Six Sigma Kaizen

The word “kaizen” is used in the business world to depict a team working on a quick continuous improvement project. The word is actually Japanese for “incremental improvement”.

Kaizen events are often conducted as part of the lean manufacturing process. There are various ways in which they are carried out, however, they normally start with a mission or objective. For example, in a grocery story, “to reduce checkout line queue from 6 to 3 minutes. Another example would be to “increase revenue for hardware items from 6% to 8%.

As you can see, the objective is defined. It isn’t simply “to increase hardware product revenue”. There is also a defined starting and ending point, such as beginning on Monday and ending on Friday with the results.

Kaizen events are not long drawn out projects. They often carry the term “kaizen blitz” because the improvement effort is condensed into a short period of time. In the example above, the grocery store might have 4-6 people spend 100% of their time for 5 days solving the queue problem, and by the fifth day, the expectation is to have the objective of 3 days met.

Some businesses do kaizen events as a stand alone initiative. In other words, there is no formal lean manufacturing or six sigma program, but the kaizens are conducted as an overall improvement tool.

Almost all lean manufacturing initiatives include kaizen events. They are a natural fit to the way lean manufacturing is implemented, in a fairly quick manner following a model called “PDCA” (Plan-Do-Check-Act). After lean manufacturing is implemented throughout the business, kaizen events continue to drive waste out of the system and value into it.

There are also non traditional ways to utilize a kaizen event. For example, six sigma is a more methodical approach to continuous improvement, often utilizing advanced statistical concepts and design of experiments. However, during a six sigma project, there could be a very good reason to utilize a kaizen event. As one small example, suppose a bank is trying to increase their drive-up traffic volume and percentage of total volume. Six sigma would analyze all of the current methods and results, such as various marketing methods and resulting numbers. They would determine the direct mail and email marketing efforts with various demographics and distances. The six sigma team might determine the location is preventing drive by drop-in’s.

A kaizen event could be utilized to quickly drive improvement from the location disadvantage. The team might brainstorm ideas such as lighting and signage improvements. They might post a sign for “free checking” or “Free $50 for New Accounts”. During the five day kaizen, all kinds of various changes might be tried until one is found. On the fifth day, the kaizen team reports back to the six sigma black belts, and they take it from there.
Combining lean manufacturing and six sigma methods enables maximum improvement. The term for this combination of continuous improvement effort is often called “lean six sigma”. Lean six sigma requires significant expertise as two continuous improvement types of disciplines must be mastered, but once it is, the business is able to tackle the problems with the correct tools rather than trying to solve it with half of a toolbox.