Business Process Reengineering

Comparison of Kaizen vs. Business Process Reengineering

Differences

	Kaizen	Reengineering
Who leads?	The people that actually do the work (with strong guidance in the early years by top management and a Sensei)	Usually consultants, top management, and a cross-functional Project Team
Duration	Never ending. Every sub-process should be kaizened repeatedly... forever	Is a "project" with a defined beginning and end
Type of process	Kaizen works best for processes: with well-defined boundaries with most variables in the control of the kaizen team that involve low technology - or islands of technology with short, highly-repetitive cycles	Re-engineering works best for processes: that cross organizational boundaries with complex inter-relationships of variables that involve complex, integrated technologies with medium-length, somewhat repetitive cycles
Scope	Although kaizen usually starts with a kaikaku that addresses the entire Value Stream process - most kaizen events focus on one specific sub-process	An entire Value Stream process
Degree of change	Changes can be incremental or radical - but usually only affect a limited sub-process at a time	Changes can be incremental or radical - and usually affect an entire integrated process
Speed	Each kaizen event generates immediately noticeable and measurable changes	Generally implemented in a Big Bang changeover
Acceptance	Since the people that actually do the work are the ones making the changes - acceptance is very high	High risk of things reverting back to the way they were soon after the consultants leave
Cost	Most "lean" changes are inexpensive or even free	Often involves expensive technologies, computers, and other "systems"
Technology	Most "lean" methods minimize or even eliminate reliance on technology - with a preference toward visual methods and simplification	Re-engineering projects are often led by computer consultants - who tend to "fix" most problems with... (you guessed it) computers!
Tools	Kaizen & Lean Tools	Business Reengineering Tools

Similarities

Both address the entire Value Stream of a process
Kaizen usually starts out with a kaikaku "big change"
Both require a qualified, competent, and committed Change Agent to have any chance of success

Kaizen Events as a part of a Software or Reengineering Project

A large complex project might include one or more Kaizen Events as a sub-set of a reengineering project or an enterprise software project.

Why? Because a Kaizen Event is often the fastest and most effective way to simplify a process - and simplification is the single most important component of the USA Principle (Understand, Simplify, then and only then Automate)