Continuous improvement: 5 guide questions to apply Kaizen in your workplace

JAPANESE BUSINESS CONCEPT OF THE WEEK

Kaizen
(English: Change for the better)

A community-driven concept referring to business activities that continuously improve all functions and involve all employees, Kaizen is based on the idea that small, ongoing positive changes can result in significant improvements (Kaizen Institute, 2021).

By improving standardized programs and processes, Kaizen aims to lower defects, eliminate waste and redundancies, boost productivity, encourage worker purpose and accountability and promote innovation.

💡 How to apply the Kaizen cycle in your business:
Here are 5 guide questions to help you apply the Kaizen process in the workplace:

Step 1: What is the root cause of the problem?
Deny assumptions about what (or who) is not working and dig deeper into the issue by practicing root-cause analysis.

Step 2: How can we address the root cause of the problem?
Get creative suggestions from fellow workers and leaders on how to implement low-cost but high-value improvements that align with the quality objectives of the organization.

Step 3. Are changes being carried out consistently, by everyone, and in all areas?
Save time and money from manual monitoring across different sites and all levels of the company by centralizing Kaizen management.

Step 4: What impact do our continuous improvement efforts create
Monitor, document, and share the effectiveness of the implemented changes with the entire organization. Keep the most impactful solutions in mind to know which actions the company needs to stop, start, and continue.

Step 5: How else can we keep improving?
Be proactive about solving problems in the workplace because Kaizen is an unending process. The Kaizen cycle aims to keep on producing industry-shaping innovations through years of continuous improvements.

THE HEADLINES
In this week’s edition of U.S.-Japan Weekly:

🚗 Goodyear sells OTR tire business to Yokohama Rubber for $905 million

🚆 Hitachi wins $720 million contract for Philadelphia subway trains

💼 Former Sumitomo-Mitsubishi executive joins U.S asset management firm

NEWS
Goodyear sells OTR tire business to Yokohama Rubber for $905 million

🇺🇸 OHIO, USA — The Goodyear Tire & Rubber will sell its Off-the-Road (OTR) equipment tire business to Japan’s Yokohama Rubber for $905 million in cash, the American multinational tire manufacturer announced last month.

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NEWS
Hitachi wins $720 million contract for Philadelphia subway trains

🇺🇸 PENNSYLVANIA, USA — Expanding its footprint in the U.S. transportation sector, Hitachi has secured a $724.3 million contract to supply 200 rail cars to the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority (SEPTA), one of the Japanese multinational’s largest contracts in the United States

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NEWS
Former Sumitomo-Mitsubishi executive joins U.S asset management firm

🇺🇸 LOS ANGELES, USA — Los Angeles-based alternative investment management firm Ares Management Corp. has appointed Masahiko Oshima, former deputy chairman of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corp. (SMBC), to lead its operations in Japan.

READ MORE

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Japan, with around 1,500 companies that have generated more than 150,000 jobs in the region, plays an integral part in the economy of the U.S. Midwest, widely known as the industrial heartland.

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