Introduction to Kaizen. Kaizen is a japanese management strategy that means “change for the better” or “continuous slow improvement, a belief that all aspects of life should be constantly improved (from the Japanese words “kai” means continuous or change and “zen” means improvement, better).
The Japanese way encourages small improvements day after day, continuously. The key aspect of Kaizen is that it is an on-going, never-ending improvement process. It's a soft and gradual method opposed to more usual western habits to scrap everything and start with new. In Japan where the concept originated, kaizen applies to all aspects of life, not just to the workplace.
Kaizen is the word that was originally used to describe a key element of the Toyota Production System that means "making things the way they should be" according to the basic, sensible principles of profitable industrial engineering. What is Kaizen? - Introduction to Kaizen. By Steve Stephenson Kaizen is a system of continuous improvement in quality, technology, processes, company culture, productivity, safety and leadership.
Www.dynarax.es/descarga/36/en-Intro-Kaizen.pdf. Www.maskell.com/brian_tweets/BMA_5_Day_Kaizen_Process_Training_100506.pdf. Ianjseath.files.wordpress.com/2009/06/kaizen-blitz.pdf. Introduction to Kaizen. The word kaizen means continuous improvement and was created in Japan following the Second World War.
It is a Japanese concept for gradual and continuous improvement. In organizations, the system involves all employees – from the top management to cleaning crew. Everyone is encouraged to come up with suggestions for small improvements on regular basis. The philosophy is behind many Japanese management concepts which include, Total quality Control, Quality Control Circles, Labor relations and small group activities. Kaizen Process & Kaizen Events. The fastest way to resolve an issue might actually be by using tools focused on change.
In this rapidly changing environment, if you find that process changes are occurring on a regular basis, your process improvement initiatives also need to have the speed and agility to change with the times. Gone are the year-long teams to determine feasibility of a process change or product enhancement! It is not to say that a Kaizen event is the end-all, be-all solution to fix all of today’s economic issues, but it is a good start to solving some of them. As the U.S. government steps in to enact change and provide support to the various institutions in the country, there are additional changes that must take place within these institutions—some large, some procedural and some, hopefully, cultural. Blogging for Lean disambiguation & true kaizen. By Jon Miller | Post Date: October 11, 2010 3:45 PM | Comments: 5 The are plenty of mistakes people can make when starting up a lean enterprise transformation.
Kaizen for the Software Industry - A case study. The presentation is a case study of how a typical manufacturing quality tool (Kaizen) has been applied to work in a software development company (Infospace).
Abstract:Infospace is a leading mobile media and web technology company. They develop online and mobile software solutions that are deployed to large data centers where they operate the applications for Fortune 100 companies such as AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Cablevision, and Alltel. Infospace’s customers demand highly reliable services which in turn puts a significant demand on their processes. We will explore how the Kaizen method has helped Infospace improve their release processes to reduce release roll backs and priority one incidents that occur when deployments don’t release with quality. Buzz.typo3.org: How Kaizen works in software development. February 1, 2013 I guess everybody understands how improvements are important in this fast changing IT world.
Have you heard the word Kaizen? It stands for "improvement", or "change for the better". This word came to business from Japanese and refers to approaches and practices that focus upon continuous improvement of processes in manufacturing, engineering, and business management. Do Agile Right. Kaizen software development model. Kaizen-bpm-agile.html. By Reza Shafii 05/07/2008 The Japanese business philosophy of Kaizen, also known as continuous improvement, has had a profound effect on the way organizations improve quality and operational effectiveness.
In today's enterprise, the more recent concept of Business Process Management (BPM) can serve as an important enabler of continuous improvement. In this article, I explore the ways in which BPM can be used as an implementation of Kaizen principles and the reasons why the delivery of such a solution is optimized through the use of some of the concepts underlying agile development methodologies. BPM as an Implementation of Kaizen In the field of business administration, the term Kaizen (which literally means "good change") has its roots in 1950s Japanese industry.
Standardize an operation. The Kaizen approach to quality software development - Computer Business Review Africa. The western world prides itself on the technological and business process innovations developed over the past century and, from a broad perspective, enormous strides have been made.
Yet a puzzling aspect of the changes we have seen is that no matter what the West does, the East soon seems to catch up and overtake it in the production of high quality products. A similar process is now happening in the software development arena. Who would have thought 10 years ago that western programmers would lose their jobs to eastern developers? It would seem that the West is good at creating products and developing the building blocks for business software development, but it does not have the ability to maintain its innovative lead when it comes to commoditised products. Malcolm Rabson, MD Dariel Solutions Many people think that software applications are a special type of product that can not be held to the same standards and expectations as a physical product such as a car or a DVD player. Strategy of continuous improvement for software business. Have you ever thought about starting your own business?
Do you run your own business already? No matter if it’s a barbershop around the corner, a technical writing service, a software development company, or a huge corporation with hundreds of employees. Finally, it’s all about entrepreneurship. For me, entrepreneurship means using my skills to help other people to solve their problems. In the same time, I often have to solve problems of my business and turn them into opportunities. Surprisingly, competition, finances, suppliers, and management aren’t real problems in many cases.