9

Kaizen—Continuous Improvement

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Mahatma Gandhi

Upon completion of this chapter, you will be able to:

  1. Understand Kaizen and Gemba Kaizen
  2. Learn the approaches to continuous improvement
  3. Discuss the 5 S
  4. Explain company-wide quality control
  5. Describe quality function deployment and the house of quality
  6. Explain quality circles and the suggestion system
  7. Understand poka-yoke and quality of work life (QWL)

Introduction

Kaizen is a system of continuous improvement in quality, technology, processes, company culture, productivity, safety and leadership. The concept of Kaizen was born in Japan following World War II. The word Kaizen means “continuous improvement.” It comes from the Japanese words (kai), which ...

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