'm hoping you can help me out, I've been trying without much luck to work out which aspects of lean fit in kaikaku and which in kaizan. Or is it just a matter of approach, and the same aspects apply to both? By aspects I mean for example applying 5S, right-sizing, SMED, single piece flow, etc. etc. etc....
It's Friday afternoon, my head is hurting, please someone help me out, I've been banging my head on this off and on all week....

[Wes Bucey]

Originally Posted by Claire

Hi guys, newbie here!
I'm hoping you can help me out, I've been trying without much luck to work out which aspects of lean fit in kaikaku and which in kaizan. Or is it just a matter of approach, and the same aspects apply to both? By aspects I mean for example applying 5S, right-sizing, SMED, single piece flow, etc. etc. etc....
It's Friday afternoon, my head is hurting, please someone help me out, I've been banging my head on this off and on all week....

Welcome to the Cove

Before you jump in with both feet, you should be aware that a number of Quality experts in Japan, notably Akio Miura (one of ASQ's stalwarts who oversees most of the ASQ certification exams there), have nothing but scorn for kaizen (correct spelling) in the way it is practiced and promoted. However, we'll leave that discussion for another thread.

Kaikaku is a kaizen blitz, usually taking place during a one week period, involving everyone in a particular business section or process. Take a look at this website for a relatively clear and complete description:
http://www.kaizen-training.com/how/kaizen_blitz.html

[Claes Gefvenberg]

Originally Posted by Claire

Hi guys, newbie here!
I'm hoping you can help me out, I've been trying without much luck to work out which aspects of lean fit in kaikaku and which in kaizan.

Hi Claire,

I have nothing much to add to the reply Wes gave, but I'd like to welcome you to the Cove Keep asking, and before you know it you'll be answering too.

/Claes

[asutherland]

Wow, what a tough question.

I have been doing Kaizens for over 16yrs. Personally, I do not like the kaizen blitz's.

The key question as I understand it is "which aspects of lean fit into kaikaku and which fit into kaizen.

Although the link that Wes sent is good, in my opinion it is still a little generic. This document says "Train a small group (3 or 4) cross-functional facilitators in the tools and techniques of Kaizen Blitz and power up their facilitation skills" but it doesn't exactly say what those tools are.

Forgive my arrogance but I have found in past experience that a lot of lean trainers who can't do lean, end up teaching it instead. And the way they do it is through blitz's, which quickly become unsustainable.

There is no set of lean tools that are separate from a blitz than from a normal kaizen. The only real difference is that based on the specific target and project scope. The key is understanding the function of the tools you need to use in the enviroment you wish to use them.

Example: in an Admin setting, a very powerful tool is the value stream map.
In a manufacturing floor setting, the value stream maps greatest asset is to provide the team with clear understanding of the bottleneck process. In this way you can target the great impact at the lowest cost by increasing your production flow.

So, how can this be? A map is a map, right? Well, most companies understand that most of the waste exists in manufacturing, and forget the fact that in offices, the waste is also about 80% of their processes as well. Because of this, little time is spent in really trying to understand what is going on in Admin practices. Because of this the Value stream makes an excellent tool.

Well, I don't wish to go on, and on, and on.

In short, "Implementing World Class Manufacturing by Rubrich and Watson" is pretty good. (No I do not sponser or am not a sponser of this publisher). I believe it will provide you with the greatest amount in information in one book, in the least amount of research time.

If you are implementing your very first Kaizen event .... your going to need more info.

[Claire]

Thanks for the welcomes! apologies for my school-boy spelling error....
Useful website Wes, I'll sign up for their tips too. Claes, thanks for the encouragement! Asutherland, thank you, I understand now - I've read most of lean thinking by jones and womack, which I generally find very good but it doesn't seem to explain this aspect particularly well. I'll track down a copy of Rubrich and Watson too.
Just to clarify - I'm not looking to implement lean on my own, but will be working with companies implementing it, trying to see ways in which the lean implementation can benefit sustainability - and maybe vice versa. Before I start, I need to talk to people at companies which have implemented lean properly. It's all very well reading books, and that's necessary at first, but actually talking to people will I'm sure be more enlightening - as you people have just shown! I've worked for a company that was "sort of lean" so the reading is mostly to top up my knowledge and see what bits they missed...