Adding kaizen to your kanban

ioritiz
By Fabrice Bouchereau

February 2017 | ISE Magazine 37

Adding kaizen to your kanban

I
In most companies, the day-to-day priorities of keeping business needs and are next in line for implementation.
production lines running, meeting shipment commit- When most people start their careers as industrial and sys-
ments and interfacing with suppliers and customers are tems engineers, they dream of making an impact, of working
urgent matters that need to be dealt with immediately. on major projects that change the course of companies and
Industrial engineers have a wealth of knowledge and a elevate organizations to the next levels of safety, quality and
plethora of tools that can be used to streamline and im- profitability.
prove processes. They should be change agents, but unfortu- But things usually don’t work out exactly as planned. Most
nately much of their time is spent doing routine work and ISEs and their peers do get involved in change management,
“fighting fires.” but they become firefighters. They develop skills that allow
Nearly 20 years in the industry has revealed that many or- them to react quickly and address the burning issues of the
ganizations struggle with identifying issues that need to be ad- day. Many of them enjoy being a superhero and saving prod-
dressed through improvement projects. They often want to ucts, processes and people. Being a firefighter can be fun. It
improve their operations, but they don’t know where to start. can bring instant gratification and give you incredible stories
This is somewhat surprising given the overabundance of prob- that you can use to impress family, co-workers and potential
lems that many organizations face; yet it is likely that the sheer next bosses.
number of problems is what makes it hard for organizations to But after being involved with change for years, some ISEs
prioritize and select the ones most in need of attention. are lucky enough to have their responsibilities change. They
The approach described in this article, kaizen kanban, pro- become less about reacting to crises and more about being
vides unique solutions to this problem. It complements and proactive and strategic in nature. Numerous well-branded or-
enhances the effectiveness of quality and continuous improve- ganizations invest large amounts of time and money in train-
ment initiatives that may already be in place in an organization ing initiatives to equip employees with the tools necessary to
by helping them identify opportunities for improvement in an become effective change agents.
efficient and value-added way. Most of these organizations tended to favor mainstream
Kaizen kanban is an innovative adaptation of traditional methodologies such as lean, Six Sigma and project manage-
quality tools and methods. For example, concepts derived ment, which complement and reinforce classroom learning by
from SIPOC (suppliers, inputs, process, outputs, customers) requiring all participants to apply their newly acquired skills
diagrams and FMEA (failure mode and effects analysis) are to actual projects.
integrated within process mapping activities, which signifi- But doing is learning, and completing projects is fundamen-
cantly increases the depth of analysis within the process being tal in developing a student’s ability to understand and apply
examined. lean, Six Sigma and continuous improvement methodologies.
Then, logical and well-known approaches are employed to Many participants in these programs struggle to complete
prioritize the opportunities for improvement that have been their first project, just as I did, and often for the same reasons. I
identified and categorize them within the appropriate type of will illustrate with examples from my own journey.
kaizen event. This approach provides an effective method for I was first exposed to Six Sigma in 2001 in a mandatory in-
coordinating project selection that efficiently feeds the deploy- troductory course offered by my employer. Three days before
ment of improvement projects across an organization using a the start of class, I was asked to identify and charter two proj-
visual communication approach. ects as part of my green belt certification pre-work. I had no
idea what a project charter was, and I arrived at the class emp-
What is kaizen kanban? ty-handed, fearing I was in trouble and feeling inadequate.
The Japanese word kaizen is commonly used to describe a A few years later I accepted a position at another company
team approach to break apart a process quickly and rebuild and found myself in a similar situation. Two weeks before my
it in order to function better. It is a philosophy that advocates start date, while on the road moving cross-country, I received
continual process improvement. an email informing me that I had been registered for a black
Kanban is the Japanese word for “signboard” or “billboard.” belt course and that I was expected to have two black belt
Traditionally, kanban cards are used to signal to workers what projects chartered within a week.
to build next or what parts to retrieve. How could the company expect me to identify opportuni-
Like traditional kanbans, kaizen kanbans, or improvement ties for improvement if I had never set foot in the plant?
display boards, are visual communication tools and should be Since then I have witnessed countless organizations that had
made visible to all levels of employees within the organiza- the same expectations of employees who were about to start
tion. The difference is that instead of telling operators what to their training. Invariably these candidates felt set up for failure
build next or what parts to retrieve, the cards tell improvement and often arrived in class with a high level of anxiety and even
teams what preapproved projects are most relevant to current resentment.

38 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine

 FIGURE 1

A traditional SIPOC tends to focus on high-level process

Capture the information maps with fewer than 10 steps, and thus the information
The enhanced SIPOC box, or ESB, is the key to kaizen kanban. shown is often too general. It often fails to clearly show the
linkages between suppliers, inputs, outputs and customers and
the process step they relate to.
Our enhanced SIPOC methodology enables you to capture
the information needed for a SIPOC visually and associates it
with each corresponding process step.
The tool that makes all this possible is the enhanced SIPOC
box (ESB), which is shown in Figure 1.
The following sections provide a step-by-step recap of how
the team should use the ESB to capture layers of information
one iteration at a time.
First, start by filling out an ESB for each step of the process
map by writing in the process step details on the blue section
of the ESB labeled “Process.” Make sure you follow the verb-
noun structure and make adjustments as needed. Note that the
“Process” section of the ESB can be used to show process steps
and/or decisions.
Organize the ESBs in sequential order and connect them
using the same connectors used with a regular process map.
Capture the information for the process owners and pro-
cess operators for each of the process steps during the second
iteration, putting this information in the ESB. This step is a
facilitation enhancement to traditional SIPOCs that does not
require the process owners and operators to be identified for
each step.
Note that from a facilitation perspective, specifying the
process operator and the process owner makes it easier for ev-
erybody to visualize who does each step and eliminates a lot
of discussions when it comes time to identify suppliers and
customers.
Countless hours observing smart, motivated trainees stum- In the third iteration, identify the outputs and customers for
ble as they started their first project revealed two main con- each step and add them to the corresponding section of the
tributors to this situation that usually lead to project failure: ESB for each step.
poor project selection and a lack of facilitation skills. In the fourth iteration, identify suppliers and inputs for each
This realization led me to develop a faster and better way step and add them to the appropriate section of the ESB.
to address these gaps by complementing traditional problem- The fifth iteration is an enhancement to traditional SIPOCs
solving methods with a step-by-step facilitation approach to in which “triggers” are identified and added to each process
identify improvement opportunities for entire value streams, step. Triggers cause something to happen or let the operator
compile them in a prioritized project pipeline and set up im- know the conditions are right to proceed to the next step.
provement display boards. These boards, or “kaizen kanbans,” The best way to identify them or realize one is missing is to
must be linked to key business objectives and must be visible work backward from the last process step to the first and ask
to everyone. the process owners to identify the signal that lets them know
everything is in place for them to execute their step. If a trigger
The methodology exists but doesn’t come from one of the previously identified
This approach builds on a process map developed on a wall to steps, the map may be incomplete; a discussion should take
capture and display the suppliers, inputs, outputs and custom- place with the subject matter experts, and the necessary up-
ers associated with each step in a process. For a kaizen kanban, dates should be made to the map.
this process map usually covers the entire organization. How- Every time a trigger is found to be missing, the team should
ever, the same principles can be applied to an entire depart- add a starburst directly on the process map to indicate an op-
ment if it is well-scoped. portunity for improvement. The absence of a trigger indicates

February 2017 | ISE Magazine 39

 FIGURE 2
Adding kaizen to your kanban

potential delays in starting the next step,

as the operator of that next step has no A box for everything, including failure
way of knowing the previous step was Fboxes created for each consequence can help your improvement team decide which
completed. issue to tackle first.
The sixth iteration is an enhancement
to traditional SIPOCs that is essential in
setting the team up for success when the
team members create the FMEA in the
steps to come.
The team reviews each of the inputs/
outputs and adds detailed specifications
that must be met to ensure the material
received by the operator is exactly what
was expected. Put this information in
the corresponding “input requirements”
and “output requirements” boxes in the
ESB.
For example, if the input is water,
clearly defined requirements could spec-
ify a volume, temperature and/or purity.
Specifying the volume of water can help
reduce the likelihood of spills.

Failure modes and

effects analysis
After the team members clearly defined
the input and output requirements for
each process step, they have a much bet-
ter understanding of the current state of
the plant. They also have all the infor-
mation they need to analyze how the previously expended using an ESB, use (RPN) calculated for each step using the
various steps could fail and the impact an Fbox to capture the answer to the fol- formula: RPN = Frequency × Sever-
each potential failure could have on the lowing questions: ity × Detectability. Assign a numerical
overall process. value as the answer to each question and
FMEAs are traditionally complet- • What could go wrong in this step? place it in the corresponding location on
ed in a group setting with one person • What could prevent this step from the Fboxes.
capturing the information on a laptop being completed? Leverage the Pareto principle to select
or whiteboard, while the other team • How could we fail to meet a require- the top 20 percent of the steps with the
members come up with each potential ment? highest RPN that should resolve 80 per-
failure. This process is time-consuming, cent of the issues.
places stress on the scribe and leads to Each failure mode may result in one For each of the failure modes in the
team member disconnect due to its slow or more effects or consequences. An top 20 percent, write a problem state-
speed. Fbox should be created for each conse- ment.
The failure box (Fbox) was developed quence. For example, the failure mode At this point you have identified op-
as an alternate approach that allows the “Part cut too short” has three potential portunities for improvement and have
entire team to be engaged and speeds up effects or consequences: scrap, rework translated the most critical ones into
the process by leveraging the clearly de- and line stoppage. potential project problem statements.
fined requirements captured in the ESB. Team members tape the Fboxes next Team members may be eager to start ex-
This builds the FMEA directly on the to the corresponding ESB for each step ecuting these projects one after another
previously created map using the fol- on the map, as shown in Figure 2. based on the RPN ranking.
lowing steps. Determine which effect to address We encourage you to adopt a mind-
For each step on the map that was first based on the risk priority number set of continuous improvement using a

40 ISE Magazine | www.iise.org/ISEmagazine

 FIGURE 3 FIGURE 4

A little help with that decision The x’s and y’s have it
A PICK chart is a two-by-two decision matrix that can help your Use these scores to calculate the difficulty (x) and payoff (y) of
teams decide which projects will have the most benefit and be potential improvement ideas.
easiest to implement.
For the x coordinate:
Duration Score Resource type Score
Short 1 Individual 1
Medium 5 Localized team 5
Long 9 Cross-functional team 9

For the y coordinate:

Delay Score Impact magnitude Score
Long-term 1 Localized 1
Midterm 5 Departmentwide 5
Short-term 9 Plantwide 9

two-pronged approach: kaikaku for fast could boast to management about. The implementation difficulty value
and significant improvements and kai- They all expected to start with a radi- (x coordinate) for any one idea is cal-
zen for slow and steady improvement. cal change, or kaikaku. culated using the formula: Difficulty =
Kaikaku means “radical change” and We recommended resisting this temp- Duration score × Resource type score.
is used in reference to a business concept tation and focusing on earning quick The y coordinate, the benefit value
that aims to make fundamental and radi- wins to gain credibility and buy-in with resulting from any one idea, is calculated
cal changes to a system or organization. small, easy, low-risk and low-cost pro- using the formula: Benefit = Delay score
It is a revolutionary approach to change, cess improvements, things that can eas- × Impact magnitude score.
the sustainability of which is difficult ily be evaluated with small and quick See Figure 4 for the scores to be used
to maintain without continuous im- experiments. In due time the team will in calculating these x and y coordinates.
provements, such as those accomplished have the opportunity to complete a radi- As a company progresses through its
through kaizens. cal change. lean transformation, team members will
Kaizen is a philosophy that advocates Use the PICK chart shown in Figure be at different stages in their lean jour-
the continuous improvement of pro- 3 to prioritize projects and ensure the ney; therefore, it is important to match
cesses. It addresses systemic and organi- company focus is on the projects with individuals only with projects they can
zational opportunities for improvement the highest benefit-to-effort ratio. The do and that are important to the com-
by having employees at all levels of a acronym PICK comes from the labels pany.
company work together proactively to for each of the quadrants of the grid: Per the lean handbook, improvement
achieve regular, incremental improve- needs to be organized on five levels in
ments to the process. • Possible (easy, low payoff) most, if not all, organizations on a lean
This creates an engine for improve- • Implement (easy, high payoff) journey in order of increasing scope and
ment powered by the collective talents • Challenge (hard, high payoff) depth.
within the organization. Kaizen is evo- • Kill (hard, low payoff)
lutionary and focused on incremental • Individual (point kaizen): Con-
improvements. Ideas written on sticky notes by team ducted at the individual workstation
Your staff members may be deter- members are then placed on the grid level to reduce waste and improve
mined to show how committed they based on the payoff and difficulty level. workplace organization, inventory
are to embracing change and taking the In the interest of reducing the subjectiv- and tool location, work sequence
company to the next level. From their ity sometimes associated with the use of and/or ergonomics.
perspective, only initiatives with a large a PICK chart, we developed and use a • Work teams (minikaizen): Un-
impact on process performance would more objective system to determine x dertake improvement projects af-
result in a significant return on invest- (difficulty) and y (payoff) coordinates fecting their collective work area of
ment, in other words, something they for each idea. a cell or on a line segment. Examples

February 2017 | ISE Magazine 41

Adding kaizen to your kanban

include work flows, cell layout, line blitz teams are the prime engine for the basics, as it will allow them to see
balancing, 5S and quality improve- improvement. For this type of im- the complete process cycle faster. Smart
ments. provement, the team forms for the management teams reserve supply chain
• A kaizen blitz is an event carried specific purpose of the event and dis- kaizens for more experienced practitio-
out in a local area, but it involves bands thereafter. ners.
more time and outsiders. These • Flow kaizen teams typically work When you first start with improve-
events address more complex issues across a full value stream, taking ments you may find it difficult to dif-
than what the work team can handle weeks or months for a project. They ferentiate among short-, medium- and
comfortably. For many companies, are the prime engines for creating long-term goals. It is best just to start
future states. Their targets are those and then sort things out as you go.
set out in a future state. These teams To facilitate the selection and as-
FIGURE 5
are multidisciplinary and have cross- signment process, create visual display
functional members. Flow kaizen boards of prioritized projects. This can
Remember, projects usually address process, sys- easily be accomplished by preparing an
kanban is visual tem and organizational issues. index card for each kaizen with the kai-
To make your kaizens visual to your entire • Supply chain kaizens leverage zen name and the problem statement, as
organization, create display boards of part-time representatives from par- shown in Figure 5.
ticipating companies within the value Use wall-mounted folder holders to
prioritized projects.
stream. They are focused on optimiz- create the structure to place the kaizen
ing the entire value stream so that all cards. Emphasize that there are five
within the supply chain can benefit types of kaizen by creating five columns
from improvement. These teams usu- of file folders and labeling each one with
ally have a project manager, typically a different kaizen type. Figure 6 shows
from the original equipment manu- an example.
facturer (OEM) company, and are Compiling the kaizen kanban boards
supported by champions and consul- fulfills the goal of identifying and priori-
tants. tizing projects in a visual management
board display. It improves project selec-
We recommend assigning point kai- tion for new practitioners, and the pro-
zens to team members who are learning cess of creating the board itself is a lesson
in applied facilitation.
FIGURE 6 While a kaizen kanban does not solve
the issues, it provides management the
context and background needed to
The finished kaizen kanban board make informed decisions. 
Placing the kaizen cards in wall-mounted folders helps emphasize the five different
kinds of kaizens and keeps your staff up to date on progress. Fabrice Bouchereau is a se ior i dustrial e gi-
eer a d lea roject ma ager for ProcessZe
Co sulti g. The i dustrial a d systems e gi-
eer ha early 20 years of experie ce ma ag-
i g lea , quality a d co ti uous improveme t
projects. He has a B.S. i dustrial a d sys-
tems e gi eeri g a d a BA i ter a-
tio al busi ess a d marketi g, both from the
U iversity of Miami. He is certified i ro-
ductio d i ve tory ma ageme t (CPIM)
a d is a lice sed professio al e gi eer, project
ma ageme t professio al (PMP) a d Six
Sigma black belt.

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