The term kaizen is a Japanese word made up of the two characters 改and 善 (kai-zen) which translate simply as “good change”. This translation, however, is often embellished to mean “change for the better”, or even “continuous improvement” in an attempt to describe a concept traditionally applied by Japanese manufacturers, and more recently by many other industries. The main focus of kaizen is making continuous changes, no matter how small, to improve the production process. The term was first seen in English print in 1985, when the Chicago Tribune described kaizen as “An obsession with daily improvement”.
A key point to kaizen is that that all members of a company contribute to this improvement through suggestions and discussion with everyone taking responsibility to improve their individual workspace and processes. It is not a matter of identifying mistakes or faults, with instructions on how to rectify the problem handed down from management to factory floor workers, but of everyone giving thought to performing tasks more effectively and aiming only towards continuous, lifelong improvement. Attaining perfection is not an objective of kaizen, because there is always room for “good change”.
Toyota is the leading example of Japanese companies and kaizen. Its growth from a small company to the global giant that it is today caught the world’s attention and since kaizen makes up one of its management principles, many companies were keen to understand and apply the concept for their own business. Consequently, kaizen is becoming an increasingly popular and well-known concept in management philosophy.
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