After World War II Japan achieved an increase in the quality of their products so fast and high that the Japanese products started to be sold worldwide and were much preferred than the USA products. This method is called Kaizen (改善) which means ‘change for better’. The first kanji 改 means change or revision, and the second kanji means virtue or goodness. The concept of Kaizen emphasizes small, incremental improvements in processes, products, or services, rather than large, radical changes. It is very curious to note that the best way to make improvements is to do it incrementally. Life makes small and incremental improvements, which is called evolution. Humans make large and radical changes when they are hit strongly by life, but the most successful people also make small, incremental improvements in their lives. And the same with companies. Inflexible companies react often late to technological advances and want to a large, and radical changes, e.g. by implementing new technology. This causes an incredible amount of problems in the company. Software development has adapted today the agile development, which has also the idea of small and incremental improvements.
Joseph M. Juran (1904 – 2008)
Considered as one of the “fathers” of modern quality management – although his famous book “Quality Control Handbook” is from 1951, already more than 70 years old – Joseph M. Duran was born in Romania, and immigrated to the United States. He became an electrical engineer at the University of Minnesota in 1924. A contribution from Juran was the development of the “Juran Trilogy”, which focuses on quality planning, quality control, and quality improvement. These three areas are essential processes for managing quality in organizations.
The contribution of Joseph M. Juran to Kaizen was crucial. He brought quality management concepts to Japan. His work was better adapted in Japan than in the United States, which lead to the explosion of so high-quality Japanese products.
The results of Kaizen in Japan after World War II
Joseph M. Juran visited Japan in 1954. He was invited by the Union of Japanese Scientists and Engineers (JUSE) to give lectures and seminars on quality management. His new ideas and concepts like “quality control”, the importance of training and education, the necessity of continuous improvement, and the importance of top management involvement were kind of revolutionary. in the late 1950s Japanese companies began implementing these quality management practices, and already in the 1970s Japanese products became synonymous with high quality worldwide.
Kaizen and quality control are related, although they are not the same. However, the work of Joseph M. Juran was the seed that would lead to the creation of Kaizen, or better said, Kaizen as a philosophy, which is in the end supported with statistical tools. The results of their application led to Japanese companies becoming international companies with a great name in the global market for their high-quality products:
- Toyota – The Toyota Production System (TPS) is built on Kaizen principles.
- Canon – applied Kaizen to improve its production processes and product quality.
- Panasonic – applied Kaizen to streamline its operations and stay competitive in the global electronics market.
- Honda – applied Kaizen to optimize its manufacturing and development processes.
- Sony – applied Kaizen to enhance efficiency and product quality in its production facilities.
- Nissan – applied Kaizen into its manufacturing processes, leading to significant improvements in efficiency, quality, and production speed.
- Mitsubishi
- Mazda
- Hitachi
The Kaizen Philosophy
Several core principles guide the application of Kaizen in engineering and other disciplines. Nowadays Kaizen is also taught to be applied in personal life. That is the reason it can be considered almost a philosophy.
- Continuous Improvement
- Employee Involvement
- Gemba (The Real Place)
- Elimination of Waste (Muda)
- Standardization
- PDCA Cycle (Plan-Do-Check-Act)
Technical Implementation of Kaizen in Engineering
Different tools help identify opportunities for improvement and facilitate the continuous improvement process. Here is only a list of some tools:
- Value Stream Mapping (VSM)
- 5S Methodology
- Seiri (Sort)
- Seiton (Set in Order)
- Seiso (Shine)
- Seiketsu (Standardize)
- Shitsuke (Sustain)
- Root Cause Analysis (RCA)
- Kanban System
- Poka-Yoke (Error Proofing)
Learning from the history of Kaizen
First learning: There is some interesting learning from the history of Kaizen. The ideas from Joseph M. Juran were there, but the Japanese companies were the ones that adopted these ideas before the United States. The United States of course recognized that they were losing the race, so American companies started to implement also the Kaizen principles later. These companies were Ford Motor Company and General Electric (GE). This learning teaches us that good ideas are everywhere. But not everybody or every company will be able to recognize it, and more difficult, to implement it.
Second learning: Another learning from the history of Kaizen is that Kaizen has proven that it is better to make small and incremental improvements than to the ‘dramatic changes’ because it is necessary. Dramatic changes cost time and money. Small and incremental improvements can be done almost on the fly without downtime. This demands of course a flexible structure that can adapt the small and incremental improvements at any time.
Steve Jobs on the Influence of Joseph M. Juran
Steve Jobs was a genius who could combine marketing and management skills, engineering, and art into great products. And maybe more importantly, he was able to lead a group of very intelligent people to work together. Another curiosity of Steve Jobs was that he knew many talented people of his time, and he was searching their company. Joseph M. Juran was not unknown to Steve Jobs. Moreover, there is a video on YouTube of almost 20 minutes, that is worthy of seeing for anybody interested in manufacturing, quality control, and how these concepts can lead companies to greatness.
Quotes
“Without standard there is no logical basis for making a decision or taking action.” Joseph M. Duran
“Quality planning consits of developing the product and processes required to meet customer’s need.” Jospeh M. Duran
“Where there is no Standard there can be no Kaizen.” Taichii Ohno
“If you define the problem correctly, you almost have the solution.” Steve Jobs
Sources
- Pictures: www.pixabay.com
- https://safetyculture.com/topics/kaizen-continuous-improvement/
- https://kaizen.com/insights/more-than-35-years-of-kaizen-but-a-long-way-to-a-kaizen-culture-2/
Juan Carlos
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