Where Do Kaizen Ideas Come From?
Good question. Over the years, I have developed a system in which I maintain a Kaizen Calendar of upcoming events planned three to six months ahead with firm dates, and a full Kaizen Pipeline of ideas that haven’t made it to the calendar stage yet. To some people, it must look like the calendar and pipeline magically fill themselves with the next great opportunity. And, once key portions of the lean management system are working, it is almost magical how easy it is to continually populate the calendar with meaningful, impactful events and projects.
So, how does the magic happen? There are three main sources of improvement ideas that feed the pipeline from least to most structured and strategic:
Problems
Value Stream Mapping
Strategy Deployment Improvement Priorities
Ideas from each of these sources feed the pipeline, with the balance of how many ideas from each source shifting as you progress on your lean journey.
Problems
Anytime there is a gap between standard or expected performance, and actual performance, there is a problem. By collecting metrics, even at a rudimentary level, we can identify performance gaps across the major categories of SQDC + P – Safety, Quality, Delivery, Cost plus People.
Brainstorming or Opportunity Finding sessions fall into the “Problems” category as they are centered around improving performance on a metric or meeting a goal that we aren’t quite sure how to achieve. Brainstorming results in a somewhat loose and unstructured list of random and often unrelated improvement ideas that must be defined with problem statements, and distilled down before becoming useful. But, in terms of generating Continuous Improvement ideas quickly, Opportunity Finding sessions can yield great results.
By evaluating identified Problems in terms of relative importance and expected contribution to performance impact, we can create a prioritized list of kaizen opportunities.
Value Stream Mapping
Identifying our value streams, and then mapping the flow (or stagnation!) of value to our customers is one of the most important tools we have for identifying kaizen opportunities.
Your knowledge of lean and the Value Stream Mapping (VSM) process will greatly impact the quality of the kaizen ideas that come out of your mapping effort. When you are new to lean, or new to VSM, it is best to bring in an experienced facilitator or outside consultant to get you started. They will guide you through the process of selecting the right Value Stream, creating Current State and Future State Maps, and developing a prioritized, time activated Kaizen Roadmap to transform from Current State to Future State in six to eighteen months.
The Kaizen Roadmap will have a mix of Just Do It’s, Kaizens, and other projects to enable the Future State. Follow the roadmap schedule and update the map as each project is completed. Once significant progress is made towards the Future State, re-map the value stream and develop new maps, and a new Kaizen Roadmap. The only difference is that this time, if the VSM has been fully updated as projects are completed, the Current State VSM is essentially completed and should only require validation by the mapping team before going into the Future State mapping process.
Strategy Deployment Improvement Priorities
Hoshin Kanri, also known as the Strategy Deployment Planning (SDP) process, is a method of converting high level, aggressive, forward thinking business strategy into actionable, measurable chunks that can be executed by the organization. By providing both a direction and a system of management control, hoshin kanri ensures successful execution against strategy.
Once the direction is set in three to five-year strategic objectives, those objectives are broken down into one-year strategic goals, which in turn are broken down into top-level one-year priorities. The one-year priorities are cascaded down through the rest of the organization via Action Plans, Targets to Improve, and Key Performance Indicators. If done correctly, the cascading of improvement priorities, planning to achieve the priorities, regular review of progress, and corrective action of missed targets should ensure at least 70% achievement of the strategic vision in the planned timeframe.
The SDP process provides a wealth of improvement project opportunities as these initiatives require breakthrough change to enable the vision to succeed. Business Process Kaizens (BPK) and Value Stream Mapping (VSM) events can break down the paradigms needed for major change, and will yield Kaizen Roadmaps to ensure the achievement of the SDP objectives.
Bringing it all Together
At the start of a lean journey, many kaizen ideas will come from Problems. The risk, of course, is that by not “seeing” the whole value stream, some pieces of the value stream will be optimized at the expense of others, or that the improvement events will not yield the expected results. Without a sensei or lean coach, this experience may end the lean journey, or drive the organization to seek out deeper understanding or outside assistance. Most lean consultants will quickly move you onto the path of Value Stream Mapping. Once mapping is initiated, the mix of identified opportunities should shift substantially from Problems-driven to proactive. Initially, about half of the activities will come from the VSM Kaizen Roadmap, with Problems demanding attention for the other half of the improvement efforts.
Early on, as events coming from VSM or SDP Kaizen Roadmaps are scheduled, there may be pushback to go after more events from the “Problems” category. It’s critical to resist this temptation: protect the events that come from the Kaizen Roadmaps and stand firm that these events are critical to the ultimate success of the business. As more problems are resolved, the proportion will shift further in favor of the Kaizen Roadmaps to around 70-80% being driven by the VSM and SDP. Eventually, very few events will arise from Problems.
As kaizen events are executed from the Kaizen Calendar, each event may trigger thoughts of additional kaizens that should be defined and placed into the Kaizen Pipeline. The Walk About (Gemba Walk) Process, employee suggestions, Best Practice Identification and horizontal deployment or "read across", customers and suppliers may also become sources of kaizen ideas. Given the many opportunities for Continuous Improvement, the bigger question soon becomes what is the best method to manage the pipeline, bring projects from the pipeline onto the Kaizen Calendar, and maintain priority focus on what is most important for business results.
©2017 Dawn A. Armfield, ValueFlo Consulting LLC
