Kaizen Meaning: Continuous Improvement, Explained
Definition
Kaizen is a Japanese word meaning 'change for the better' — the practice of continuous, small, everyday improvements made by everyone, from operators to management.
| Term | Kaizen |
|---|---|
| In Hindi | काइज़ेन (निरंतर सुधार) |
| Area | Production & quality |
| Search phrase | kaizen meaning |
| Try it | Lean manufacturing |
काइज़ेन (निरंतर सुधार) — हिंदी में अर्थ
काइज़ेन जापानी शब्द है जिसका अर्थ है 'बेहतरी के लिए बदलाव' — हर दिन, हर व्यक्ति द्वारा किए जाने वाले छोटे-छोटे लगातार सुधार।
Kaizen principles
Small steps over big projects; ideas from the people who do the work; go to the shop floor (gemba) and see; measure before and after; standardise what works so it does not slip back.
How a kaizen runs
Pick one problem, measure it, find the cause, try a small change, measure again, and make the improved method the standard. Many factories run a suggestion scheme and a short weekly kaizen review.
Example
Operators move the welding consumables rack next to the station: walking per shift drops by 20 minutes — a kaizen.
Related tools and guides
Frequently asked questions
What does kaizen mean?
Continuous improvement — small, ongoing changes for the better.
What is the difference between kaizen and kaikaku?
Kaizen is small continuous improvement; kaikaku is a radical, large-scale change.
Is kaizen part of lean manufacturing?
Yes. It is one of the core practices of lean, alongside 5S, kanban and poka-yoke.
How do you measure kaizen results?
With a before-and-after measure — time, defects, distance walked, cost — recorded for each improvement.
Related terms
- 5 Whys (root cause analysis)The 5 Whys is a root cause analysis technique in which a team asks 'why?' repeatedly — typically about five times — starting from a problem, until it reaches a cause that, if fixed, stops the problem coming back.
- 5S5S is a workplace organisation method with five steps: Sort (Seiri), Set in order (Seiton), Shine (Seiso), Standardise (Seiketsu) and Sustain (Shitsuke).
- CAPA (Corrective and Preventive Action)CAPA stands for Corrective and Preventive Action — a structured process to find the root cause of a quality problem, fix it so it does not recur (corrective), and stop similar problems before they occur (preventive).
- DMAIC (Six Sigma)DMAIC — Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve, Control — is the five-step, data-driven problem-solving method used in Six Sigma to improve an existing process by finding and removing the root causes of defects and variation.
- First pass yield (FPY)First pass yield (FPY) is the percentage of units that pass a process step correctly the first time, without rework, repair or scrap. FPY = units passed first time ÷ units entering the step × 100.
- Fishbone diagram (Ishikawa)A fishbone diagram, also called an Ishikawa or cause-and-effect diagram, lays out all the possible causes of a problem in categories along the 'bones' of a fish whose head is the problem, so that a team can brainstorm and then test the likely ones.