Kaizen and Total Quality Management Japanese method of management. Kaizen: The Japanese System for Success

Kaizen- this is Japanese word, which means "continuous improvement". The word "KAI" is translated as change, and the word "ZEN" is translated as "for the better." Kaiden is a popular management system and philosophy that helped post-war Japan's enterprises take a leading position in global markets in many technological areas.

The philosophy of kaizen is closely related to the Japanese traditions and approach to work. For example, in Japan it is not customary to change jobs frequently. You must have heard that the Japanese can work in the same company all their lives. Their approach to work can be called more profound. In the country rising sun it is considered honorable to become a master of your craft and bring your skills to perfection. Even if you work at a non-prestigious job, you must become a professional in your field. In addition, it is not customary to whine and complain about fate. The Japanese mentality is significantly different from us.

Kaizen technology is aimed at continuous improvement of business processes in business. In addition, kaizen is used not only in work, but also to restore order in life.

5 main principles of kaidzen

The essence of the kaidzen method boils down to five elements:

1. Accuracy and selectivity;
2. order;
3. Purity;
4. Standardization;
5. Discipline.

The idea of ​​kaizen is widely known among managers. And, apparently, it is thanks to the ideas of kaizen that many Japanese companies such as Toyota were able to achieve tremendous success in postwar period. In Russian, you can find several books about kaizen. In particular:

• Kaizen: The Key to Success for Japanese Companies (Masaaki Imai)
• Gemba Kaizen: A Way to Reduce Costs and Improve Quality (Masaaki Imai)

Also on sale I met books about the Toyota way, as well as about lean manufacturing. There must have been mention of Kaidzen.

Kaizen system and philosophy

List of changes. According to kaidzen, you must first determine what needs to be done to improve work efficiency. A list of what can reduce financial, time and other costs is compiled. Up to the fact that the tools in the workplace must be arranged in a certain order. Just in such a way that it helps to work quickly. Changes can be made not only in the workplaces and business processes themselves, but also in your habits. For example, if you are used to checking 20 times a day email, then in this way it is unlikely to achieve high . You can, for example, set a rule for yourself - check mail 2 or 3 times a day at certain time. Some tasks are worth getting rid of altogether. Big changes can start with small things. We talked about this just yesterday in an article about.

Prioritization and order. It would seem that the sum does not change from the rearrangement of the places of the terms. But in fact, the order of work matters. For example, people are much more fresh and able to work in the first hours after they wake up. Based on this, the most challenging tasks should be set in front of you in the first working hours. And other tasks can be completely abandoned. In addition, it is worth considering the optimization of tasks. What to do first and what to do second. For example, you went on business to the other end of the city. It would be reasonable to schedule several work tasks there at once, so as not to dangle back and forth 10 times. After all, this is a waste of time, effort and money on gasoline. In order to streamline your affairs, it is recommended to use the timekeeping technique. When you write down what you do and when you do it, you may find that the bulk of your time is spent on secondary tasks, while priority tasks take relatively little time.

Putting things in order, "polishing". In the kaizen methodology Special attention given to order. For example, after finishing work, it is advised to spend a certain amount of time and clean up your workplace. The order will give a boost of energy for the next working day, because. coming on workplace you will be thinking about important matters, and not about the fact that some incomprehensible chaos of papers was established on the table.

Implementation of working standards. When the optimal balance in work is found, this should become the standard of the company. High standards make it possible to achieve outstanding quality, and hence all the success of Japanese companies. Japanese quality is usually put on a par with the products of German companies. When they say that the products are made in Japan, impeccable quality is implied.

Discipline is needed in order to adhere to the practice of constant improvements in work processes and not to return to the former chaotic management methods that are familiar in Russia, when within the same company there is “one for the forest, one for the firewood”.

Kaizen methods in life

Although kaizen is generally viewed as a system for improving individual business processes within a company, this philosophy can be applied in ordinary life. Each of us has areas of life that require improvement and our attention. And here we can use the same practices, but in relation to our personal tasks.

In Russia, it is customary to bring things to a critical state, and then with heroic efforts to make a revolution in the industry. There are even books that analyze the Russian management model. So, kaizen is different in that it involves a lot of small, but constant improvements. The point is that your business will improve through gradual evolution, and not through revolutionary upheavals.

In order for kaizen ideas to work, it must be supported by all employees of the company from top management to line performers. Kaizen focuses the company on maximizing the quality of work. At the same time, special attention is paid to improving the business processes themselves, developing staff at all levels and implementing improvements every day.

Goals of kaizen in business

Kaizen is characterized by the following points, which are also called the "Kaizen Umbrella":

• end user orientation;
• end-to-end quality control (total quality control, TQC);
• introduction of robotics, automation;
• quality circles;
• offer system;
• end-to-end maintenance of equipment (maintenance, TPM);
• kanban - Japanese production technology "just in time";
• quality growth;
• zero defects;
• focus on working in small groups;
• implementation of kaizen;

Essentially, kaizen applies to virtually every aspect of a firm's operations. Therefore, this methodology is readily used not only in production, but also for the development software. Kaizen focuses on improvement as a process. You need to constantly improve all aspects of your business to stay one step ahead of your competitors.

PDCA improvement cycle, SDCA

Each iteration assumes the following sequence:

• Plan (plan) / Standard (standardize);
• Do (execute);
• Check (check);
• Act (improve);

Instead of planning, standardization (SDCA) is sometimes implied. But in fact, standardization and planning are related concepts. Planning is needed to improve the business process, and standardization is needed to maintain it.

This cycle has something in common with the classical management scheme: planning, motivation, organization and control in the classical school of management.

Kaizen people management

Japanese culture has a special attitude towards subordinates. So, a person cannot be punished, give orders. At the same time, they are encouraged and supported, and their opinions are taken into account. That is, we see positive motivation here. In fact, it is this approach to management that is more effective, because increases the employee's interest in work, his involvement and interest in the matter. At the same time, independence is encouraged.

Mistakes are not forbidden in kaizen ideas. Employees learn from mistakes. A proactive approach is encouraged. It is assumed that the employee has intelligence and must use it in his daily work. At the same time, it is better to start doing something than to be afraid to make a mistake and do nothing at the same time.

Important Kaizen Ideas:

• the client must be satisfied;
• constant changes in all areas of the company;
• recognition of problems at all hearing;
• openness policy within the firm;
• small working groups-teams are created;
• rotation of personnel to different divisions of the company to broaden their horizons;
• focus on high involvement of employees in the work process;
• employees should share experience with colleagues;
• the development of local self-discipline is encouraged;
• self-development and responsibility for one's work;
• informing people about the affairs of the company;
• delegation of authority is widely used;
• management includes starts with planning and ends with control;
• analysis of business processes based on actual data;
• solving problems by eliminating the root cause, rather than dealing with the consequences;
• quality should be controlled not at the stage of delivery of work, but during the business process itself;
• application of standardization methods.

What is zero loss

Everything that happens within the organization is conditionally divided into those actions that bring value and those that do not. They add value and they don't. For example, smoking an employee at work obviously does not add any value to the work, but rather can even interfere. Such costs or losses should be excluded.

Kaiden has a list of such costs or losses (they are also called muda - which is consonant with the Russian swear word):

• overproduction and overflow of the warehouse;
• idle, waiting;
• transportation losses;
• losses on useless actions;
• losses on defective products;
• and others.

What is Gemba in Kaizen?

In kaizen, it is customary for the top manager to have a good idea of ​​what is happening at the lowest levels of his business. For example, a bank manager should understand how employees of his Call-center or cashiers work in a bank branch. And the director of the plant must know and see what is happening in his shops. The advanced work is also called the word "Gemba".

The point is that the head of the company should be maximally involved in the work and then he will be able to take effective management decisions. The manager must listen thoughtfully to complaints, examine the causes of all problems.

The classical management system is similar to kaizen in some aspects, but there are some differences.

At the same time, Kaizen differs significantly from the classical one. Soviet system management, when in Soviet Russia it was customary to achieve goals at any cost, regardless of losses, to launch sometimes irrational projects like turning the river in the opposite direction or resisting the United States, and at the same time - all Western Europe taken together. Kaizen is a completely different philosophy, where even small things are considered important. Kaizen philosophers say that small flaws "jambs" will eventually result in big problems.

However, many large Russian companies they now understand that in order to be competitive they need to improve their efficiency. Indeed, many firms began to implement certain elements of the Kaizen philosophy. For example, I have KamAZ in front of my eyes, which has long been interested in the ideas of lean production. Many other large companies in Russia gradually began to use the developments of Kaizen. Incidentally, in other Western countries also willingly used japanese ideas continuous growth in quality. For example, Siemens is willing to implement these ideas in its work. In particular, it is accepted:

• solve problems as a team;
• fix all jambs at once;
• look for the root causes of the problem;
• find the most budgetary solutions;
• make decisions quickly;
• question the usual things;
• think about tasks that can really be done and do them;

Kaizen ideas have a good potential for implementation in Russia. If we impose our breadth of views and the scale of the tasks that we set ourselves and impose this breadth of the Russian character on the ideas modern management(including the philosophy of kaizen and Western achievements in management), then we can get the world's leading economy.

Japanese firms are very different from European ones in what it is customary to offer there. a large number of rationalization proposals. And these proposals do not come from the top, but from the bottom.

Kaizen suggests that any organization always has problems. And problems in this sense are good, as they provide an incentive for further development. Kaizen is not only a concept that pursues economic goals, but there are also social tasks, such as smoothing the management hierarchy within the company, the maximum involvement of staff in the work, the most satisfied consumer, and so on.

Kaizen is not only about business and money, kaizen is about the essence of work, skill and perfection.

"I'll start on Monday. new life, I will go to the gym, do yoga, do self-massage, pump the press ... ”- each of us periodically sets some goals for himself and does not achieve them, transfers them to the next month, for several months, for a year. Isn't it because we want a lot at once and the plans fall on us like a heavy burden, preventing us from doing even the smallest thing in the end.

Sometimes we zealously begin to fulfill our plans, but having worked out, for example, 3 times a week in gym for a few hours, dropping classes for a long time. Why is this happening? Because the load is large, because it bothers you, and the habit has not yet been developed.

Kaizen Method or One Minute Principle

There is a Japanese technique "kaizen", which is based on the principle of "one minute". The principle of this technique is that a person is engaged in a certain business for exactly one minute, but every day and at the same time. One minute of time is very little, which means it is easily doable for any person. Laziness will not stand in your way. The same actions that you did not want to perform for half an hour, coming up with excuses or excuses, you can easily do in a minute.

Jump rope, shake the press, do gymnastics for the eyes, do yoga, read a book in a foreign language - when time is limited to one minute, classes do not seem difficult for you to do, but on the contrary, they bring joy and satisfaction. And by taking small steps, you improve and achieve big results.

It is also important that you overcome insecurity in your abilities, free yourself from feelings of guilt and helplessness, feel success and victory. Inspired by the feeling of success, you gradually increase the minute sessions to five minutes, and so on. Then imperceptibly approach and to half-hour occupations. There is progress!

Kaizen originated in Japan. The word itself is compound, and includes two others - "kai" (change) and "zen" (wisdom). The author of this concept of management is. He believes that this is a real one, which can be equally successfully applied both in business and in personal life.

Western culture people Japanese technique may seem ineffective, since the West has an opinion that good results cannot be achieved without great efforts. But large-scale programs that take a lot of energy can break a person and remain ineffective. BUT the principle of "kaizen" suitable for everyone and can be applied to many areas of life. , for example, use a strategy of gradual and continuous improvement in management.

It remains only to decide on your needs and start applying the Kaizen methodology in practice.

Material from Wikipedia:

Kaizen, kaizen- or a practice that focuses on the continuous improvement of manufacturing, development, supporting business processes and management, as well as all aspects of life.

Kaizen in business- continuous improvement, starting with production and ending with top management, from the director to the ordinary worker. By improving standardized activities and processes, the goal of kaizen is lossless production.

Kaizen principles

1. Focus on customers - for a company using, the most important thing is that their products (services) satisfy the needs of customers.
2. Continuous change - a principle that characterizes the very essence of kaizen, that is, continuous small changes in all areas of the organization - supply, production, marketing, personal relationships, and so on.
3. Open recognition of problems - all problems are openly submitted for discussion. (Where there are no problems, cultivation is impossible.)
4. Promotion of openness - a small degree of isolation (especially in comparison with Western companies) between departments and workplaces.
5. Creation of work teams - each employee becomes a member of the work team and the corresponding quality circle (a new employee for the organization is also a member of the first-year club).
6. Project management with cross-functional teams - no team will work effectively if it operates only in one functional group. Rotation inherent in Japanese management is closely related to this principle.
7. Formation of "supporting relationships" - not only and not so much important for the organization financial results, how much involvement of employees in its activities and good relations between employees, since this will inevitably (albeit not in this reporting period) lead the organization to high results.
8. Development horizontally. ( Personal experience should become the property of the entire company.)
9. Development of self-discipline - the ability to control oneself and respect both oneself and other employees and the organization as a whole.
10. Self-improvement. (Teach yourself to identify issues that are your own responsibility, as opposed to those for which others are responsible, and start by solving your own problems.)
11. Informing each employee - all personnel must be fully informed about their company.
12. Delegation of authority to each employee - the transfer of a certain amount of authority to each employee. This becomes possible due to training in many specialties, possession of broad skills and abilities, etc.
13. To manage means to start with planning and compare the plan with the result.
14. Analysis of what is happening in the enterprise and action based on facts. (Make conclusions based on reliable data.)
15. Elimination of the underlying cause and prevention of relapses. (Do not confuse the cause of the problem with its manifestations.)
16. Building quality into the process as early as possible. (Quality must be built into the process. Verification does not create quality.)
17. Standardization. (Methods are needed to consolidate the success achieved.)

Kaizen in software development

Late 2000s kaizen began to gain popularity in the software development industry. In particular, one of the creators of the Scrum methodology, Jeff Sutherland, considers kaizen as a process of eliminating interference (English impediments), by the team (and not by one Scrum master). At the retrospective meeting, the most serious obstacle is identified, and the task of eliminating it is entered into the next sprint backlog along with other stories (English user stories), that is, along with an estimate of labor costs and acceptance tests.

Kaizen in psychology

In addition to application in the business sphere, according to psychologists, the application of kaizen principles contributes to the development and achievement of success in both professional and personal life. Any change frightens people, radical or revolutionary ways to achieve their goals are often unsuccessful, because they increase this fear. However, small steps of kaizen soften the negative reaction of the brain, stimulating both rational and creative thinking.

The Japanese are always consistent. They consider it an honor to bring the matter to perfection. Even if you are a janitor, do not complain about fate, but polish your skills. The Japanese do not change jobs in search of the ideal, they can make their dreams come true anywhere. It's all about approach. And it's called kaizen.

Why not learn from the Japanese and try their management method? We have adapted the information so that you can apply knowledge outside the office.

Analyze your activities by making changes to the process. In this way, you will constantly improve the way you work. This is the right way, because the goal of kaizen is continuous improvement.

Life

The principle of kaizen is suitable for any area. For example, you want to start healthy lifestyle life.

1. Accuracy

Set aside half an hour when nothing will distract you. Sit down, divide the piece of paper into two parts and write down everything that bothers you in one column, and everything that helps you in the second.

2. Order

Make up, in which you include everything useful: a walk at lunch, Nordic walking in the park, cycling. You can also just make a list of the things you need to pay attention to. For example, create a schedule for avoiding junk food and including in your diet useful products. This must be done gradually, otherwise the body will rebel, demanding a dose of simple carbohydrates to which it is accustomed.

3. Purity

Keeping clean is very important, no matter what goals you set for yourself. In a cluttered room, a person loses the desired mood. In addition, cleaning can be turned into preparatory stage physical activity. Or make it a meditative process when you need to focus solely on physical actions and completely clear your head of thoughts.

4. Standardization

And now it's time to turn all the changes into a system. Just stick to the schedule and it will become the foundation of your lifestyle.

5. Discipline

Take care of yourself and get rid of cravings for old habits. At first, it is not easy: there are so many temptations around that it is difficult to resist. Improve by finding new ways to make your reality better.

Almost every one of us periodically sets a new goal or task, but never achieves it. Often we tell ourselves that we are simply not ready yet, but we will definitely start doing it with next week or next month... or next year.

Sometimes we even have the zeal to start. But after a little effort, we tell ourselves that we have done enough and it is time to slow down on the path to a new life.

Why is this happening? The answer is obvious: because we try to achieve too much too quickly; because we are tired of the new responsibility; because it's hard to change old habits and try something new.

The philosophy of kaizen, or the principle of one minute

In Japanese culture, there is the practice of kaizen, which focuses on continuous self-improvement and includes the "one minute principle". This method is based on very simple idea: a person should do something for one minute every day at the same time. It is clear that even the laziest person will be able to cope with the task when one minute of effort is enough. If you often find a reason to put off tasks that take half an hour or more to complete, then you will definitely find only 60 seconds.

Tasks can be different: push-ups, reading a book, studying foreign language. In one minute, you will not have time to experience discomfort associated with the activity. A minute lesson will bring only joy and satisfaction. Starting with one small step, you will be on the path of self-improvement and achieve great results.

It is important that with this technique you will gain faith in own forces and free yourself from feelings of guilt and helplessness. You will feel victory and success, which will help you move forward, gradually increasing the amount of time you spend on the lesson: first up to five minutes, then up to half an hour, and then even longer. Thus, the “one minute principle” will lead you to undeniable progress.

The practice of kaizen originated in Japan. The word itself means "continuous improvement" (consists of two roots: "kai" - change, "zen" - wisdom). The concept was founded by Masaaki Imai. He believes that it is equally applicable in business and in personal life.

At first glance, this practice may seem dubious and inefficient. It is especially skeptical of people who grew up in Western culture and convinced that significant results can only be achieved with great effort. But intricate and complex self-improvement programs that require a lot of energy from a person can simply exhaust their strength and not lead to visible results. And the practice of kaizen is available to everyone and will bring progress in almost any area of ​​life. For example, in Japan it is often used to improve management practices.

All you need to do is determine what exactly you want to achieve.

In 2016 in Malta, during the world seafood conference, some participants expressed their confusion about the situation in the Japanese market. This country is surrounded on all sides by the sea and the consumption of seafood in it is part of its national traditions. However, despite this, statistics show that the consumption of seafood there is steadily falling. This means that one of important industries The country's economy is gradually in decline. During the conference, Western experts repeatedly expressed the opinion that this state of affairs could be corrected if it were not for the actual inaction of the Japanese involved in this area. In any case, this is the impression that many had when studying the issue.

To this, the following response was received from the Japanese delegation - Japan's actions in planning and reviving the fishing industry are almost imperceptible, but only for Western vision. And in order to understand why this happens, it is necessary to pay attention to four important principles of the culture of the land of the rising sun.

One of these principles is called "nemawashi", and precisely because this moment the solution of the issue is at this stage, the actions of the Japanese have become so invisible to the West.

The four principles underlying the culture of Japan.

- The Japanese, perhaps somewhat more than other nations, do not like risk, it is for this reason that work with all kinds of pitfalls is carefully carried out even at the decision-making stage, and not after. As a result, the aversion to even minor risk is one of the cornerstones of Japanese psychology in business and in life.

- The second principle is harmony in society or in a team, so factors such as restraint, calmness and mutual respect come to the fore. There are never any heated arguments and discussions in the course of work, because this can be perceived as a desire to become higher than their colleagues, which is unacceptable under any circumstances.

- The third principle is "nemawashi", this is an informal and therefore often imperceptible stage in preparing the base for making an important decision.

- And finally, the decision-making moment, built on the basis of the previously developed agreement between the participants. For this reason, the adoption of a decision in Japan is often a mere formality and takes place without any disputes or votes.

NEMAWASI - elaboration of the basis for further movement forward.

Nemawashi, one of the oldest principles in Japan, literally means "digging in the roots."

Initially, its meaning was to prepare a tree for transplanting to another place, which took place in a rather unusual way. From the place of the future planting of the tree, earth was brought and partially replaced with the old one, this was done so that the tree got used to the place where it would later grow. And only after that, after quite long time, the tree was dug up and taken to a new place of residence. This method, although it took a lot of time, significantly reduced the risk of tree death.

Today, nemawashi is one of the most important principles of Japanese business and its essence is to prepare the basis for a future solution. It includes a long preparatory period of informal consultations, a thorough study of the details, the creation of preliminary agreements with key stakeholders, especially those who in the future will be directly involved in the final decision.

Nemawashi most often manifests itself something like this - a person in whose head a new idea, first expresses it to his immediate supervisor, then, having received his sanction, meets with experts and possible interested people, holds informal meetings in narrow circles, where he finds out all possible opinions on this issue.

Further extended, but still informal meetings are held, during which, with the participation of senior management, a final decision is gradually worked out, which is taken solemnly at a formal meeting.

At first glance, the same thing is happening in the West, however, the Japanese specificity lies in the incredible thoroughness of the approach, its behind-the-scenes approach and the mandatory achievement of full consensus, which is why this stage sometimes stretches for a very long time. This is what is common cause claims against the Japanese from their Western colleagues, who consider this method to be very inefficient.

Well, perhaps from a Western point of view, this way looks a little strange, but it certainly has its advantages, which the Japanese themselves are very fond of emphasizing.

And here is what they consider the most important:

“The Nemawashi principle gives the time necessary to evaluate all ideas, the possibilities for their implementation, as well as alternative ways of developing it. The one who is at the origin of the idea receives valuable feedback, and in the process of such work, the idea itself and the possibilities for its implementation only improve. But if in the process of nemawashi this idea turns out to be unsuitable for some reason, then this happens at a very early stage, when nothing has happened yet, money has not been invested, and little time has been spent, thus one of the important Japanese principles is easily implemented - take minimal risks.

- During the final meeting, which is convened to make a final decision, you can be sure that no one will surprise and will not oppose the idea, because everyone has already been consulted, no one was ignored, all opinions were taken into account. And this means a very important thing - the previously reached agreement suits everyone, which means that in the future there will be no obstacles to the implementation of the project on the part of interested people.

- In the process of a slow path to making a decision, the emotional component is minimized. Thus, the option is completely eliminated when a decision is made under pressure, due to momentary arguments or under the influence of emotions. Due to the large amount of time, all preliminary meetings become calm and lack the effect of competition or competition of opinions. This is how another of the four Japanese principles is put into action - the principle of harmony in the team.

“Given the high degree of agreement between the idea and its implementation, the process of its further implementation is extremely simplified when everything goes smoothly, without obstacles from the participants and without significant changes in the project, which always require time and costs.

Of course, for the Western approach, the principle of nemawashi seems very slow, clumsy and inefficient.

And these contradictions between the Western and Japanese approaches made themselves especially clear when the Japanese began to open their factories in the US and Europe for the first time. Indeed, within the framework of Western traditions, no one was going to spend a large amount of time on the preliminary preparation of a decision. Everything was decided within the framework of several meetings, often based on heated debates, irreconcilable discussions, clashes various positions and interests. This state of affairs led to the fact that decisions were made by the will of the leader and were, to a certain extent, compromise, because they did not suit everyone. And this is the eternal price for quick decisions.

As for the Japanese leadership system, here the meeting is just a formal event, within the framework of which it is solemnly indicated that which has already been agreed more than once before. And as for heated discussions built on emotions and clash of interests, they were considered unproductive and carrying little meaning. key point in the Japanese system of values ​​is the ability to work in a team and there is simply no place for any individualism, because in order to achieve a result, the consent of all members of the team is necessary.

In addition, Japan has adopted a system of lifetime employment, when a person connects not only his career, but also his life with one enterprise. Naturally, in such conditions, no one simply can afford to be conflicted and quarrelsome, because this would be a real threat to everyone and to the "cultural code" of Japan.

Within the framework of the nemawashi principle, any undertaking is discussed in the team from the very moment of its inception. Yes, sometimes it takes a lot of time. But as a result, it turns out that careful and long work anticipating the final decision, brings its fruits, which are not always obvious to the Western mind, which are expressed in the smooth implementation of the project, lower costs and higher efficiency.

It is possible that scrupulous adherence to the 4 principles of doing business is one of the important reasons for Japan's economic prosperity.

The principle of nemawashi is very close in spirit to the approach that proclaims the path of slow and gradual improvement called "kaizen" and which is also one of the cornerstones of Japanese society.

The philosophy of the Japanese approach to business is set out in Jeffrey Liker's book The Tao of Toyota, where the principle of nemawashi is one of the 14 principles of management.

It sounds like this - “When you make a decision, take your time, consider everything possible options but when you introduce it, do not delay.”