Kaizen

Kaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement using small incremental changes. Kai means change, Zen means for the better. Its an approach for solving problems and forms the basis of incremental continual improvement in organizations. When applied to the workplace, Kaizen means continuous improvement involving everyone, managers and workers alike, every day and everywhere, providing structure to process improvement. Kaizen is about continuously improving: everyday, everyone and everywhere.

Kaikaku

Lean also recognizes that there are moments that more radical, step change is necessary. This type of change is known as Kaikaku. This refers to a revolutionary change to the existing situation. Eg. of upgradation of technology from 2g to 3g in telecom industry etc..

Kakushin

Kakushin means some change will form a complete departure from the current situation. It is about innovation, transformation, reform and renewal. Again, in our software example, this may mean replacing a complete application with a different application that supports the process in a completely different way, for example a web-based application that fully automates the registration of orders, the submission of invoices and the generation of a picking order at order fulfilment. This kind of change will entail the disappearance of many roles and functions within a business. Both from technological and business process perspectives, this example represents a complete departure from the current way of working. Another example of Kakushin is where the organization standardizes a process and supporting software across the entire organization where previously various groups had different processes and applications to achieve similar goals.

 

All these are very important for any organization to survive in the competent world.

Kaizen(Change for better)means continuous improvement involving everyone, managers and workers alike, every day and everywhere, providing structure to process improvement. Kaizen is about continuously improving: everyday, everyone and everywhere. Many small improvements implemented with Kaizen produce faster results with less risk.

 

Kaikaku(Radical change) involves were there are moments that more radical, step change is necessary. In simple it means a modification in the current system or process to match the desired outputs. This refers to a revolutionary change to the existing situation.

 

Kakushin(Innovation) means a complete change in/from the existing method or process. The idea here is that some change will form a complete departure from the current situation. It is about innovation, transformation, reform and renewal.

 

When we perform projects to reduce the production time, implement 5S, or redesign the assembly line, here we are implementing Kaizen. On the other hand, when we introduce a new lighter material to be used for the vehicle’s body or install robots to weld, press, or paint the vehicle, we are applying Kaikaku. When we design more flexible production lines to manufacture many different car models rapidly/quickly, then we had made a new revolutionary reform in our production system and that is Kakushin.

 

Kaizen is a Japanese word which means “Change for Better”. It actually focusses on continuous improvement by eliminating waste and work process which are overly difficult. It is a lean manufacturing tool that improves quality, safety and workplace culture. Kaizen focusses on applying small, daily changes that results in major improvements over time. For Kaizen to work successfully all employees in the organisation right from the CEO to an associate need to look for areas of improvement and provide suggestion based on their experience and observation. Kaizen benefits in increasing productivity with improved quality, ensuring better safety with lower cost and improved customer satisfaction. Kaizen benefits industries like – Manufacturing, Finance, IT, Software, healthcare etc.

Kaikaku is a Japanese term for “Radical Change”. Kaikaku makes fundamental and radical changes during a limited time in business unlike Kaizen which is focussed on incremental minor changes.  Kaikaku means radical change in business in the form of project which is generally initiated by management where the result significantly impacts business. New strategy, approach, production technique, new knowledge is always introduced in kaikaku. Kaikaku generally comes in when management sees the stagnancy in business through the ongoing Kaizen with not much adequate result in relation to the effort. Kaikaku projects often results in improvement in range of 40-50%, Kaikaku may also be termed as System Kaizen or Kaizen Blitz.
Kakushin is all about innovation, transformation, reform and renewal.  

Difference between Kaizen, Kaikaku and Kakushin - 

Kaizen is a continuous improvement using small incremental betterment. Kaizen involves everyone across all levels in an organisation working towards the solution for continuous improvement, this implies to minor change. Kaizen is evolutionary based on incremental improvement.

Kaikaku is implemented when there is a faster or radical change required in an organisation. Or there is stagnancy in the business improvement by Kaizen, so for faster result Kaikaku is adopted where the new technology, process, strategy is introduced by the management for significant business impact. This implies to a large step change. Kaikaku is revolutionary based on radical improvement.

Kakushin - The idea here is some change will form a complete departure from the current situation. Kakushin is all about innovation, transformation, reform and renewal. It is like replacing a complete application with some different application that supports the process in a complete different way. This kind of change will entail the disappearance of many roles and function in an organisation. In other words kakushin is where the organisation standardizes a process supporting software across the entire organisation where previously different groups had different processes and application to achieve goals.    

 

What would a company lose if one of these concept was not utilised-

For any organisation to stay steady with the competition and ahead in their continuous improvement in today’s economy, it is essential for them to adopt to these 3 K’s – Kaizen (Change for Better), Kaikaku( Revolutionary change) and Kakushin ( Innovation). Organisations benefit for all these 3 K’s in terms of continual improvement of their processes, Transformation of their organisation culture and continuous innovation.  So if a company will not follow any of these K’s , then the challenge will be faced in terms of continual growth needless of effort as the efforts put in might be futile not being systematic & methodic whereas Kaizen will easily and systematically help in improvement eradicating waste and overly difficult process, similarly for immediate improvement in business Kaizen Blitz will be helpful in bringing in radical change to the process and improve it.

Kaizen :

 

This is a japenese terminology."Kai" means change."Zen" means good.

Kaizen = Continuous improvement by Everybody,Everyday & Everywhere.

 

Kaizen is the Japanese word for Continuous improvement using small incremental changes.

 

Kaikaku :

 

This Terminology refers to revolutionary change with respect to the Existing situation.

 

Kakushin :

 

This terminology is about innovation,transformation,reform & renewal.

 

Kaizen means minor change from existing situation,Kaikaku means radical change from existing situation & Kakushin means transformation from existing situation.

For example ,

Mobile phone size reduction comes under Kaizen

We can use many applications in Mobile which is a radical change which comes under Kaikaku.

Replacing Mobile by some other instrument which will have batter features than this will come under Kakushin.

 

For any Organization to succeed,Continuous improvement is necessary which is common in all three Terminology with out which Organization will fail.

Q4 - Explain the meaning of Kaizen, Kaikaku and Kakushin. How are they different from each other? How do they complement each other? What would you lose if one of these was absent? 

 

Kaizen - Kaizen is the Japanese word for continuous improvement using small incremental changes. It translates as change for the better. Kai means change, Zen means for the better. Lean KAIZEN an approach for solving problems and forms the basis of incremental continual improvement in organizations.

 

A problem is a difficulty that has to be resolved  When applied to the workplace, Kaizen means continuous improvement involving everyone, managers and workers alike, every day and everywhere, providing structure to process improvement. Kaizen is about continuously improving: everyday, everyone and everywhere. Many small improvements implemented with Kaizen produce faster results with less risk. 

 

Kaizen could be improved upon to address the requirement of being able to implement changes more rapidly. And to respond to it, the concept of Kaikaku was born.

Kaikaku is Radical Change, where emphasis is on revolutionary change and big improvements. It allows organizations to reform and transform their culture and work habits into greatness via implementation of fundamental changes in the existing production systems. It is a large-scale and wide-ranging activity that is initiated and invested in by the executives and top management.

 

Kaikaku - Lean also recognizes that there are moments that more radical, step change is necessary. This type of change is known as Kaikaku. This refers to a revolutionary change to the existing situation.  

 

Kaikaku is explained differently among researchers and practitioners. Examples of different explanations of Kaikaku found in the literature are shown  below  -
Authors Description of Kaikaku 

• Imai (1986) A technology-driven abrupt change conducted by a small  number of champions.
• Wakamatsu and Kondou  (2003). An accumulation of daily Kaizen leads to Kaikaku. Kaizen is a means of Kaikaku.
• Ikaida (2007) An accumulation of numerous improvement activities. A varied and wide-ranging activity. Needs to be implanted into everyone as a DNA.
• Womack and Jones (1996) Radical activity to eliminate waste. Transforming batch production to flow production.
• Uno (2004) Fundamental change towards the ideal state, discarding the conventional way.
• Shibata and Kaneda (2001) System improvement where a new working method is   introduced.
• Kondou (2003) A process to attain dramatic results by replacing existing practices with new ones. Important to obtain new knowledge as well as to acquire new methodologies that are externally available.
• Bodek (2004) Kaikaku is an equivalent term to “Kaizen Blitz”, which is an improvement in a specific area with the aim of deliver-ing a large gain in a short period of time. 

So far you have explored making either small incremental improvement changes to better the production processes (Kaizen) or big revolutionary changes to reform existing production systems (Kaikaku). However, there are times that new revolutionary and breakthrough ideas, products, or services are desired and needed and thus we have to renew our way of thinking and doing and become innovative. This innovation and renewal is called Kakushin.

 

Kakushin - A third type of improvement known within Lean is Kakushin. The idea here is that some change will form a complete departure from the current situation. It is about innovation, transformation, reform and renewal. Again, in our software example, this may mean replacing a complete application with a different application that supports the process in a completely different way, for example a web-based application that fully automates the registration of orders, the submission of invoices and the generation of a picking order at order fulfilment. This kind of change will entail the disappearance of many roles and functions within a business. Both from technological and business process perspectives, this example represents a complete departure from the current way of working. Another example of Kakushin is where the organization standardizes a process and supporting software across the entire organization where previously various groups had different processes and applications to achieve similar goals.

 

The concept of Kakushin was mentioned by former President of Toyota, Mr. Katsuaki Watanabe; during interviews with Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review in 2007 as a Radical Innovation. He elaborated this concept by saying that if we could make simplified cars by cutting the number of parts in half and design more flexible production lines to manufacture many different car models rapidly, then we had made a new revolutionary reform in our production system and that is Kakushin.

 

It  is essential for organization to adopt and ingrain-in three important concepts of Kaizen (Change for Better), Kaikaku (Revolutionary Change), and Kakushin (Innovation). Organizations do benefit from these through continual improvement of their processes, transformation of their organizational culture, and becoming an innovative entity.

 

In conclusion, effectively applying these three essential concepts of Kaizen, Kaikaku, and Kakushin is the right solution for any organization who wants to deliver a sustainable high quality product or service and to ensure a steady growth in the global market.

	Kaizen(change + better)	Kaikaku (change + revolution)	Kakushin (new or innovation + revolution)
Definition	Kaizen => Kai (change) + Zen (better) => Change for better. It is Small incremental changes for continuous improvement / evolutionary improvement.	Kaikaku => Kai (change) + kaku (revolution) => Change for revolution.   More radical, step changes needed to improve the process/business on existing system	Kakushin => Kaku (revolution) + Shin (new or innovation)   When we need about innovation, reform, transformation and renewal from present situation. Some change will form a complete departure from the current situation.
Description	Those activities which helps organisation to improve a process or business constantly.   Improvement / continuous improvement Implement 5S and removes 7+1 types of Muda/waste	In a process or business where transformations needs a big/global redefinition of the system.   Transformation / reform / big improvement Allows organisation to reform and transform their culture and work habit	Those discoveries that allow changing the status quo of a business.  innovation / reform / renewal   Allows organization to adapt with new changes/ new things
Process to Follow/ Steps	1.    Identify an opportunity. 2.    Analyze the process. 3.    Develop an optimal solution. 4.    Implement the solution. 5.    Study the results. 6.    Standardize the solution. 7.    Plan for the future.	1.    Set based 2.    3P Kaizen 3.    Plan Execution 4.       Lean Transformation Support	DMAIC
Example	Update in current software	Change both the technical basis and functionality in current software	Create new software on the basis of new technology and new business process
Comparison	1.    Took less time 2.    Less costly 3.    Continuous process	1.    Takes more time than Kaizen 2.    More costly than Kaizen 3.    Non-Continuous	1.    Takes more time than Kaikaku 2.     More costly than Kaikaku 3.     Non-Continuous

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do they complement each other?

In any organization Kaizen is the integral part by which we keep the continuous improvement. When we need any big changes to adapt say like in car industry we are moving from LIQUID fuel to GAS/CNG to ELECTRIC car, then we are choosing Kaikaku. But when a car company going to open a new segment say SUV or more luxurious car segment they will choose Kakushin. So if a company want to survive and want compete in each section these three are clearly complement to each other.

 

What would a company lose if one of these as a concept was not utilised?

 

Well change is the only constant in life, if we believe it then we have improve ourselves to everyday, everywhere to survive or to stay up to date. If a company don’t change themselves with Kaizen they will become static/monotonous and loose its charm will lead to death eventually.

 

If we don’t adopt with new things/changes, i.e Kaikaku then we will become like Kodak a certain death.

 

If we don’t adopt with new innovative changes i.e Kakushin, like ”man power to computer/automation” will not be able to survive eventually, until a better competitor comes to market, like JIO comes with “internet data” with 4g technology in India.

Everything can and should be improved; improvement opportunities should be constantly explored.

The three important concepts of Kaizen ,Kaikaku and Kakushin - all relate to process improvements, based on Toyota Production System.

 

Kaizan promotes incremental continual improvement, resulting in delivery of products and services quicker, while reducing cost and without compromising quality. This is basically done by eliminating non value added work in the processes, thereby increasing efficiency, productivity or performance. Taking the example of glazing in construction industry, the actual improvement of work processes by reducing the non value added activities involved can improve the speed and efficiency of the work

 

While Kaizan is evolutionary, focused on incremental improvements, Kaikaku is revolutionary and focused on radical improvements. Kaikaku is a breakthrough, rapid and radical improvement of any activity. Kaikaku can be applied to the above example of glazing works by changing the glazing material to light weight variants available. This will result in quicker execution along with the kaizan improvements applied.

 

Thus Kaizan can bring about small incremental changes and Kaikaku can bring about big revolutionary changes to the existing production processes, but in certain circumstances, new and revolutionary ideas are needed. Kakushin comes into picture here; it deals with innovation, transformation, reform and renewal. The glazing material, by applying Kakushin, can be revolutionized by introducing photovoltaic glazing which help buildings generate their own electricity.

 

Kakushin and Kaikaku is sought in addition to Kaizen, not in place of Kaizen and are sometimes used as a precursor to Kaizen activities. Kaizen is essential for a long-term.

Effectively applying these three concepts can enable any organization to deliver a high quality product or service.

KAIZEN: Continuous incremental change for the better involving everyone in the organization.  Example:  Updating different softwares with existing hardwares

 

KAIKAKU:  Radical step change in the organization leading to a revolution in the way things are done in an organization.  Example:  Upgrading from one type of hardware to an improved radically different type of hardware (Desktop to Laptop)

 

KAKUSHIN:  Transformational paradigm change which replaces several existing steps with completely renewed steps and processes in the way functions are supported in the organisation.  Example: Cloud storage of data replacing local storage, Videoconferencing eliminating the need to travel for Physical Conference locations and Electronic record keeping eliminating paper documentation.

 

For an organization all of the 3 are needed albeit at various stages. Foregoing any of the three would not be an option as each of them contribute at least equally in keeping the organization abreast of competitors.

Kaizen - Small continual improvements

Kaikaku - Idea that can cause a radical change

Kakushin - Ideas that cause revolutionary transformation

 

Example: - Lets consider a grocery store (Brick and Mortar)

 

When the Grocery store implements a barcode system for tracking the Stocks, its a small improvement that automates the manual effort of Stock keeping and is a Kaizen.

When the store deploys robots for managing the store, it’s a radical change  where the store doesn’t rely on human resource for managing the store and is a Kaikaku.  

When the Store evolves from a brick and mortar store to an online e-commerce business, its a revolutionary transformation and is a Kakushin.