# Kaizen

Operations · `Kaizen` · verification: source checked

Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning continuous improvement. It is a long-term approach in which everyone in an organisation makes small, incremental changes to processes and systems, typically through repeated PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycles, to reduce waste in time, materials and resources. Improvements are made against an established standard, and the standard is updated once a gain is achieved so the gain is kept.

## Specification

| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Kind | methodology |
| Origin | Japan |

## Connected

- Related: [Hansei](https://machineschema.com/operational/hansei.md), [Kaikaku](https://machineschema.com/operational/kaikaku.md), [Leader Standard Work](https://machineschema.com/operational/leader-standard-work.md), [Muda, Mura, Muri](https://machineschema.com/operational/muda-mura-muri.md), [PDCA](https://machineschema.com/operational/pdca.md), [Pull Production](https://machineschema.com/operational/pull-production.md), [Standardized Work](https://machineschema.com/operational/standardized-work.md), [Total Quality Management (TQM)](https://machineschema.com/operational/total-quality-management.md), [Toyota Production System](https://machineschema.com/operational/toyota-production-system.md)

## Safety

- Kaizen events can fail when the number of events held becomes the critical KPI instead of meaningful metrics such as safety, cost, quality and delivery.
- Gains made during a kaizen event can be rapidly lost when workers and managers return to the previous way of working.
- Kaizen events can fail when management does not involve frontline workers in the event.
- Improvement led by specialized engineers removed from day-to-day operations, rather than by frontline management and operators, is listed as a failure mode of kaizen events.
- Kaizen requires a stable operating condition first (machines working, workers present, repeatable jobs with quality, material available); without it, improvements are made on top of chaos and gains rapidly vanish.

## Study notes

- Kaizen was introduced to the world by Masaaki Imai in 1986.
- The kaizen process is based on PDCA (Plan-Do-Check-Act) cycles.
- Taiichi Ohno, creator of the Toyota Production System, stated that there can be no kaizen without a standard.
- Standardized work is established first as a baseline; targets are set against it, and the standard is updated after a measurable gain.
- Eight steps for kaizen: background, current-state definition, current-state analysis, goals, target-condition definition, implementation plan, check results, follow up and standardize.
- A kaizen event (also called kaizen blitz or kaizen workshop) commonly lasts five days and implements a significant improvement in a process.
- Kaizen event example: creating a continuous flow cell within a week by analysing, implementing, testing and standardizing a new cell.
- Kaizen event sequence: participants learn continuous flow principles, go to gemba to assess conditions and plan the cell, move machines and test the cell, then standardize and report to senior management.
- Daily kaizen and kaizen events are distinguished: events make rapid substantial changes, while daily improvement develops frontline problem-solving capability.
- Source cited: Smalley, Art. 2018. Four Types of Problems: from reactive troubleshooting to creative innovation. Cambridge: Lean Enterprise Institute, Inc.

## Sources

1. [Kaizen — A Resource Guide | Lean Enterprise Institute](https://www.lean.org/lexicon-terms/kaizen/) (accessed 2026-10-25)

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