Kaizen concepts are quite different from traditional management concepts. For example, one of the fundamental management concepts in traditional management is is known as Management by Exception . This is also known as the "if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it " approach.  Given the way some Kaizen advocates paraphrase this, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” the backwoods and uneducated mentality of the MBE concept in conveyed through stereotype.  No matter how you phrase it, it means that if everything is running effectively, then why change the operations of the current system?  However, kaizen management and lean manufacturing challenge these existing systems and continually strive to find ways by which the system can be improved.

Meaning:
Kaizen is one of the most important concepts in lean manufacturing. The meaning of the Japanese word “Kaizen” is continuous improvement. When it comes to Just In Time systems or lean manufacturing, the system must change continuously in order to deliver the value to customers. For example, lean manufacturing always wants to eliminate waste from the system. Finding and eliminating wastage from the system continuously is a Kaizen activity.

Resources:
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Kaizen 5S Concept

Kaizen 5S Concept

The cornerstone of workplace kaizen is the implementation of the 5S concept.  Only when the 5S concept is in place can the other kaizen tools be put in place and constant improvement be sought.  The 5S were originally Japanese S-words, but when Masaaki Imai brought kaizen to the Western world, he translated them into English words with very similar meaning.

• Sort. The first step is to remove from the workplace, everything that isn’t needed for daily operation. These things are tagged and their disposition determining. Sometimes these things are useful.  Often, they can be thrown away, donated, or stored for that one in a million possibility.  It is amazing how much room for productivity is cleared out from the Sort aspect of 5S properly.
• Straighten. After the Sort, it is time to put the things you need where they best belong for optimum performance.  This would include labeling drawers, tool racks, boxes, shelves, etc. You also will define areas such as storage, first-aid, shipping, etc. Each of the 5s steps build on one another, to formulate the overall kaizen concept of an orderly and efficient workplace.
• Sweep. Sweep means to remove clutter and repair anything broken. This is a safety feature of 5S.
• Standardize. After tackling the first three of the 5S concept, the next concept is standardization of best practices.  Workers need to be given responsibility to keep each of the first 3S intact as the organization goes forward.  Once this is done, procedure manuals, and workplace visual cues are implemented. These standardized procedures keep the kaizen process from becoming dirty and wasteful.
• Sustain. This involves changing habits and is often the most difficult aspect of 5S implementation.  Changing entrenched behaviors can be difficult, and the tendency is often to return to the status quo and the comfort zone of the "old way" of doing things. Sustain focuses on establishing a new standard for organization in the workplace without requiring regular performance reviews or department tours. Organizations typically seek to reinforce 5S messages for a while through various media until the organization becomes a kaizen culture and everyone has the kaizen mindset.

Employee involvement:

Another kaizen concept that is key is the trust of organizational employees to determine the improvements that would bring about the greatest improvements to the system. This process helps the organization in many ways. The employees who do the work, obviously know the processes that they follow in performing that work far better than anyone else in management could. As a result, they can innovate the best ways to improve the system and organization. Ultimately, when this change is finally imposed as a process improvement, there is far less resistance since the workers, themselves, originated the idea.

When a workplace is utilizing Kaizen techniques, the system is continuously improved through series of small, but impactful, improvements. This makes the system dynamic. Only the most valuable changes are brought about and the end impact is far less costly to budget for. Employees are generally far more motivated, by the Hawthorne Effect , at very least.

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