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Lean Tools, Training, and Systems

Lean Kaizen Tools

Kaizen Event Planning templates (sometimes spelled "kaizan, "kaisan", or "kaisen")

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Kaizen templates

Similar, familiar tools for
Continuous Improvement

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tools

Kaizen Tools

to plan your next Lean Kaizen Event

Microsoft Office templates for Kaizen Event Planning and Leadership

Kaizen Event Planning

Follow the instructions for how to launch any team for continuous improvement.

Notice that you get most of those event planning templates as free shareware when you download your free trial.

You will get the Kaizen Team Roles, Kaizen Agenda, and many others when you own your license.

Kaizen Event Checklist

When the big wigs travel in from out of town to participate you continuous improvement event,

and that spotlight shines bright and hot on your face,

you're going to truly appreciate having a field-proven Kaizen Event Checklist to thoroughly prepare to get the best results from your team's intensive time spent together.

Your Kaizen Checklist will help you avoid embarrassing and costly oversights as you prepare to launch your kaizen team.

Kaizen Agenda template

Kaizen Agenda template

Kaizen Agenda

After getting your Team Charter approved, begin fleshing out the details of your Kaizen Agenda.

Email your Kaizen Agenda along with your Team Charter to every person identified on the Communication Plan sheet in your Kaizen Planning Checklist.

Use your Agenda to stay on track to complete everything that needs to be done during your Kaizen Event.

The Event Coordinator should bring it to the Facilitator's attention if the group falls significantly behind schedule.


Kaizen Event Leadership

Planning is good. Successful execution is even better.

Caution: If you have never led a Kaizen Event, don't do it alone.
You should co-lead several events under the mentoring of an experienced leader before stepping into the spotlight to serve as the primary leader or facilitator.

Kaizen PowerPoints

Depending on the purpose and scope of your Team Charter,you could use any number of process improvement tools.

Tip: Use your Tool Selection Matrix

In every continuous improvement event, you will always use your Kaizen PowerPoint template:


Kaizen Continuous Improvement

Your goal is to complete as much as possible during your 1-5 day event.

You will almost never reach that ideal.

Kaizen Newspaper Action List

Kaizen Newspaper Action List template

Kaizen Newspaper
Event Action List

Use your Event Action List template (eventAction.xlsx) to collect issues and ideas that arise before, during, and in the days immediately following an Event, and to assign responsibilities and deadlines to finish up all loose ends in the days immediately following an Event

Some Event Leaders prefer to use the To Do List template

Both of these templates come with your free trial

Potential Future Improvements Ideas Parking Lot

Step 1) Decide who will author this document

There might be one document author, or you might designate your entire Continuous Improvement Steering Team as the author, and store this in a folder with write permissions for all possible shared document authors.

Step 2) Collect ideas for potential improvements

Every Continuous Improvement Team Leader should be trained to collect ideas for potential improvements, and ensure that all ideas are recorded here.

Step 3) Periodically review and prioritize ideas and make plans for upcoming Improvement Events.

Tip: This is a good time to return (again) to your Hansei questions to stimulate Lean Thinking.

Potential Future Improvements Ideas Parking Log

Future Potential Parking Lot


And more Kaizen Tools

Unlike a hodge podge of non-standardized templates collected from perhaps forgotten consultants, and "free" Internet downloads, and templates created from employees that eventually move on (and now who's going to support them?)

Once you learn how to find help and training for any Systems2win template, you know how to find help and training for every Systems2win template.

Kaizen Event Audit form Process Analysis Event Evaluation form Lessons Learned template
One Good Idea Storyboard Prioritization Matrix Kaizen Event Schedule

Your Systems2win templates empower your leaders
with an entire suite of templates to measure results (and get results)


Why Re-invent?

Download a dozen free kaizen tools

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Why re-invent?

Why re-invent?

because our gamble is that once you become familiar with your Systems2win templates that have

  • consistent, standardized features, help, and training
  • language translations for your global team
  • live technical support

you will wonder aloud...

"Why are we paying our expensive lean leaders to try to invent, re-invent, and support inferior tools?"


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Training

Additional relevant training

The Sample and Help sheets of every template always contain training relevant to THAT template


why

The Kaizen Method — why do it?

The Kaizen method is quite simply the fastest, most field-proven way to:

  • Achieve rapid and sustainable improvements
  • Shine an intense burst of improvement on a process
  • Truly involve everyone that has a stake in the process
  • Hold process stakeholders accountable for measurable improvements
  • Improve both profitability and employee morale at the same time
  • Do it again and again; each time squeezing more juice, more value, and happier people
Kaizen Event - Typical Results

Event

What is a Kaizen Event?

An intensive burst of business process improvement

usually involving...

1) Preparation by the Event Leaders

2) Anywhere from a half day to a 5-day Kaizen Event

where representatives from every group of stakeholders devote undivided attention to improving one business process with clearly defined boundaries.

Examples of clearly-defined improvement objectives might include:

(Little 5% improvements are usually not worth the attention of a kaizen event. You are looking for BIG improvements!)

3) The day after your Lean Kaizen Event


principles

Nine principles

for Lean Kaizen Continuous Improvement

  1. Be dissatisfied with the status quo and current "standards". Continuously strive toward Lean Principles and Ideals
  2. Kaizen what matters. Use customer-defined value as a guiding beacon for all decision making, to improve the entire value stream (not just sub-optimized parts of it)
  3. Use the scientific method PDCA Lean Methodology
  4. Gain consensus for root cause analysis before jumping to proposed solutions, but then have a bias for action (do quick experiments)
  5. Go to the gemba to observe, document, and experiment
  6. Use visual management systems for every process, sub-process, and supporting process
  7. Continuous Improvement is everyone's job. Engage the hearts and minds of your people — not just their backs
  8. Use creativity before capital
  9. Build a lean culture of accountability and trust

"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence."

~ Vince Lombardi


first

Your First Kaizen Event

Criteria for selecting your first few processes to improve

Suggested focus for first Kaizen Events

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Training to get you started.
Tools you won't outgrow.

The ideal process for a first kaizen event...

Kaizen Event Coaching

Request a free conference

to discuss how Systems2win's on-site event coaching might get your team off to it's best start.

Kaizen Event Coaching

Reading

Suggested Reading and Resources for

Kaizen Tools and Event Planning

More Suggested Reading


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