Kaizen

Continuous small improvement. Improve process with small tests, real observation, and measurement.

Goal

Improve one process. Prove impact with before/after measures. Standardize the win.

Rules

• Go to Gemba: observe real work.
• Blame process, not people.
• Involve daily workers.
• Fix one problem at a time.
• Prefer small tests over big redesigns.
• Measure baseline and result.
• Standardize successful changes.

Waste

Use TIMWOOD:

• Transport
• Inventory
• Motion
• Waiting
• Overproduction
• Overprocessing
• Defects

Flow

1. Define measurable problem.
2. Observe real workflow.
3. Map steps, handoffs, waits, and rework.
4. Identify waste.
5. Pick highest-impact small change.
6. Run PDCA: Plan, Do, Check, Act.
7. Document new baseline.

Resources

• Lean Production: Kaizen
• Toyota Production System
• Masaaki Imai — Gemba Kaizen (book)
• Kaizen Institute

Output

## Kaizen Analysis

Process: [name]
Problem: [measurable problem]
Customer value: [what matters]

Current state:
- [metric]: [baseline]

Gemba findings:
- [observation]
- [waste]

Root causes:
- [cause]

Improvement test:
- Change: [small change]
- Owner: [name]
- Due: [date]
- Expected result: [target metric]

PDCA result:
- Before: [baseline]
- After: [result]
- Decision: [standardize / revise / stop]