Abidian's professional staff have facilitated hundreds of highly successful “kaizen” improvement events in North America, Europe, and Asia. In each case, at least one Key Performance Indicator has been dramatically improved well beyond expectations and historic performance levels!
Potential kaizen improvement event areas of emphasis include the following:
- 5S+1 Workplace Organization & Housekeeping
- Accounts Receivable Optimization
- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Call Center Optimization
- Classroom/Workplace Organization
- Condition Based Monitoring (Including Online Checks)
- Facility Layout/Equipment Optimization
- Failure Mode Analysis (FMA)
- Kanban/Material Movement and Staging
- Lead Time Reduction
- Lean Maintenance
- Maintenance Excellence
- Maintenance Planning and Scheduling
- Measurement System Analysis (Gage R&R)
- Mistake Proofing
- Month-End Closing
- Operating Excellence
- Order to Production/Fulfillment to Payment Optimization
- Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE)
- Predictive/Preventive Maintenance (P/PM)
- Real-time Production Efficiency (RPE)
- Root Cause Failure Analysis (RCFA)
- Scrap Reduction
- Smart/Quick Changeover
- Smart/Quick Transition
- Tech Support Center/Department Optimization
- Value Stream Mapping and Management (VSM)
- Voice of the Customer (VOC)
Logistics
A kaizen will typically last 3 to 5 days, but can be as short as a day or even a few hours depending on the relative experience level of the kaizen team and the event scope. At least half the team and the team leader should be from the area to be improved. A hands-on, team-oriented, high involvement approach will be used by the Abidian facilitator. In addition to significantly improving at least one Key Performance Indicator (KPI), a new set of standard work practices will be developed to help ensure the improvement is sustained over the long term. At the conclusion of the event, the kaizen team will report out to their peers and leadership. The kaizen approach is appropriate for and has been successfully used in manufacturing, healthcare, education, financial, retail, government, and military settings.
Financial Impact of Kaizens
Kaizen improvement events don't cost; they generate near-immediate savings and foster improved teamwork and profitability. Studies indicate the average hard dollar annual savings per event tend to be on the order of $70,000. Our experience at Abidian has been much better with several one-week kaizens improving profitability by millions of dollars.