Kaizen — Continuous Improvement in Lean Manufacturing
Kaizen (改善) is a Japanese philosophy meaning 'change for the better' — continuous, incremental improvement of processes, products, and systems. In lean manufacturing, kaizen involves all employees, from operators to management, in identifying and eliminating waste (muda). Kaizen events (also called kaizen blitz or workshops) are focused, short-term improvement projects typically lasting 3-5 days.
Anatomy of the Chart
- Kaizen (改善)
- "Change for the better" — improvement as a habit, not a project.
- Incremental
- Many small changes rather than one large redesign.
- Everyone
- Operators through management; the people doing the work identify the waste.
- Target
- Muda — activity that consumes resources without adding value.
- Kaizen event
- A focused workshop, typically 3-5 days, also called a kaizen blitz.
How to Create
Yamazo Studio supports kaizen workshops by providing objective video evidence of current-state processes. Record the target process before the kaizen event. During the workshop, use frame-accurate analysis to identify waste categories (VA/NVA/MUDA), measure cycle times, and create yamazumi charts showing workload distribution. After implementing improvements, record the new process to measure and verify gains.
Example
An automotive tier-1 supplier ran a 5-day kaizen workshop targeting a sub-assembly cell. Yamazo Studio video analysis revealed 34% non-value-added time (mostly walking and waiting). The team redesigned the cell layout, and post-kaizen video analysis confirmed a 28% cycle time reduction with walking time cut by 71%.
Explore Further
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Frequently Asked Questions
Take the template with you
We will email you the element time study template — station, element, category and five cycle columns, with worked example rows already filled in. The same email carries the Yamazo Studio demo links, in case you want to measure the same thing from video instead.