Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy 2/E Author: Masaaki Imai | Language: English | ISBN:
0071790357 | Format: PDF
Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense Approach to a Continuous Improvement Strategy 2/E Description
The definitive, fully up-to-date guide to continuous improvement in the workplace
The methods presented in Gemba Kaizen, Second Edition reveal that when management focuses on implementing kaizen (incremental, continuous improvement) in the gemba (the worksite) unique opportunities can be discovered for increasing the success and profitability of any organization.
"An updated version of a classic book that shares a wealth of new healthcare examples and case studies from around the world. 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 coauthor 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 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 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."
-- Art Byrne, author of The Lean Turnaround
Written by Masaaki Imai, pioneer of modern business operational excellence and founder of the Kaizen Institute, Gemba Kaizen, Second Edition is an in-depth revision of this renowned, best-selling work. The book reveals how to implement cost-effective, incremental improvements in your most critical business processes. Global case studies from a wide range of industries demonstrate how gemba kaizen has been successfully used to:
- Maximize capacity and reduce inventory at Unga Limited, one of Kenya's largest flour-milling operations
- Change the IT culture at Achmea, a large European insurance firm
- Exceed customer expectations at Walt Disney World in the United States
- Improve quality at Inoue Hospital in Japan
- Transform retail processes at Sonae MC, Portugal's largest employer
- Practice daily kaizen at Tork Ledervin, a weaving plant in Brazil
- Stamp out muda at Sunclipse, an industrial packaging distributor in the United States
- Manage quality improvement by total workforce involvement at Xuji Group Corporation, an electrical manufacturer in China
- Implement gemba kaizen at many other companies worldwide
To thrive in today's competitive global economy, organizations need to operate more effectively and profitably than ever before. Developing problem solvers, increasing productivity, improving quality, and reducing waste are essential success factors. Proven strategies for achieving these goals are included in this pioneering guide.
Gemba Kaizen, Second Edition is the long-awaited, thorough update of the definitive work that applies the Japanese business philosophy of continuous improvement and process innovation, kaizen, to the critical area of business performance where key transactions take place, the gemba. The result is a streamlined approach to realizing cost-effective, incremental improvements in your most crucial business processes.
Written by the renowned quality management expert who introduced the concept of kaizen to the English-speaking world, this innovative guide is filled with hundreds of international gemba kaizen success stories and examples from a wide range of industries. These examples illustrate how to reduce costs, improve quality, and increase customer satisfaction.
This comprehensive resource offers detailed coverage of important gemba kaizen topics, including:
- Quality, cost, and delivery in the gemba
- The five steps of workplace organization
- Identifying and eliminating muda--any non-value-adding activity
- Visual management
- Supervisors' roles in the lean workplace
- Gemba managers' roles and accountability in sustaining high performance
- Just-in-time and total flow management
- The CEO’s role in leading a kaizen culture
- Hardcover: 448 pages
- Publisher: McGraw-Hill Professional; 2 edition (May 23, 2012)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 9780071790352
- ISBN-13: 978-0071790352
- ASIN: 0071790357
- Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.4 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Masaaki Imai is the grand old man who brought the words Kaizen and Gemba into the English language. I did, at some point, work for his company, and was exposed to his ideas then.
Gemba Kaizen has two parts. The first half is a general theory; the second, a series of case studies. Imai's perspective is that Kaizen is the umbrella concept encompassing all efforts to improve not just factories but all businesses. In his view, TQC/TQM, the Toyota Production System, TPM, Hoshin planning, suggestion systems and small-group activities are all "Kaizen Systems." It is understandable on Imai's part, because he first made his mark with a book called Kaizen in the 1980s and called his consulting firm the "Kaizen Institute."
It is, however, a stretch to make Lean or the Toyota Production System just a "Kaizen System." Instead, Kaizen is part of what you need to do to implement Lean, but you could not achieve Lean with just Kaizen. Kaizen is continuous, incremental improvements made by those who do the work, and is as necessary as Imai says it is, but it is by no means sufficient, as Lean requires radical changes as well.
The theoretical part contains some valuable information but also overenthusiastic statements such as that the Gemba is the only source of information. Just because the Gemba is too often ignored doesn't mean that the company's information systems are useless. They also contain valuable information about customer orders, product configurations, or production history that cannot be inferred just by observing the shop floor.
As is common,the case studies are the most informative part of the book, but they do not necessarily support the premise that the Kaizen concept is central to all improvement.
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