The Lean Turnaround: How Business Leaders Use Lean Principles to Create Value and Transform Their Company

Notes

Introduction

1. Kaizen, a term that I use a lot, is a Japanese word for “making something better.” As used by Toyota Motors, it refers to the idea of continuous improvement. A kaizen culture is no more than a continuous improvement culture. Kaizen can also be used to refer to an improvement activity, such as a week-long kaizen event or workshop. The kaizen office refers to a function within a company that is responsible for continuous improvement activities, such as the kaizen promotion office, or KPO.

2. This is a key distinction between traditional ways of operating and doing things the Lean way. The most common way for any company—whether manufacturing or service or healthcare—to do its work (i.e., add value) is to do it in batches. ...