Why Doesn’t Daily Kaizen Happen?
More than one organization gets stuck in kaizen events. By “stuck” I mean that kaizen events are the only mechanism for improvement. A good indicator of this is “waiting for a kaizen event” to make an improvement that everyone agrees should be made. At the same time, I see leaders who understand that these kinds of improvements should be made on a daily basis, but those leaders are frustrated because that doesn’t happen. So why does this happen? There are a few things that have to be in place, but even with a workforce that understands improvement and where this is going, even with shop floor leaders who understand how to do it, that doesn’t seem to be enough. So here are some things to think about. You block out time during the day for your start-up meeting, end-of-shift cleanup (a different topic). You block out time for preventative maintenance (you do, right?). You block out time and resources for the things you expect to get done. Do the low-level work groups capture, in real time
