Project title:

Study on Implementation of ‘Kaizen’ in

Indian Organizations
(A Japanese methodology of Continuous Improvement in the
Workplace with small steps)

Submitted to:

NMIMS Global Access to School for Continuing

Education

In Partial fulfillment of the requirement for the PGDBM

Programme (Operation Management )

Submitted by:
Sumit Gupta
PGDM (Operations)
SAP ID: 77119716446

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 ABSTRACT
Whether an organization is small or big, it is very important to understand the importance
of continuous improvement. Continuous improvement is the process of having a change
in ongoing process for achieving things better than they were before. The basic problem
with change is that it looks cumbersome before a start. That’s how companies are more
and more adopting continuous improvement methodologies like Kaizen. Kaizen is one of
the most popular Japanese philosophy of continuous improvement which says whether
it’s our professional life, social life or personal life, it deserves to be improved
continuously. Many businesses like manufacturing, healthcare, banking, government
agencies, life coaching, have started implementing Kaizen in different ways to improve
the practices. Some of the most successful companies like Toyota have successfully
implemented Kaizen. The ideology of Kaizen is that no process or system is perfect and
there is always a space for improvement in every part of the system or process. There are
two typical approaches to achieve efficient progress: an incremental change of
improvement (Kaizen) and improvement based on the great steep (innovation). From the
reviews of various case studies, overall, Indian organizations generally prefer gradual
improvement rather than innovation and western organizations focus in innovation which
is known as great leap forward policy. The best thing about Kaizen is that it engages
everyone in the business, from top management through managers, supervisors, and
employees. In this project, data samples from 8 different companies of 4 states in India
have been collected. Also Content analysis and Narrative analysis have been done for
analyzing Qualitative data for the project.

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 DECLARATION

I hereby declare that the project report entitled “Study on Implementation of Kaizen in
Indian Organizations” is an original report, submitted by me in requirement for the
project submission for this academic year and interpretations drawn here are based on the
data collected by myself. It has not been submitted elsewhere for the award of any degree
or diploma.

SUMIT GUPTA

(PGDM - 4th SEMESTER)

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I express my sincere thanks to NMIMS Prof. Ms. Purva shah and entire faculty team for
the continuous support and proper guiding in this project. It is a great opportunity and
privilege to make this project under the supervision of these faculties in my PGDBM
programme.

I also thanks Mr. Prakash Yardi who is already a Kaizen programme consultant in my
company who tirelessly guided me in during the course of the project. His unwavering
support, never-ending encouragement, careful instruction, and unrestricted collaboration
helped me prepare for this endeavour at various phases.

I would also like to thank some of my friends who were in manufacturing organizations,
have given me a deeper insight of this methodology as well as other continuous
improvement methodologies.

I would also like to acknowledge all those scholars, Journals and persons who are directly
or indirectly involved in publishing research papers, books and other related material on
the subject matter.

Last but not the least, I would like to thank my parents, whom I am greatly indebted,
brought me up with love and gave me required encouragement time to time.

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 Table of Contents
Preface
1. An Introductory Section
a) Objective of the project
b) Scope of the project
c) Executive Summary

2. The Literature part

a) Introduction
i. An Introduction to Kaizen & Definition
ii. History of Kaizen
iii. Characteristics of Kaizen
iv. Role of the management
v. Tools of Kaizen
- PDCA Cycle
- Elimination of 7 Wastes
- 7 QC Tools
- 5S Framework
- Quality Circle
vi. The Kaizen Process
vii. Process of Implementation of Kaizen into an organization
viii. Kaizen advantages
ix. Why Kaizen in Indian Organization
x. Case Study
xi. Outcomes by Implementation of Kaizen around the world
b) Research Methodology
i. Research Design (survey & questionnaire)
ii. Data collection & analysis report

3. Conclusion
a) Main findings & its Implications
b) Suggestions & Recommendations
c) Limitations

4. Bibliography

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 PREFACE

In the middle of all the definitions and interpretations of Kaizen, I'd want to offer my
personal perspective on what Kaizen means to me. Kaizen as a philosophy appears very
intellectualized to me, thus I like to refer to it as an art of living, which suggests more
"doing," and thus it truly means:
“Everyday and everywhere, to focus on the current action and actively look for a better
way to do it.”

Best firms, like Toyota and Standard, execute Kaizen in a social scene with all
representatives, from top administration to bleeding edge laborers. This helpful method
has been effectively carried out in different pieces of the world, yet Japanese workers
have formed it into an artistic expression. It is the Kaizen mentality and interaction
arranged deduction, instead of the outcome situated speculation supported by most
Western undertakings, that has permitted Indian organizations to acquire an upper hand in
worldwide commercial centers.

Continuous improvement in industries have become very much important particularly

after pandemic. Most of the organizations suffered during this time and they bore heavy
losses. Hence it has become essential for those industries to go with the better in this high
competitive professional world. This project is all about giving a glimpse of a Japanese
way of continuous gradual improvement with small steps in Indian organizational context.
Kaizen shows the incremental change with small efforts without overturning everything
which is mostly the common point of view of major Indian industries. That is why I
selected this project.

I show my gratitude to Mr. Prakash Yardi (Kaizen consultant), my manager and

colleagues who enlightened and inspired me for the idea of this topic. Without them it
won’t be possible for me to come this far.

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 Chapter 1.
An Introductory Section

OBJECTIVE OF THE PROJECT:

 To study the implementation of Kaizen and role of small steps of incremental change
in Indian organizational context.

 To bring out the role of top management, middle management, supervisors and
workers for bringing the change through Kaizen.

 Also to study the different types of continuous improvement strategies for the
different types of industries.

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SCOPE OF THE PROJECT:

 From manufacturing to non-manufacturing activities.

 From processes to people
 Waste reduction like inventory waste, cycle time waste, buffer stock waste etc.

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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:

This project examines the definition of continuous improvement in detail. Continuous

improvement simply means making an ongoing, or continuous, attempt to enhance or
improve something. Sometimes the benefits are significant, but most of the time they are
minor. What matters most is that they are continuous or regular.

In business, this can refer to a wide range of items, including an organization's products
and services, as well as any and all internal and external procedures.

The PDCA model (Plan, Do, Check, Act) is the most often utilized. Any process may
be improved by going through these four processes.

This project discusses the continuous improvement strategies along with Kaizen. Kaizen
is an originally Japanese method of continuous improvement which gives the concept of
incremental change(gradual but continuous improvement). Kaizen is actually a way of life
philosophy which believes that every aspect of our life deserves to be improved
constantly.

When it comes to the professional sense, Kaizen refers to all the activities that involves
all the employees from top management to workers, and improve continually all the
business functions.

Kaizen is used in the manufacturing and production sectors, as well as purchasing and
logistics, to improve the supply chain across organizational boundaries.

The foundation of Kaizen consists of 5 founding elements:

1. Team work
2. Personal discipline in the workplace
3. Improved morale
4. Quality Circles
5. Suggestions for improvement

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There are 3 key factors in Kaizen:

1. Elimination of waste (muda)

2. Kaizen 5S framework
a) Seiri - tidiness
b) Seiton - orderliness
c) Seiso - cleanliness
d) Seiketsu - standardized clean-up
e) Shitsuke - discipline

3. Standardization

Since last years there has been tremendous ups & downs in business environment due to
unforeseen pandemic and production disruption happened in almost all types of sectors
and industry which affected severely the organization and sentiments of human being.

The Corona virus outbreak has forced companies to reevaluate the pattern of their
working methods and processes. With these emerging new behaviors, organizations have
an opportunity to back in track with continuous improvement strategies. People,
organizations, and communities today require strategies that are fit-for-purpose and can
adapt as the global health and economic environment evolves.

Hence the topmost objective of this project is to bring out the importance of successful
business with the continuous improvement methodologies as only business can create and
develop new utilities that bring the pros to the people and society.

In this project, a proper research methodology approach was utilized through survey
questionnaire to understand current improvement practices and understanding the process
of Kaizen.

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 Chapter 2.
The Literature Part

A) INTRODUCTION

i) Introduction & Definition of Kaizen

The starting points of Kaizen can be followed back to quality master Dr. William
Edwards Deming (frequently alluded to as the Deming cycle), yet it acquired prevalence
after Masaki Imai's book "Kaizen: The Key to Japan’s Competitive Success" turned
out to be broadly acknowledged and utilized by all degrees of the executives and their
associations. As per Masaki Imai, Kaizen signifies "nonstop improvement" in Japanese,
and it means to join all cycle members to accomplish reformist steady change. One of the
establishing ideas of the Toyota Creation Framework is consistent improvement.
Numerous scholastic accept that Kaizen is an activity that creates useful changes in a
nonstop learning and improvement framework. The significance of this word, then again,
is straightforwardly connected to the Japanese lifestyle.

Kaizen is a process-based approach to work and life, as opposed to the outcome-based

approach used in most Western countries, that has helped Japanese businesses gain a
competitive advantage in global markets. Kaizen is based on a shared culture and set of
ideals. Top management, centre leaders, administrators, and labourers all participate in
Kaizen effectively. Kaizen is a two-word Japanese term that combines the words Kai and
Zen. Change is referred to as Kai in Japanese, but a decent change is referred to as Zen.
As a result, Kaizen might be regarded as a movement in the direction of progress.

Kaizen has a number of distinguishing characteristics like:

 It is a never-ending and limitless process.
 It improves processes to produce better results.
 It's a consistent and progressive procedure with tiny tweaks.

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 It alters the operating flow by resolving the underlying issues.
 It is a group effort in which employees join together to discuss and solve a problem.
 It is usually a cost-effective procedure because it involves just minor adjustments.
 Because it is a participation-oriented structure, it assigns responsibility to all
employees, from workers to supervisors.

Overall, Kaizen recommends a humanized approach. The main idea of Kaizen is to

nurture the human resources of organization. It simply means, carrying out small
improvements in large scale with the involvement of the employees on continuous basis.

Another aspect of Kaizen is that it is a set of techniques for achieving breakthrough

results that is based on the utilization of data and variation reduction methods such as
Statistics, Statistical Process Control (SPC), Project Management, Facilitation, and Team
Management. These quick-change tools appear at least twice during the transformation
process' life cycle: first, after the project's prioritization, and second, after the Measure
phase. Kaizen demonstrates its worth after the Define phase and in the middle of DMAIC
when the Measure phase is completed.

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ii) History of Kaizen

Following WWII, American occupation forces enlisted the help of American experts to
help Japan rebuild its economy and recover its independence. The group in charge of the
Economic and Scientific Section (ESS) was tasked with honing Japanese management
skills. In 1951, this ESS group made a film to promote the three "J" programmes: Job
Instruction, Job Methods, and Job Relations. "Improvement in 4 Steps" was the title of
the film (Kaizen eno Yon Dankai). To put it another way, the survival of such enterprises
depends on continuous improvement, therefore Kaizen has become a way of life for the
Japanese. The Japanese were fortunate around then that different strategies and
instruments could help prospering Kaizen idea in Japan and it was declared in the late
1950 and in the mid 1960 by certain specialists as Deming and Jouran. This is how the
business improvement approach or idea known as "Kaizen" was introduced to Japan.

By and large, the majority of these frameworks, ideas, and new instruments that are
widely used in Japan today were developed by the Japanese, which resulted in the 1960s
quantitative improvement, statistic quality control, and total quality control.
Toyota Motor Corporation is a Japanese company that is well-known for being able to
effectively apply Deming and other management principles.

In the 1950s, Toyota implemented quality circles as part of their manufacturing process,
which was the first sign of Kaizen. Quality control circles are groups of people that work
in the same or comparable jobs and meet on a regular basis to define, analyse, and solve
problems relating to their jobs.

Masaki Imai, a Japanese organizational scholar and executive consultant, studied the
Toyota Production System and its Lean principles and was fast to familiarize Europe and
North America with the possibilities of Kaizen. In 1985, Imai founded the Kaizen
Institute to promote Kaizen around the world.

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iii) Characteristics of Kaizen:

Variable Type Kaizen

Rate Small Steps
Effect Long term and stable
Change Gradual and incremental
Time frame Long and continuous
Involvement All employees
Progress Collective and systematic
Work area Conventional and modern technology, technical management
Needs Low maintenance and greater attempt to maintain it
Methods Maintenance and improvement

Kaizen's most basic qualities include being an Umbrella-shaped concept that

encompasses the majority of unique Japanese management practices that have recently
gained international acclaim.

Fig: The Umbrella-shaped Concept of Kaizen

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1- Customer Focus

2- Long-term and system-oriented thinking

3- More emphasis on manpower and equipment

4- Participation of all organization members

5- Emphasis on process rather than outcome

6- A comprehensive quality control

7- Proposal system

8- Cores of quality control

9- Automation

10- Regulations of workplace

11- Comprehensive system of productive repairs

12- Quality improvement

13- Untimely and flawless productivity

14- Activities of small groups

15- Mutual cooperation of management and employees

16- Productivity improvement

17- Productivity of new production

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iv) Role of Management

Management consists of two major factors: Maintenance and Improvement.

Maintaining existing standards in technology, management, and operations is referred to
as maintenance.
The measurements that are utilized to improve these criteria are referred to as
improvement.

Fig: Kaizen Management Model

As we progress from the top levels of management to the lower levels, the responsibility
for enhancing the group is lessened, while the responsibility for maintaining the group is
raised. As we can see from this figure, higher-level managers should always spend the
majority of their time improving the company, while lower-level managers should be in
charge of maintenance. A manager who spends a significant amount of time reading letter
initials that must be completed by experts will never have enough time to enhance the
organization. As a result, Kaizen thinks that a company should continually be thinking
about how to enhance and sustain its own improvement achievements.

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Twenty principles of management in Kaizen

1- Never explain why you're doing something. Consider how you can go about doing that.

2- Don't be concerned about the situation; instead, take steps to resolve it.

3- Do not be content with the current status. Always believe that there is a better way.

4- If you make a mistake, attempt to correct it right away.

5- Don't strive for perfection in order to achieve your goals. Take action if you're 60
percent certain you'll achieve your goals.

6- Ask “why” five times to get to the bottom of the problem.

7- Gemba is a real-life error-prone location. Do not attempt to fix environmental issues at

work.

8- In order to address the problem, always use limited and current facts and data..

9- Do not spend a lot of money to address difficulties. If you can't come up with a clever
solution, consult your colleagues and rely on common sense.

10- Remember to pay attention to the finer things. The majority of issues originate from
such minor details.

11- Support from senior management goes beyond words and promises. Management
must be present in both a visible and audible sense.

12- Assigning authority to subordinates should be done whenever practicable.

13- Never look for someone who is guilty. Don't make snap decisions.

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14- The finest instruments for collectively solving challenges are visual management and
information communication.

15- The command of one-way communication makes organizational problems more

complicated from the top down. Senior management should have a two-way engagement
with the organization's lower levels.

16- Human with a wide range of talents. Use multi-skill patterns and job creation to help
them thrive.

17- Select only those activities that give value to your organization.

18- Keep in mind that 5t is the foundation for producing high-quality work.

19- To use the patterns of your work-group to solve challenges at your business.

20- Muda elimination is a never-ending task. You'll never tire of it.

- Hierarchical structure of decision making in organizations:

Fig: The hierarchical structure of decision in organization

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v) Tools of Kaizen

Getting the correct set of gadgets for Kaizen events is unquestionably difficult, but once
accomplished, the group's proficiency and usefulness are guaranteed to soar. Kaizen
provides a variety of tools and approaches that a company can utilize to continuously
improve. In this project, only a few of the approaches and instruments that will aid in the
execution of Kaizen are listed below:

- 1. PDCA cycle:
 The initial step of the Kaizen interaction establishes the plan-do-check-act (PDCA)
cycle as a vehicle for ensuring Kaizen's consistency in pursuing a method of
maintaining and developing norms.
 It's one of the cycle's key themes..
 PDCA stands for "plan, do, check, act," and it is a four-stage iterative technique used
in business to regulate and enhance cycles and products.
 It is also known as the Deming Cycle /Deming Circle / Deming Wheel / Shewhart
Cycle as shown in below figure.

Fig: PDCA cycle

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 Plan - The term "plan" refers to the process of establishing a development goal,
while "conceiving action" refers to the process of achieving that goal.

 Do - The word "do" refers to the act of carrying out the arrangement.

 Check - The term "check" refers to determining whether or not the execution is on
track and has achieved the desired outcome.

 Act - Act refers to putting the new procedures into action and standardizing them in
order to avoid a recurrence of the first problem or to set goals for the new
improvements.

- 2. Elimination of 7 Wastes:
 Understanding what value is and then eliminating (or at least minimizing) all non-
value added activities is a key concept in Kaizen implementation.

Fig: 7 Wastes

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 Waste is defined as any action that consumes time, resources, or space but provides
no value to the product or service. There are several types of waste:

1) Over Production:-Producing things for which there are no orders, resulting in

wastes such as over-staffing, extra inventory, and storage and transportation costs.

2) Excessive Inventory:-Excess raw materials, work-in-progress, or finished goods,

resulting in longer lead times, obsolescence, damaged goods, transportation and
storage costs, and delays.
Furthermore, excess inventory conceals issues such as production imbalance,
late supplier deliveries, faults, equipment outages, and lengthy setup periods.

3) Waiting:-Laborers who are merely watching a robotized machine or who are waiting
for the next handling step, apparatus, supply, part, and so on, or who are flatly
unemployed due to stock outs, parcel preparation delays, hardware vacations, and
limit bottlenecks.

4) Motion:-Any wasted movement that representatives must execute within the course
of their function, such as searching for, pursuing, or stacking parts, devices, and so
on, is waste.

5) Transportation:-Shipping work in progress over tremendous distances, bringing

about wasteful transportation, or moving materials, parts, or completed merchandise
into or out of capacity or between measures.

6) Rework/defects:-Creating or revising parts that aren't up to par. Inefficient handling,

time, and effort are associated with repair or revamp, scrap, substitution development,
and investigation..

7) Over Processing:-Finding a way to deal with the pieces that isn't redundant. Because
of the helpless apparatus and item configuration, wasteful handling occurs, resulting
in unnecessary movement and abandons. Waste is caused when more items are given
than are required.

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- 3. 7 QC Tools:

There are various QC tools available for Kaizen, but in context to the Indian
organizations of Kaizen, we will discuss 7 QC tools in this project.

 Check Sheet:-

 It aids in the organization of information by class.

 It reveals how frequently each given value occurs, allowing us to quickly zero in
on flaws or errors in the interaction or item, deformity designs, and even
explanations for explicit deformities.

 It is commonly used to collect quantitative or subjective data.

 Pareto Chart (80-20 rule):-

 The Pareto diagram operates on the 80-20 principle as a quality control tool.

 This rule assumes that in any interaction, 20% of the major concerns, commonly
referred to as the "vital few," are responsible for 80% of a cycle's or alternatively
framework's issues.

 Eighty percent of minor components are responsible for the remaining 20% of
difficulties.

 A graphical tool for categorizing causes from most important to least significant.

 It quickly draws everyone's attention to the most important component –

portraying needs in an at-a-glance manner.

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 Flow Chart / Process Map:-

 It's a graphical representation of a process' major steps.

 Flow charts are a great way to see how different steps are related to one another.

 Individuals and teams can often uncover possible sources of trouble and/or
identify measures to improve or error-proof a process by reviewing these charts.

 Ishikawa Diagram (Fish-Bone diagram):-

 This quality management tool is named after its similarity to a fishbone. It works
by outlining a quality-related problem on the right side of the diagram, with
individual root causes and sub causes branching off to the left.

 The causes and sub-causes of a fishbone diagram are commonly divided into six
categories: measurements, materials, persons, environment, procedures, and
machines.

 The brainstorming process is used to identify plausible causes.

 Histogram:-

 A realistic representation of a set of data that reveals the amount of variability

contained inside a cycle.

 The histogram assists us in clearly and swiftly addressing recurrent circulation of

information among various collections of an example, allowing us to quickly and
efficiently distinguish regions of advancement within the cycles.

 Scatter Diagram:-

 A graphical method for examining the relationship between two variables.

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  With dependent values on the diagram’s Y-axis and independent values on the
X-axis, each dot represents a common intersection point.

 When joined, these dots can highlight the relationship between the two variables.

 The stronger the correlation in the diagram, the stronger the relationship between
variables.

 Control Chart:-

 Named after Walter A. Shewhart, this quality improvement tool can assist
quality assurance specialists in determining whether a process is stable and
predictable, allowing us to quickly identify elements that could lead to variances
or faults.

 The values of some statistical measure for a series of samples or subgroups are
plotted on a run chart with upper and lower control limits.

 We can assess whether our present process is controlled or affected by certain

variables by comparing previous data to data acquired from the current process.

 Stratification:-

 Some quality controllers use Stratification technique instead of flowcharts.

 Stratification analysis is a quality assurance tool used to sort data, objects, and
people into separate and distinct groups.

 A technique used to analyze and divide a universe of data into homogeneous

groups called Strata.

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- 4. FIVE S FRAMEWORK:

Sort

Set in
Sustain Order

Standar
Shine
dize

Fig: 5S Frame work in Organization

 It's one of the simplest Lean devices to implement, provides immediate profit
from speculation, transcends all industry boundaries, and is applicable to any
function inside an organization.

 It is a method for organizing, cleaning, establishing, and maintaining a functional

workplace.

 Sort, Seiri (Perform):

 In this initial step, laborers sort everything in a work area into what is and what
isn't required.

25
  Some utilize a framework called "red labeling" in which each thing excessive for
an interaction gets red-labeled during the sort stage. These things are saved and
assessed later.

 The Sort stage is the initial step to utilizing space by getting out risky things and
mess that diverts from doing the work.

 Set in Order, Seiton (Orderliness):

 Every thing that endured the Sort stage is given extra space.

 It works with the decrease of messiness and proficient admittance to material or

instruments by following the familiar maxim "a spot for everything and
everything in its place.

 Workers promptly know when a device is absent because of a visual signs (e.g.,
void space on a sign-board).

 The Set all together stage makes an ergonomic, coordinated and cleaned up work
area where representatives have what they need not far off and know where each
thing is put away. This establishes a less unpleasant workplace.

 Shine, Seiso (Systematic Cleaning):

 It centers after keeping the work environment, apparatus, and devices clean.

 This incorporates keeping devices and apparatus aligned, performing preventive

support and the utilization of viewable prompts to flag when upkeep is required.

 The Shine stage establishes a more wonderful climate for workers, who presently
don't need to battle residue, soil and mess.

 Cleaning the region consistently likewise prompts a more significant level of

representative purchase in for the 5S technique.

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 Standardize, Seiketsu:

 This step includes making approaches to support the initial three stages.

 Employees partake in formation of a bunch of principles that will

govern maintenance of the workspace going forward.

 The Standardize stage takes the progress and changes in behaviour from the previous
three phases and turns it into a standard technique.

 Sustain, Shitsuke (Discipline):

 In Sustain, laborers keep the new norms set up and practice the initial three stages
each day until they become programmed and the acknowledged method of getting
things done.

 It centers after instituting methods that support the mental significance of the
settlements accomplished by the general structure.

 The Sustain period of 5S frequently requires preparing and great correspondence,

however it at last will prompt representatives becoming OK with 5S methods.

- 5. Quality Circles
 A quality circle is a group of persons in the workplace who have the same or
comparable job duties.

 Quality circles got their start in the 1950's with the concept being pioneered by W.
Edwards Deming.

 Quality Circle was first introduced by BHEL, Ramachandrapuram in 1980 in

India and hence they are called pioneers of this wonderful movement in India.

27
 With each meeting, most quality circles will follow a predetermined procedure. In
general, this will follow the Plan, Do, Check, Act process, which is ideal for
continuous improvement projects.

 Employees demonstrate greater reliability and commitment to their organization

when they are available to collaboratively identify and address quality or
execution issues. When it comes to smaller groups of 3 to 12 people, this is the
least demanding option.

 Following this interaction not only makes it easier to recognize and implement
expected arrangements, but it also provides a set up stream for going from one
cycle improvement to the next.

 This is crucial in light of the fact that this type of gathering meeting is scheduled
to happen on a regular basis, with new concerns being identified and resolved on
a regular basis.

 Quality circles offer representatives the chance to utilize all their experience,
information and imagination to bring improvement into their exercises.

 To genuinely do quality circles equity, it is significant that individuals need to feel

great and be allowed to impart their own insight.

 Every member of the quality circle must also have their turn. This is the lone way
for employees to feel engaged and intrigued, motivating them to contribute.
There is also a need to establish an acceptable goal so that everyone understands
what is expected of them.

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vi) The Kaizen Process
The Kaizen measure provides a method for dealing with critical thinking that is both
trained and scientific. Kaizen focuses on a measurement-based approach and a board
framework that supports and recognizes people groups' cycle-based development efforts.
The Kaizen interaction is based on the PDCA cycle and consists of six basic steps that
allow any individual or group to solve problems deductively, effectively, and sustainably
which are:
1. Identify a problem or opportunity
2. Analyze the process
3. Develop an optimal solution
4. Implement the solution
5. Study the results and adjust
6. Standardize the solution

Identifying
problem

Standardize
Analyzing
the
process
solution

Analyzing Developing
result solution

Implementi
ng solution

Fig: The KAIZEN Process

29
Kaizen begins with a problem, or, more precisely, with the understanding that a problem
exists and that improvements are possible. When issues are discovered, the organization
must get the help of cross-functional faculty to determine what is causing them. After that,
the proposed system is put to the test on a modest scale. Using information, the group
makes adjustments in accordance with the arrangement. Finally, the results are dispersed
throughout the company, and the setup is standardized.

Fig: The Pictorial form of Kaizen Process

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vii) Process of Implementation of Kaizen into an Organization

This project intends to achieve the aforementioned objectives relying on the previous
experiences by the aim of improving productivity, costs reduction, processes analyses,
wastes elimination, optimization of workplace and submission of required training to the
employees.

1) To study the existing situation ( at zero situation)

2) General conference on Kaizen introduction
3) To form Kaizen team
4) To hold workshop of adornment system
5) To implement the first step of adornment system
6) To implement the second step of adornment system
7) To prepare comprehensive map of processing
8) To modify process

Expanding rivalry in the worldwide market, the fast advancement of innovation and
developing client direction are only a couple of instances of the difficulties an
organization needs to manage these days to endure. During the last decade, there has been
a developing interest in the idea of Continuous Improvement (CI) as a method for
adapting to this commotion and as a way towards further developing business execution.
Deming (1986) took on the idea of CI as his initial quality guideline through Plan-Do-
Check-Act (PDCA) cycles. Imai (1986) even contends that CI is important for Japanese
culture, where it is known as kaizen – which means improvement and characterized as a
"all inclusive course of engaged and supported steady improvement"

So, assuming an organization needs to make progress and benefit by turning into world-
class organization, it should set up a long haul, far reaching kaizen program, focus on it,
and commit itself to it. The strategies for consolidating kaizen into an association are
illustrated beneath.

31
a) Kaizen Events

 Kaizen as a philosophy is distinct from a kaizen event.

 Rapid improvement events, or kaizen events, are another term for kaizen events.
 Kaizen events bring together small groups of employees to tackle a specific problem.
 Unlike the typical day-to-day kaizen activities, a well-planned kaizen programme that
includes monthly kaizen events may reap significant benefits for the business.
 Top management must create a long-term plan and offer the resources essential for
kaizen teams to have an ultimate destination while performing kaizen events.
 When everyone works together to attain a common goal, kaizen events are most
successful.

b) Kaizen Program

The following are the essential components for creating a kaizen programme in your
organization.
 Defining and communicating the vision
 Appoint a Kaizen Champion.
 Bulletin boards and e-newsletters

c) Governing Committee for Kaizen

 Establishing a committee of employees to assist organize and oversee the monthly

kaizen events is another important aspect of the kaizen programme.
 This kaizen governance committee is in charge of guaranteeing the success of kaizen
teams and assisting in the removal of any hurdles or limitations that may obstruct
improvement efforts.
 The kaizen champion is responsible for ensuring that the hands-on work during
kaizen events is completed.
 The kaizen governance committee is responsible for resolving any issues that require
management attention.

32
 Members of the Kaizen governing committee should include:
 The kaizen champion,
 the plant manager,
 the production manager,
 the engineering manager,
 the materials manager,
 the quality manager,
 the facilities/safety manager, and
 the human resources manager

d) Kaizen team selection

The engagement of employees from all levels of the company is one of the most
important components of kaizen. In light of these key kaizen methods of reasoning, the
group ought to include the accompanying individuals:
 Team Leader
 Team Members
 Process Engineer
 Quality Engineer
 Facilities/Maintenance Personnel
 Materials Handler
 Line Operators
 Management

e) Kaizen Monthly Meeting

 The kaizen monthly meeting should be held on a regular basis, once a month.
Schedule kaizen meetings, for example, every second Tuesday of the month.
 This helps committee members to plan their other obligations so that they do not miss
a meeting.
 It's a good idea to publicise the meeting in the business newsletter as a pleasant
reminder to everyone at the facility.

33
 The monthly kaizen meeting should be divided into the following agendas:
Part 1: Open action items are discussed.
Part 2: Discussion of the previous event's outcomes
Part 3: Making plans for forthcoming events

f) Accountability and Training

 All workers in the organization will require some expertise and awareness of core
lean principles and terminology before any kaizen events.
 Training should take place as kaizen events are planned and teams are formed.
 The governing committee for kaizen should be trained initially, followed by the team
of employees chosen for the first kaizen event.
 Kaizen starts with the assembly line and the line operators in lean management.
However, the firm will eventually demand that all employees engage in a kaizen
event, and they will all require this training.

g) Moving Ahead

 It will be fantastic to have your first successful kaizen event. This sense of success
should serve as a powerful motivator for further improvements.
 It's time to refocus and move on to the next step of enhancing the company's
operations.
 Kaizen should become a way of life, and the next stage is to keep improving on what
the kaizen team has accomplished.
 It contributes to the establishment of a basis for future facility enhancement activities.

34
viii) Kaizen Advantages

Because Kaizen is more of a concept than a tool, it may be found in a variety of process
improvement techniques, from Total Quality Management (TQM) to employee
suggestion boxes. Every person, at every level of the company, is accountable for
discovering gaps and inefficiencies, and everyone, at every level, proposes areas for
improvement.

This way of thinking of continuous improvement underscores the significance of

including workers at each level of the association. This way of thinking accepts that our
regular daily existence should zero in on steady improvement efforts. This is so normal
and clear to numerous elite associations that they in some cases fail to remember that they
as of now have it. Joining of kaizen into ordinary everyday exercises with the attention on
removing wastes, making principles, and having a perfect, coordinated working
environment. Upgrades made through kaizen are by and large little and unobtrusive; in
any case, their outcomes over the long run can be enormous and dependable. Makers
ought to continually ponder the potential spots of upgrades. The achievement of kaizen
comes from its kin and their activities, not from new bits of hardware and apparatus.

Kaizen seeks to increase productivity, effectiveness, safety, and waste reduction, but
individuals who apply the method typically discover a lot more:

 Waste Reduction – Whenever you want to improve things, you start with removing
the waste thereby optimizing the process. Waste may be defined as the squandering
of resources or labour.

 Productivity – With the reduction of waste, productivity increases positively.

 Results orientation – Kaizen is a process which is result oriented. There is a clear

line between where the firm is now and where it intends to go. Quality - Managers
aim for the highest quality possible while keeping progress in mind.

35
 Quality – With improvement in mind, managers always strive for the optimum
quality. Kaizen helps bolster the quality of products and processes.

 Accuracy – Due to the focus on getting results productively and with high quality,
processes are found which are effective and accurate.

 Cost advantage - Because everything is functioning at a high level of efficiency and

productivity, the company saves a lot of money because it receives more output with
less input.

 Competitive advantage – Firms following Kaizen gain a competitive advantage

because they are continuously improving and they might take newer competitors as
benchmarks, learn new things and take their competitors down.

 Safety – Kaizen has recently developed a 6S system, which stands for Safety, in
which all companies must guarantee that the process is safe, keeping the workforce
safe from damage.

 Empowerment – Because Kaizen involves multiple levels of hierarchy, everyone is

allowed the freedom of speech, which empowers them and allows them to flourish in
the workplace.

 Happy workplace – All of the above results in a happy workplace where ground
level employees also know that they can create a difference in the organization.

 Satisfaction – When there is a good attitude in the workplace, everyone is happy,

and this happiness extends to consumers who are happy with the products and
services they get.

 Continuous improvement – The best advantage of Kaizen is that it is never over

and there is continuous improvement providing many number of opportunities for the
firm to improve.

36
ix) Why Kaizen in Indian Organization

Indians are lot more traditional and significantly more customary. They are deeply
influenced by their culture. So to adapt and prevail as a business person whether you are
from India or outside, you need to manage changes and simultaneously attached to the
Indian culture. An extremely long however yet exceptionally effective strategy called
Kaizen, a Japanese idea of nonstop improvement can be utilized for expanding the
efficiency of man, material and machine. In this undertaking accentuation has been set
down to the mixture of Kaizen with Indian ways of thinking and making approaches to
manage Indian individuals and thus gaining ground at the same time.

The technology, founded by management guru Masaaki Imai for eliminating waste and
using lean processing methods has seen a two-fold increase in inquiries in the last one
year and about 25 per cent rise in its Indian business. Kaizen when translated into English
means continuing improvements.

The Kaizen Institute was formed in India in 2000 with offices at Delhi, Pune, and
Ahmedabad.

The Kaizen Management System addresses all aspects that contribute to company results
including quality, costs, logistics, staff motivation, safety, technology and environment.
The entire process chain – from supplier via the internal customer to the final customer is
therefore taken into consideration. “Two years ago it was difficult to convince a CEO for
driving improvements in the organization. Today, however it is time to listen to change in
strategy,” said Jayant Murthy, one of the three directors of Kaizen Institute – India and
Africa.

Kaizen assists customers with starting prompt authoritative change by utilizing innovative
and viable arrangements through different Kaizen instruments and Total Systems
Improvement program, to accomplish customer explicit and on going key development.
While Kaizen is every now and again considered with regards to little studio and
exercises, KAIZEN Institute utilizes an essential way to deal with assistance its customers

37
move past the methods with JIT, Kanban System Value Stream Mapping, or even Six
Sigma.

HOW KAIZEN CAN BENEFIT THE BUSINESS

Majority of Indian businesses are always striving to minimize waste while simultaneously
improving quality. Kaizen can assist with this, but it also has a lot of other advantages for
businesses that use it.. Kaizen helps with this but goes much further in terms of the
benefits it offers companies that implement it.

Employee Satisfaction
The term “Employee Satisfaction” generally used for describing whether employees are
happy and their expectations are met at work place. This is also known as job satisfaction
which means at what extent an individual is satisfied with the activities they are doing for
their particular role.

According to the Monster Salary Index, employee satisfaction with regards to pay
dropped by almost 22%. Despite that, three in four employees in India are satisfied with
their jobs. This includes employee relations with peers and senior management, shows
the Monster survey.

With Kaizen, the entire focus is on creating a culture focused on teamwork and change,
where everyone is encouraged to share their ideas. Team members are encouraged to
make recommendations for improvement, and they will be happier in their work if their
comments are taken seriously.

Resource Utilization
Results show that the utility, industry, residential-commercial, transport, and agriculture
sectors in India, high quality resources extracted from the earth are being wasted.
Technological advancements, proper legislation, and education to raise public awareness
can all help to prevent resource conversion losses in various industries.

Kaizen focuses on enhancing goods through making better use of existing resources
(people) to make minor improvements on a regular basis.

38
Kaizen focuses on improving products through better utilization of the current resources
(staff) to achieve small improvements on a continuous basis. By making small changes on
a regular basis, there is no need to worry about massive change or expensive investments
to get the improvements.

Safety Improvements
The astonishingly high accident rate in India's industries, chemical plants, and mines
persists, according to a collection of incidents recorded in the news after the country's
lockdown ended in May 2020.
Safety can be defined as a method designed to identify and reduce waste in processes to
reduce the risk of workplace illnesses and accidents.

Safety enhancements are a logical extension of new advancements achieved inside the
business and its operations. When new ideas to clean up and organize work areas are
implemented, safety is improved with Kaizen.

Increased Efficiency
Following Kaizen principles ensures well-planned work areas and get rid of any
operations or movement that aren’t necessary. It also guarantees that staff receive
appropriate training in order for things to function properly. When implemented properly,
identify areas where there is waste in facility, and then look for ways to fix it. Eliminating
any type of waste is going to improve productivity and thereby efficiency. While Kaizen
may not always result in spectacular gains, it can help to create an atmosphere that
encourages continual development and improvement.

Thus we saw that Kaizen merged with Indian scriptures is really very efficient and
effective. Although the work cultures of the west and east are vastly different, we may
attain our objectives by combining Indian mythology, western thinking, and Japanese
kaizen technique. A multinational company “Toyota” was following Kaizen and also
succeeded a great deal. But in the process of making materialistic productivity it lost its
way and bear loss due to labor shortage and less motivated employees. It later on realized
this and brought a new concept “Humanization in organization”. After which it excelled
tremendously. To end with, a pledge concerning to Kaizen.

39
x) Case Study
A case study was undertaken in the automobile components manufacturing industry in
Ahmedabad, Gujarat, . In the hydraulic actuator assembly process, kaizen is used.

Fig: KAIZEN 1
 The sizing tool is used to ensure that the piston rod sub-assembly is properly aligned
in the tube. In the assembly step of each actuator assembly, the operator must pick up
the size tool and put it properly on the tube.
 Because the size tool is heavier, the operator is more fatigued. In addition, the
loading and unloading times are longer. Because of the operator's tiredness, he
forgets to use the sizing tool during assembly, resulting in a misalignment of the
piston rod assembly and the tube.
 While testing in a cyclic test rig, the actuator does not work according to the
requirements due to this misalignment. As a result, the actuator is rejected, and it will
be reworked. To solve all of the foregoing issues, the weight of the sizing tool must
be reduced. As indicated in the diagram, the sizing tool material is changed from
steel to aluminium, resulting in a weight reduction of 2.52 kg and a
loading/unloading time reduction of 4 seconds.

40
 Fig: KAIZEN 2

 The clamping leaf and clamping bolts hold the piston rod in place. Manual clamping
would have been required, since the operator would have had to tighten all four
clamping bolts with the rod as illustrated in KAIZEN 2 figure.
 To hold the piston rod securely in the fixture, all four clamping bolts must be
tightened.
 Tightening took longer and needed more effort on the part of the operator.
 As illustrated in the above drawings, the piston rod is gripped by the pneumatic
actuator setup.
 Because the piston rod includes a rectangular groove on one end, the clamping was
done there to keep the piston rod firm.
 The operator's time and effort are saved thanks to pneumatic clamping.

41
 Fig: KAIZEN 3
Previously, the operator was required to stand and examine the cylinder for any leaks.
The operator needed additional time to examine the cylinder for leaks at the ends and
welded parts. The time was cut in half by using developer (Magnaflux) for leak checking,
as indicated in the KAIZEN 3 diagram.

Fig: KAIZEN 4

42
On the same assembly region, two different sized actuators are built. One is 410 mm long
and the other is 350 mm long. A spacer is used for the tiny lengthened actuator, as
indicated in the diagram above. To accommodate the length of the new pattern with the
current assembly workstation, a spacer was used.

Kaizen's benefits include:

 a reduction in cycle time,

 a reduction in operator fatigue,
 a reduction in quality rejection, and
 the ability to accept a new pattern.
 Increased Operator morale and confidence.

43
xi) Outcomes by Implementation of Kaizen around the world
Kaizen is an idea that many individuals and organizations know to be fruitful.
Nonetheless, those new to this thought might be interested about how precisely it has
functioned before. There are a couple of explicit organizations that are notable for
utilizing Kaizen to accomplish much better creation results as follows:

Toyota is famous as one of the innovators in utilizing Kaizen. In 1999 at one U.S. plant,
7,000 Toyota workers offered more than 75,000 ideas, of which they had carried out
almost 100%. These continuous little enhancements amount to premier advantages. With
each representative searching for approaches to make upgrades, results can be expected
such as:

 Kaizen lessens wastes in regions like stock, holding up occasions, transportation,

specialist movement, representative abilities, over-creation, overabundance quality
and in measures.

 Kaizen further develops space usage, item quality, utilization of capital, interchanges,
and creation limit and representative maintenance.

 Kaizen gives quick outcomes. Rather than zeroing in on enormous capital escalated
upgrades.

Great Western Bank is a long-established bank in the United States. According to

ArgusLeader.com, it used to take 34 steps to create a checking account with Great
Western. This has been decreased to 24 thanks to Kaizen. Great Western Bank used
Kaizen to examine its operations and improve its customer service. They've also been
able to focus on internal processes, which has resulted in a reduction in the amount of
money spent on office supplies. Great Western Bank demonstrates how Kaizen may be
applied to both internal and external operations.

Lockheed Martin is a notable aviation innovation firm that does a great deal of business
with the federal administration of the United States. The execution of Kaizen by

44
Lockheed Martin exhibits how the thought might help organizations in dispatching
another item or administration.

The Ford Motor Company zeroed in on effective cycles and had the option to
recuperate from harsh occasions during the Great Recession of the last part of the 2000s
to lead the organization back to progress; in 2014, Ford declared that they would make
more than 5,000 positions in the United States.

45
B) METHODOLOGY

Research Methodology
 In the backdrop of the above research study and framework, a comprehensive survey
questionnaire was designed to fulfil the project objectives.
 The questionnaire was prepared on ‘Google forms’ platform and sent via email and
whatsapp and given hard copies.
 The response was analyzed in WPS office software through bar and charts.

Motivation for the Research

The bad time produces better motivation to do better in every aspect of life. This
pandemic time created centripetal force for almost all the industries to come together and
change the pattern of their regular working function with small steps.

The research study is borne out of the felt need during this project for understanding the
current scenario of organizational working pattern and how gradual and incremental
change can bring some unbelievable impact to their businesses.

Research Design
The survey questionnaire was designed inline with the basic project objective and also
knowledge taken from many literature study also referred many websites and previous
survey reports.

Consultation with many practising Kaizen certification holder whose working

profile ranging from understanding basic theory of Kaizen (Level 1) to explaining
advance tools of Kaizen (Level 2) to become Kaizen Leaders (Level 3) is taken
during this research .

Our main focus for designing this questionnaire is to getting the understanding of
awareness of continuous strategies among the people, also giving the hint to the people

46
how these continuous strategies can become the most successful strategy in their business
with small changes.

This Questionnaire contains 3 sections to get the basic information of the respondents,
facts and figures and some qualitative details about continuous strategies/Kaizen.

Section 1 provides the basic information of the respondent.

Section 2 provides the understanding and need of continuous strategies in organizations.

Section 3 provides the understanding of Kaizen and its usefulness in organizations.

Data Collection Procedure

A pre-test was conducted with some of the Kaizen experts as well as managers of certain
organizations to check its adequacy so as to avoid inapplicable questions, ambiguous
wording, and its appropriateness for different segments of employees in Indian
organizations.

After designing the questionnaire, the hard copies were distributed of this and asked the
response. Questionnaire was also shared via E-mail and whatsapp. Clear instructions were
provided at the beginning of the sections and the survey questionnaire was produced in
final form and send for collecting feedback.

Questionnaire was shared with 138 participants .

The target population for data collection consisted of the participant belongs to
organizations in manufacturing sector, construction sector, export houses etc.
The industry list which we have taken for survey is mentioned in questionnaire.

The detail sample questionnaire is shown below:

47
Purpose: A survey to understand the role of continuous strategies in organizations and
how Kaizen can be crucial in an organizational success.

* Required

SECTION 1 - BASIC INFORMATION

1. Name
_______________________

2. Email Address
_______________________

3. Organization Name
_______________________

4. Department
_______________________

5. Designation
_______________________

6. Type of Industry

48
SECTION 2: NEED OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES

1. You Organization believes in

2. Do you think that at the time of this ongoing pandemic, when businesses are facing a
lot of trouble, a change of strategy is required in business functions?

3. Does your business/Organization know about continuous improvement strategies?

4. Have your business/Organization ever consider about appraching any continuous

improvement strategy?

5. Does your business/Organization believe in taking changes in small steps or big steps?

49
6. Have your business/Organization heard of KAIZEN strategy of continuous
improvement?

50
SECTION 3: UNDERSTANDING OF KAIZEN

1. Please indicate the level of importance of continuous improvement strategies/KAIZEN

in your business/organization.

2. Does Kaizen or any other continuous improvement strategy reduce cost?

3. Does Kaizen or any other continuous improvement strategy reduce waste?

4. Does Kaizen or any other continuous improvement strategy improve efficiency of

business/organization?

5. To what extent your business/organization has got the benefits of Kaizen or any other
continuous improvement implementation.

51
Survey Results

138 Participants were selected for the survey but after continuous efforts of regular
followups on e-mail and phone, 113 participants were available for the proper survey.
Hence the analysis was done on behalf of those 113 respondents.

i. Industry wise analysis

Type of Industry No. of Response % Response

Manufacturing 39 35

Construction 25 22

Export House 24 21

Healthcare 16 14

Hospitality 9 8

Total = 113

52
ii. Questionnaire Response wise analysis

SECTION 2: NEED OF CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT STRATEGIES

1. You Organization believes in Response % Response

8 7

22 19

45 40

38 34

2. Do you think that at the time of this ongoing pandemic, when businesses are facing a
lot of trouble, a change of strategy is required in business functions?

Response % Response

72 64

41 36

53
3. Does your business/Organization know about continuous improvement strategies?

Response % Response

53 47

60 53

4. Have your business/Organization ever consider about appraching any continuous

improvement strategy?
Response % Response

69 61

44 39

5. Does your business/Organization believe in taking changes in small steps or big steps?

Response % Response

73 65

40 35

54
6. Have your business/Organization heard of KAIZEN strategy of continuous
improvement?
Response % Response

52 46

61 54

55
SECTION 3: UNDERSTANDING OF KAIZEN

1. Please indicate the level of importance of continuous improvement strategies/KAIZEN

in your business/organization.
Response % Response

3 3

18 16

30 27

62 55

2. Does Kaizen or any other continuous improvement strategy reduce cost?

Response % Response

88 78

25 22

56
3. Does Kaizen or any other continuous improvement strategy reduce waste?

Response % Response

107 95

6 5

4. Does Kaizen or any other continuous improvement strategy improve efficiency of

business/organization?
Response % Response

96 85

17 15

57
5. To what extent your business/organization has got the benefits of Kaizen or any other
continuous improvement implementation.
Response % Response

13 12

26 23

47 42

27 24

58
Findings & Conclusion

Survey Outcomes

 Section 2 clearly indicates that only 46-47% respondents were familiar with
continuous strategies/Kaizen which means that most of the businesses are running
without continuous strategies.
 Yet 64% people believe that they want change in their working strategies which
indicates that they are not much happy with the current pattern of working.
 65% people think that they need to take small steps rather than big steps to carry
out the change.

 Section 3 clearly does interpretation that 55% participants believe that these
continuous strategies are utmost important for the organization.
 Almost 85-90 participants think that these continuous strategies/Kaizen reduces
waste and cost. Also it brings/improves efficiency to the organization.
 So Overall more than 40% participants believe that Kaizen/continuous strategies
bring HIGH GAIN to the organization.

Conclusion

With the entire theory & Literature part and survey discussed in the project, we can
conclude that:
 Kaizen can become a vital part of businesses because it will generally home in on the
right components that demand modification.
 It nags business perspectives such as creating a Kaizen culture, changing the
functional structure, offering assistance, and focusing on the correct kind of
execution.

59
 Not only we can be able to use Kaizen to develop highly skilled workers, but it can
also assist us with standardizing errands, accelerating cycles, reducing the number of
errors made, and so on.
 It is not too hard to even consider bringing something new into an organization, yet
to keep it going on and keeping up with the energy whenever it has been presented is.
 One of the explanation of the disappointment is the protection from change, human
hesitance to change something in his comfortable daily practice.
 As changes were long hierarchical driven and "intended to crush" more yield out of
laborers, those need some schooling, data and most trust in any new framework.

Future Research

Based on the literature discussed in the project, we can infer that there is a large body of
knowledge on Kaizen philosophy, which provides a comprehensive overview of historical
practices and research conducted across the world. Although Kaizen is a widely
acknowledged philosophy in the manufacturing industry, and more research is needed in
this area, I strongly believe that the idea may be applied to other sectors such as business,
commerce, service, education etc.

As a result, I would conclude here that new researchers in this subject have a wide range
of study options. Therefore, additional study is needed to enhance awareness, as these
elements are critical for the success of the Kaizen concept in most industrial businesses
across Indian Organizations.

60
Suggestions & Recommendation

1. Get Organizational Acceptance

For organization, it is utmost important for Kaizen events to get in line with
organization’s objectives. Getting acceptance and willingness to support and participate is
essential to the organizational further success. Company leaders sets the tone for the rest
of the organization if they are committed to maintaining a culture of continuous
development.

Furthermore, it is critical that the employees have the support they require from
management in order to make changes. Otherwise, the team will be working on a number
of separate projects.

Toyota uses the term kaizen to describe continuous improvement. For instance, if a flaw
is discovered during the assembly process. The team leaders, group leaders, and team
members form a kaizen circle. They come up with a fresh and better solution to the
problem as a group. Toyota is known for its reliability. Kaizen is a continual
improvement process that is applied to everything Toyota does as a corporation.

2. Emphasize a personal grasp of the kaizen idea at all levels of the organization
It is critical to impart a thorough understanding of Kaizen as a long-term training rather
than a one-time administrative initiative in order to enable continuous improvement.
Continuous development is as much about attitude as it is about activities, all things
considered.

Assuring that employees in the organization understand the Kaizen set of experiences and
reasoning will help to foster a culture of continuous improvement throughout the
organization. Keeping up with force in Kaizen attempts requires creating an
organizational culture that places a continual focus on development.

Gujarat is a major state in India, the world's biggest democracy. The Gujarat
government's Education Department commissioned two weeks of Kaizen training for

61
more than 80 personnel in late 2012, according to the Kaizen Institute of India, in an
effort to enhance the operation of its public sector. This is a great example of how Kaizen
can help government and municipal organizations, not just private companies.

3. Focusing on Small Changes

When it comes to Kaizen, one of the most common mistakes that individuals and groups
do is aiming to make as many improvements as possible as rapidly as possible. While the
intention is excellent, the outcomes might be disastrous.

Change should be approached in little, incremental steps. If we improve by 1% everyday

for a year, we will be 37 times better than what we were before in just one year. Small
adjustments should be tested and implemented. This raises the rate of improvement while
lowering the pressures and hazards associated with big change implementation.

In an interview with Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, he talks about the culture in
Amazon. Amazon started with the business of books only which is still a big business for
them. They experimented with small changes in their organization. Many times they did
not taste success but with this culture of gradual increment, today they have come to the
peak summit of success. And now everybody is praising them for this milestone. Jeff
Bezos says that he knows from his past experiences that big things come up with small
continuous efforts.

The following are some basic recommendations for getting others to engage in your
Kaizen strategies:

 Suggestion Boxes – While it may appear overly straightforward, it is actually a very

successful alternative. People will be far more eager to offer ideas if they may make
suggestions in a non-pressured environment.

 Rewards or Incentives – Offering incentives or awards for improvement

suggestions is a great method to engage staff to participate. Even basic or low-cost
rewards can be quite appealing to many people.

62
 Taking Ideas Seriously – If people believe their ideas are not being taken seriously,
they will stop coming up with them. It is time well spent if you take the time to think
about and research each proposal.

 Recognizing Success – When an idea is implemented, make certain that the person
who presented it is publicly recognized for their work.

 Kaizen Events – Make sure to include people from all levels whenever you host
Kaizen events. This will guarantee that everyone understands that Kaizen requires
input from both high management and front-line workers.

63
BIBLIOGRAPHY

i. Personal presentation on Kaizen by Mr. Prakash Yardi (Kaizen Consultant) [Idea for
this project]

ii. www.kaizen.com

iii. Kaizen – Gaining the Benefits from Continuous Improvement (no date), [Online]
available from: https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newSTR_9 7.htm
[Accessed on 2 August 2021]

iv. Kaizen creates a culture of continuous improvement (no date), [Online] available
from: http://www. leanproduction.com/kaizen.htm [Accessed on 2 August 2021]

v. Imai M (1986), Kaizen: The Key to Japan‟s Competitive Success, McGraw Hill,
New York, USA. [e-book]

vi. Koichi Shimizu, Transforming Kaizen at Toyota, Okayama University. [online

summary]

vii. Jagdeep Singh and Harwinder Singh, Kaizen Philosophy: A Review of Literature,
The Icfai University Journal of Operations Management, Vol. VIII, No. 2, 2009.
[Accessed on 2 August 2021]

viii. Global Journal of Management and Business Research: The Concept and
Implementation of Kaizen in an Organization by Lubna Rahman Lina & Hafiz Ullah

ix. Robert Maurer, The Kaizen way [e-book]

x. A review paper on Kaizen philosophy [Research Gate]

64
xi. Imai M (1997), Gemba Kaizen: A Commonsense, Low Cost Approach to
Management, McGraw Hill, New York, USA [e-book-summary]

xii. Vineet Kumar (2011), ―An Overview of Kaizen Concept, VSRD International
Journal of Mechanical, Automobile & Production Engineering, Vol. 1 (3), 2011, 120-
125.

65