Kaizen the most effective business improvement approach used today!
SBP have been using the Kaizen approach for business development for many years put simply Kaizen is
A Common Sense, Low Cost, Totally Inclusive Action Orientated approach that all businesses should be utilising
Through Kaizen you can improve any process, develop your people and transform your business in a short time period through utilising your key asset your people.
Developed in Japan the term Kaizen means continuous improvement, taken from words 'Kai' meaning continuous and 'zen' meaning improvement.
Traditionally this has meant small incremental improvements working at all levels of the organisation to develop the people so that change and continuous improvement becomes a way of life. You are taught that the way we do it today is the worst way it can be done and that you should constantly be looking for ways to develop you job, function and company. As a result companies have seen a dramatic improvement in performance, attitude and spirit.
Strategic Business Partners have taken the spirit of Kaizen and now run 2 types of Kaizen with clients
Kaizen development – This is a training, coaching and implementation process to change the culture of your organisation to one of Kaizen. The key steps include
Recognising the need to change – often a major step in the development of a company at all levels SBP will run training and coaching to help companies and individuals to see the light. For more information click change management.
Problem Diagnostic – Identify where you need to develop and in what order. This is through discovery by the company by themselves, the only true way to obtain buy in.
Developments of an improvement plan – how to harness the power of your people develop an improvement approach, which will ensure that all personnel are involved, and accept the development program.
Setting up and running Kaizen improvements – providing the training in problem solving and improvement techniques to develop the business processes and people and then coaching the people to obtain the benefits
Kaizen Events - These have been run very successfully with many companies of all sizes. The secret of their success and popularity are that the company truly sees benefits in 1 week. The outcomes are however not only a business benefit but a team of people who are now convinced of the power of Kaizen and who then move into the Kaizen spirit and continue to develop the business. In effect for the team they short circuit the Kaizen development shown above and become advocates in a very short period do time.
These events enable teams to be trained in lean manufacturing, problem solving tools and team working while solving problems for the company. The key benefit of a Kaizen Event is that in a dedicated time frame a problem is reviewed, improvements developed and then implemented. The classic event is done by a cross-functional and possibly even cross company team working on a problem for 1 week. In that time period problems are solved. Typical problems, which are tackled include
Relaying out an area to improve throughput, reduce inventory, improve quality and to reduce non-value added activities.
Reduction in change over times on a piece of kit.
Introduction of preventative maintenance in an area.
5S in an office or factory area.
Review and development of paper work processes such as invoicing, sales order processing, etc
The solutions are implemented and the company start to see returns immediately. At the end of the event the team present to the management team who can see what has been achieved. Although classically done over a week we have done it over a number of weeks where a certain amount of time is set aside for the event.
SBP have developed a Kaizen event process, which is outstanding in terms of training the team, developing the spirit and implementing the benefits. Please look at the case studies or if you would like more details contact us.
Kaizen Events are not just for large companies. SBP have developed an approach where a number of companies join forces to obtain benefits and training. Click here for information
