Kaizen (Ky'zen), The Key To Japan's Competitive Success

KAIZEN means gradual, unending improvement, doing "little things" better; setting--and achieving--ever-higher standards. It is KAIZEN, says Masaaki Imai, that is the simple truth behind Japan's economic "miracle" and the real reason the Japanese have become the masters of "flexible manufacturing" technology--the ability to adapt manufacturing processes to changing customer and market requirements, and do it fast. For the U.S., KAIZEN's clear message is "do it better, make it better, improve it even if it ain't broke, because if we don't, we can't compete with those who do." Now, for the first time, Western managers have a comprehensive handbook of 16 KAIZEN management practices they can put to work. Using more than 100 examples of KAIZEN in action, 15 corporate case studies, and 50 charts and graphs, Mr. Imai examines step by step all the roles KAIZEN plays in... profit planning, customer satisfaction, total quality control programs, suggestion systems, small-group activities, just-in-time production, systems improvement, cross-functional management, policy implementation or "deployment," quality deployment, total productive maintenance, supplier relations, top management commitment, corporate culture, problem solving in such areas as labor-management relations. In The Key to Japan's Competitive Success, Mr. Imai shows......how introducing KAIZEN practices into the workplace, may easily increase productivity by 30%, 50%, even 100% or more without major capital investment......how KAIZEN can lower the break-even point......how KAIZEN enables a company to seize competitive opportunities quickly--in either a slow-growth or fast-growth economy......and why KAIZEN can work in any culture (not just Japan).