Tremendous results after the 5000th Speedy Kaizen!

Speedy Kaizen is an excellent way to realize small and medium savings. Moreover, combined, those savings lead to significant results – as is clear from customers’ figures!

Of course, we hope that many more of our customers will be as successful with Speedy Kaizen.

So, what is Speedy Kaizen exactly and can you use it to get those results too?

Plan, do, check, act

It takes more than a day to improve a company’s performance. It‘s a stepped process, with small steps. Detecting a problem, searching for a solution, securing that solution by improving standards and growing towards the next step in the improvement process. Improvements are made according to the Deming circle, with the steps plan, do, check and act.

Types of improvement processes

Continuous improvement is possible with three improvement processes:

• Improvement action. It’s possible when all improvements can be done without further research.
• 15-step Kaizen. The cause of the problem is unclear and needs to be researched.
• Speedy Kaizen. The cause of the problem is clear, but the solution is not entirely known.

Kaizen

Kaizen is a way of thinking. It originates from the Japanese words Kai (to change) and Zen (to become proficient). Kaizen stands for a changing improvement culture. It’s a structured search for appropriate improvements, not for spontaneous try-outs and seeing what works.

Kaizen has a 15-step program, uses an improvement team and typically takes 2-6 months. Sometimes the process can be sped up, and it’s possible to use Speedy Kaizen instead.

When do you use Speedy Kaizen?

You can improve with Speedy Kaizen when:

• Multiple departments are involved in the solution
• There’s a clear idea on the cause and possibly the consequences of the problem
• The costs and benefits of the solution can be determined
• It can be executed by two people from different departments, in two to six weeks.

Examples of Kaizen situations

• The delivered products or services may or may not be adequate
• The delivered products or services may or may not cause complaints

Learn to recognize Speedy Kaizen problems (with or without a team) and get going!

Speedy Kaizen in practice

Speedy Kaizen uses a six-step plan, within the Plan, Do, Act and Check parts of the Deming circle.

These steps appear on the clearly arranged Speedy Kaizen form. It’s easy to make improvement suggestions, alone or with colleagues. After the approval of the supervisor, the improvement process can start. When Speedy Kaizen is completed, the results will be reported, and the improvement action has succeeded.

Results and profits with Speedy Kaizen

Speedy Kaizen and Kaizen share many advantages:

• Involvement of employees
• Flexibility of employees
• Lower production cost by eliminating waste

Other significant benefits are the speed and independence of the Speedy Kaizen process. Just image every employee sharing an improvement point each month. You have 50 employees. Every proposal yields a € 500 result. That will lead to 50 x 12 months x € 500 = € 300.000 each year! When Speedy Kaizen becomes part of the improvement culture, a company can make big steps.