Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy 2/E

448 Pages·2012·1.05 MB·English

by  Masaaki Imai

Praise for Gemba Kaizen

It’s exciting to see an updated version of a classic book, Gemba Kaizen, which shares a
wealth of new healthcare examples and case studies from around the world. A true
sensei and master of kaizen, Mr. Imai shares sage and timeless advice on engaging all
team members in process improvements and radical redesigns which are deeply
meaningful to all stakeholders. The methods in this book will help you improve quality
and safety, reduce waiting times, and improve the long-term financial position of your
organization. Highly recommended!

—Mark Graban, author of Lean Hospitals
and co-author of Healthcare Kaizen
Every business faces the iron triangle of quality, cost, and delivery. Conventional
thinking claims you cannot have all three. Not only does Mr. Imai turn that thinking on
its head, but he shows you in Gemba Kaizen exactly how to do it.
—Matthew E. May, author of The Elegant Solution
and The Laws of Subtraction
Masaaki Imai has done it again. The second edition of his famous book Gemba Kaizen
not only describes all the tools necessary for any type of business to implement a lean
strategy but also includes a large number of excellent case studies. These show how
kaizen can be used to improve hospitals, supermarkets, airport management, a bus line,
and even software development. This is a must-read for the leadership of any business.
My first exposure to lean [the term hadn’t been invented yet, we called it Just-in-
Time or the Toyota Production System] was at the beginning of 1982, during my first
General Manager job at the General Electric Company. We created a simple kanban
system between one of my plants and one of my suppliers. We dropped raw material
inventory from 40 days to 3 days and got a lot of unexpected side benefits in the areas
of productivity, quality, freed up space, 5S improvements, etc. Professor Schoenburger
later did a story on this where he said that this was the first real lean activity at The
General Electric Company. In late 1985 I joined the Danaher Company as one of two
Group Executives. One of my company presidents, George Koenigsaecker, and I began
introducing lean to Danaher in 1986. One of the things that really helped us improve
our knowledge of lean at the time was Masaaki Imai’s first book, Kaizen. This was the
most definitive work on the subject and was a great help. Imai helped us even more in
early 1987 when he ran a seminar in the Hartford, CT area [just down the street from
Jake Brake]. Imai used a Japanese consulting firm, Shingijutsu, to help run his seminar
and be responsible for the hands-on factory kaizen part of the week. The three
principals of Shingijutsu all had spent years working for Taiichi Ohno, the father of the
Toyota production system. Koenigsaecker and I agreed that getting Shingijutsu to help
us at Danaher would be a home run for us and George worked diligently the rest of the
week convincing them. We became their first, and for four years, only American client
and our lean knowledge increased dramatically.
In 1991, I left Danaher to become CEO of The Wiremold Company, also in the area.
I, of course, brought Shingijutsu along with me and by 1996 Masaaki Imai was back in
my life as he included a chapter on Wiremold and what we had done in his new book,
Gemba Kaizen. We have stayed in touch over the years and Imai has become a true
leader in the lean movement throughout the world through his Kaizen institute. He
clearly understands that lean is a strategy, not just “some manufacturing thing” and that
it can apply to any business. He and I have discussed why is it so difficult for most
business leaders to understand this and to embrace lean. Unfortunately there is no
simple answer to this other than the fact that most people just don’t like to change and
implementing lean is massive change (everything has to change) if you are to be
successful. This latest edition of Gemba Kaizen goes a long way to helping to solve this
problem. First of all, it lays out the lean philosophy and tools in a very simple way so
that executives should not only understand them but more importantly, not be afraid to
try them. More importantly however, Imai makes the case that lean is a strategy and
that it can be applied to any business. His case studies of non-manufacturing companies
where lean has had a dramatic impact really help to make the point. Every leader of any
type of organization should read this book and follow what it says.
—Art Byrne, Operating Partner at J W Childs Associates, LP
and author of The Lean Turnaround
About the Author

More than any other business authority in the world, Masaaki Imai has championed the
concept of kaizen over the past three decades in thought, word, and action. Mr. Imai is
considered one of the leaders of the quality movement and a pioneer of modern
business operational excellence. Mr. Imai is an international lecturer, consultant, and
founder of the Kaizen Institute, a leading continuous improvement consultancy with
offices worldwide. Mr. Imai’s first book, Kaizen—translated into 14 languages—is the
reference on the subject. Gemba Kaizen picks up where Kaizen left off, introducing
real-world application of continuous process improvement methods in production and
service businesses. The second edition is fully revised with brand-new case studies,
updated chapters, and current references. In 2010 Mr. Imai was honored for his lifetime
of achievement with the first ever Fellowship of the Quality Council of India, the apex
quality body of the government of India.

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CONTENTS

Preface
Acknowledgments
About Kaizen Institute
CHAPTER 1 An Introduction to Kaizen
Major Kaizen Concepts
Kaizen and Management
Process versus Result
Following the PDCA/SDCA Cycles
Putting Quality First
Speak with Data
The Next Process Is the Customer
Major Kaizen Systems
Total Quality Control/Total Quality Management
The Just-in-Time Production System
Total Productive Maintenance
Policy Deployment
The Suggestion System
Small-Group Activities
The Ultimate Goal of Kaizen Strategy
CHAPTER 2 Gemba Kaizen
Gemba and Management
The House of Gemba
Standardization
The Five S (5S) of Good Housekeeping
Muda Elimination
The Golden Rules of Gemba Management
Go to the Gemba First
Check the Gembutsu
Take Temporary Countermeasures on the Spot
Find the Root Cause
Standardize to Prevent Recurrence
Application of the Golden Rules
CHAPTER 3 Quality, Cost, and Delivery at the Gemba
Quality: More Than Just a Result
Quality Management at the Gemba
Cost Reduction at the Gemba
Improve Quality
Improving Productivity to Lower Costs
Reduce Inventory
Shorten the Production Line
Reduce Machine Downtime
Reduce Space
Reduce Lead Time (Throughput Time)
Role of the Gemba in Overall Cost Reduction
Delivery
Quality Improvement and Cost Reduction Are Compatible
CHAPTER 4 Standards
Maintain and Improve Standards
Operational Standards
Key Features of Standards
Toyoda Machine Works
The Kaizen Story
The Toyota Business Practice: The Standard Problem-Solving Story at Toyota
Kaizen and International Quality Standards
CHAPTER 5 The 5S: The Five Steps of Workplace Organization
Good Housekeeping in Five Steps
5S for the City: Civic Pride in Romania
A Detailed Look at the Five Steps of 5S
Seiri (Sort)
Seiton (Straighten)
Seiso (Scrub)
Seiketsu (Systematize)
Shitsuke (Standardize)
Introducing 5S
CHAPTER 6 Muda
Muda of Overproduction
Muda of Inventory
Muda of Defects
Muda of Motion
Muda of Processing
Muda of Waiting
Muda of Transport
Muda of Time
Categorizing Muda in the Service Sector
Muda, Mura, Muri
Mura (Variation)
Muri (Overburden)
Removing Muda from Public-Sector Organizations
CHAPTER 7 The Foundation of the House of Gemba
A Learning Enterprise
Suggestion System and Quality Circles
Building Self-Discipline
CHAPTER 8 Visual Management
Making Problems Visible
Staying in Touch with Reality
Visual Management in the Five Ms (5M)
Manpower (Operators)
Machines
Materials
Methods
Measurements
Visual Management to Manage Complexity
Visual Management with 5S
Posting Standards
Setting Targets
CHAPTER 9 The Supervisors’ Roles in the Gemba
Training Within Industries
Managing Input (Manpower, Materials, and Machines)
A Day in the Life of a Supervisor at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Kentucky
Morning Market (Asaichi)
Best-Line Quality-Assurance Certification
Defining Challenges
Pseudomanagerial Functions of Supervisors in the Gemba
CHAPTER 10 Gemba Managers’ Roles and Accountability
Kaizen at Toyota Astra Motor Company
Role Manuals at TAM
TAM Group Leaders’ Responsibilities
TAM Foremen’s Responsibilities
TAM Supervisors’ Responsibilities
Items That Need to Be Managed in the Gemba
Group Leaders’ Daily Schedule of Activities: Examples from the TAM Manual
Group Leaders’ Activities: Production, Cost, and Quality Examples from the TAM
Manual
Foremen’s Activities: Cost-Reduction Examples from the TAM Manual
Supervisors’ Activities: Personnel and Training Examples from the TAM Manual
Section Managers’ Roles and Accountabilities: Examples from the TAM Manual
The Conditions Necessary for Successfully Defining Roles and Accountability at
TAM
Staff Development
On-the-Job Training