The Kaizen – Toyota KATA method

Abstract

Kaizen is a tool in line with Lean management [1]. The word “kaizen” is Japanese for "continuous improvement". The objective of Kaizen is to create a culture of continuous improvement and a structure around how it can be done. The Kaizen process is followed daily and when done correctly, it humanises the workplace by eliminating overburden and giving people purpose. Furthermore, once a possible improvement has been identified Kaizen teaches people to use the scientific method [2] of experimentation instead of the usual "implementation". This liberates improvements as the efforts are allowed to lead to failure and failure is even a welcomed learning. In order to keep momentum in Kaizen activities in the long run, companies need to ensure sufficient leadership coaching and staff training as well as develop appropriate KPIs to act upon, which are in line with the company’s overall strategy. This is where Toyota Kata comes into the picture. The Toyota Kata method helps managers create a routine on how they can coach employees to think solutions beyond the usual. This article states that exactly this approach of pushing people to think beyond the usual solutions in combination with key process information and the use of experiments makes innovation and improvement inevitable. The article starts out by elaborating on the Kaizen and Toyota Kata methods and later describes the processes and tools needed to use it successfully. The current and future applications of the method are discussed and finally benefits and limitations are outlined.