What does the word “Kaizen” mean?
This Japanese word has been associated with many Lean Manufacturing techniques and more specifically the Toyota Production System. In Japanese this word is pronounced ‘kaizen’. KAI means ‘change’ or ‘the action to correct’ while ZEN means ‘good’. So quite literally Kaizen means a change for good or an action to correct something to make it better. The Chinese translation is extremely similar. The only addition is that the Chinese translation adds a component of “benefit” to the definition of the word. In this regard the term Kaizen refers to good changes that not only benefits the business but also the society. In the Chinese translation it is assumed that one of these two parties cannot possibly benefit at the other party’s expense. Therefore the Kaizen changes are to be mutually beneficial to all or they are not true to the Kaizen methodology. The Kaizen strategy In English the term Kaizen and the workplace strategy referred to as Continuous Process Improvement are often used interch
