In my article, “Building the Kaizen Pipeline: Where do Continuous Improvement Ideas Come From?” I promised to share some thoughts and tips for managing the Kaizen Pipeline and Kaizen Calendar. When used correctly, these tools can help you capture your improvement ideas, select the highest priority opportunities, manage activities, and provide information that will keep your Continuous Improvement program on track.
Managing the Kaizen Pipeline
The first step in managing the Kaizen Pipeline is the documentation of all opportunities from Problems, Value Stream Mapping (VSM), and the Strategy Deployment Planning (SDP) process.
For each idea, assign a meaningful title, add the source of the idea, the metrics targeted and expected impact, the desired timing, the scope and objectives, a project champion and/or leader and team members, the project status, and comments.
A good pipeline will have more ideas than available time and resources to complete the projects, with enough definition that each can be pulled onto the calendar without having to guess what its original intent was.
Reviewing the Pipeline and Moving Projects to the Calendar
Regularly review the Kaizen Pipeline and develop a list of events that should be moved onto the Kaizen Calendar and identify potential timing for each event. This review will act as a funnel to select the best events to schedule three to six months into the future.
Approximately once per month, hold a formal Kaizen Calendar Review with key stakeholders to present the kaizen plan. Verify the availability of resources for each event, and avoid major scheduling conflicts before finalizing the event on the Kaizen Calendar.
A general rule is that once an event is on the calendar it does not move: scheduling the event is the trigger for event planning and the initiation of all prework including gathering baseline data, collecting anecdotal information, and scheduling internal and external resources as required.
There are numerous reasons for why rescheduling is not in the best interest of the overall Continuous Improvement program. First, rescheduling an event causes a cascading effect on the rest of the Kaizen Calendar, as other events may depend on the moved event for their timing and will also have to potentially be rescheduled. Second, rescheduling results in the wastes (illustrated above by the lean.org example): muda (in the form of waiting, overproduction), mura (unevenness), and muri (overburden). Lastly, rescheduling events can send a message that other business activities are of significantly higher importance than Continuous Improvement.
What is the Best Way to Manage the Pipeline and the Calendar?
There are many ways to manage the Kaizen Pipeline and Kaizen Calendar, from simple lists on flip charts, to excel files, to project management software, to Microsoft SharePoint sites, to visual Kanban boards. While each has advantages and disadvantages, the most effective ways of managing will be visual, and will keep the pipeline and calendar out in the open and in front of stakeholders. An example of a Kaizen Pipeline managed as a spreadsheet is shown below:
This spreadsheet style of the Kaizen Pipeline tool is easy to work with and manage because moving a project from the Kaizen Pipeline to the Kaizen Calendar is as simple as giving it a "firm" date and changing it's status from "Chartered" to "Scheduled". The same tool can be used to manage projects that are in the planning process, chartered, scheduled, in process, implemented and collecting savings, or completed just by adding a few additional fields and statuses to the file. Using filters makes it easy to visualize whatever data you are drilling down to: your Kaizen Pipeline, Kaizen Calendar, or events completed. If you decide to use a computer to manage the Kaizen Pipeline, you will need to take the extra step to physically post a copy of the pipeline to get it "out in the open" instead of "hidden".
When a Kaizen Pipeline is very large - and has numerous projects originating from Problems, Value Stream Mapping Kaizen Roadmaps, and SDP Improvement Priority Kaizen Roadmaps - it becomes cumbersome to manage it in a spreadsheet or on flipcharts. At this point, the Kaizen Pipeline is easiest to manage as part of an overall Continuous Improvement Program in project management software.
My personal favorite means of managing the Kaizen Pipeline and Kaizen Calendar is a visual Kanban Board for upcoming tasks/ events/ projects. Easy to construct from a white board with color coded "sticky" notes, this style of Kaizen Pipeline and Kaizen Calendar is effective and flexible, and is powerful when used in combination with a spreadsheet or project management tools to keep a full history of events. Projects that are "ready to be scheduled" from reviews and the ones already firmed up on the Kaizen Calendar are placed onto the Kanban Board to gain visibility into and improve communication about emerging projects.
The Kaizen Calendar
Create a Kaizen Calendar to be posted in a public spot with scheduled events visible to everyone. If your facility is large, it may be best to post copies of the calendar in multiple locations. This will help in the information gathering phase of preparing for the event and will also attract potential participants and contributors. If you have opted for the visual Kanban Board, it may not be necessary to create additional calendars as the Kanban Board is an excellent communication and management tool on its own.
What's the Frequency? (or, How often do I schedule an event?)
A sustainable pace for Continuous Improvement is one four to five day Kaizen event per month per every hundred employees. No matter how many employees are at your location, when first starting to hold Kaizen Events, plan on one four to five day event per month and gradually ramp up activity until the target is met. For example, if you have 500 employees, your target is five events monthly. The first month hold one event, the next hold one or two, and keep adding events slowly until your program matures.
When scheduling events, resist the temptation to overload the calendar. Remember, an event requires not only the time during the event itself, but also significant planning beforehand and followup afterwards. Going slower at the beginning means there is an opportunity to be methodical in the preparation and followup phases. Doing so will help avoid mistakes that could derail the Continuous Improvement efforts before they have taken hold. Remember, there isn't a second chance to make a first impression, and restarting a failed Continuous Improvement program is much more challenging than getting it right the first time.
Metrics from the Kaizen Pipeline and Kaizen Calendar
When establishing a system for managing the Pipeline and Calendar, there is an opportunity to implement high level metrics to assess the health of the Continuous Improvement Planning system. Thinking through how to track these metrics may alter the methods used to manage the Pipeline and Calendar. Some things to consider tracking include:
the number of events in the Kaizen Pipeline
the number of events coming from each of the three main sources: Problems, Value Stream Mapping, and the Strategy Deployment Planning process
how many events are being completed per 100 employees per month
how many people have participated on events
how long an event "waits" in the Kaizen Pipeline queue before being held
how well you adhere to your Kaizen Calendar
These metrics are not intended to measure how effective an individual event is, but rather, act as a leading indicator on the strength of the Pipeline and the level of activity your organization is supporting.
Kaizen Planning and Execution
With a strong Kaizen Pipeline of opportunities and a Kaizen Calendar scheduled three to six months ahead - you will need an effective method of planning to ensure your Kaizen events are run professionally and effectively and yield the results you anticipated. If you are new to lean or Continuous Improvement, participate on several events run by experienced Kaizen practitioners before attempting to plan or lead your own, and/or seek the assistance of an outside consultant or sensei to get you started.
©2017 Dawn A. Armfield, ValueFlo Consulting LLC
