Kaizen can be roughly translated from Japanese to mean "good change.", but in business Kaizen means continuous improvement. It is long-term and it works systematically to achieve small, increment changes in processes in order to improve efficiency and qua

International Baccalaureate Business Studies

5/13/2010

Questions

Explain the role of Kaizen in quality improvement

What is kaizen
What is meant by quality improvement
Discuss/ Explain the role of kaizen

Kaizen can be roughly translated from Japanese to mean "good change.", but in business Kaizen means continuous improvement. It is long-term and it works systematically to achieve small, increment changes in processes in order to improve efficiency and quality. Kaizen can be applied to any kind of work, however it is well known for being used in lean manufacturing. If a work environment practices kaizen, continuous improvement is the responsibility of every worker, not just a selected few. This is because employees are given the opportunity to suggest improvements relating to any aspect of the organization.

Quality improvement is the systematic approach to reduction or elimination of waste, work-back flow, rework, and losses in production process. Therefore what is meant by quality improvement is to cut down on all the waste, back flow, rework and losses in production process within the business. This is because these things are factors that affect the quality and or the efficiency of the business activity.

The role of kaizen in quality improvement in a business that wishes to use it is that it eliminates waste and it’s a process of continual improvement. The elimination of waste is an important ...

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The role of kaizen in quality improvement in a business that wishes to use it is that it eliminates waste and it’s a process of continual improvement. The elimination of waste is an important factor for all businesses. Waste could be anything that slows down the business or costs the business and nothing can be gained from it, such as long lead times, lack of efficiency in employees and resources which aren’t useful. Therefore with the elimination of waste it will make the business more efficient because useless staff or strategies will be removed and it will cut done on cost associated with staff and useless resources. Another role that kaizen plays is the continual improvement, these are suggestion that are brought up from the whole business right from the Chief Executive officer to the lowest ranked employee can come up with idea to improve the business. This is beneficial to the business because everyone in the business is reflecting upon the business activity and how it can be improved. Kaizen also encourages and facilitates gradual improvements in areas, such as work systems, procedures, technology, office layout and production systems. These suggestions for improvement in different areas are often driven by quality circles. These quality circles are basically a group of employees who perform similar duties that meet at periodic intervals, often with management, to discuss work-related issues and to offer suggestions and ideas for improvements, as in production methods or quality control. In summary the role of kaizen in quality improvement is to improve the quality of the business activity of the business, this is done is small increments of improvements that are not obvious to see, however the results of the small increments of improvement is the elimination of waste work-back flow, rework, and losses in production process.