Kaizen and Error Proofing

1. Kaizen and Error Proofing Chapter 13

2. Kaizen and Error Proofing • ‘Strive to improve work procedures and think through solutions to simplify them’

3. Kaizen and Error Proofing • Kaizen is the combination of two Japanese words: • ‘kai’ means ‘little’, ‘ongoing’, and ‘good’. • ‘Zen’ means ‘for the better’ and ‘good’. • Pronounced ‘k-eye-zen’

4. Kaizen and Error Proofing • Kaizen improvement efforts are little ongoing good improvements that make things better. • Kaizen events are short, highly focused projects that improve the activities in a work area.

5. Kaizen and Error Proofing • Kaizen • Guiding words • Combine • Simplify • Eliminate • Kaizen seeks to standardize work processes while eliminating waste.

6. Kaizen and Error Proofing • Dr. Deming’s 14 points as a continuous improvement efforts foundation: • Create a constancy of purpose toward improvement of product and service, with the aim to become competitive and to stay in business and to provide jobs. • This first point encourages leadership to constantly improve their products or services through innovation, research, education, and continual improvement in all facets of their company. • Constantly and forever improve the system of production and service. • An organization cannot remain truly competitive unless it strives to continually enhance its business processes that provide the products and services their customers want. • Remove barriers that rob people of their right to pride in workmanship. • Barriers are any aspect of a job that prevents employees from doing their jobs well. By removing them, leadership creates an environment supportive of their employees and the continuous improvement of their day-to-day activities. • Institute training on the job • Continual education and training creates an atmosphere that encourages the discovery of new ideas and methods.

7. Kaizen and Error Proofing • Kaizen activities may take two forms: • flow kaizen • focus on value stream improvement • Flow kaizen events study the value stream associated with providing a product or a service. • process kaizen • focus on the elimination of waste.

8. Kaizen and Error Proofing • Poka-yoke = foolproof mechanism. • Poka-yoke or error proofing is used to counteract human variation or error. (Shigeo Shingo)

9. Kaizen and Error Proofing • Poka-yoke • Kaizen events often focus on error proofing by developing simple methods of preventing human errors from occurring in a process. • Error proof designs do not hinder worker performance, instead they eliminate the chance for error by putting mechanisms in place that prevent wrong action.

10. Kaizen and Error Proofing • Error Proofing (Poka-yoke) • Error proofing has five principles: • Elimination • Replacement • Facilitation • Detection • Mitigation • Error proofing seeks to improve a worker’s ability to do their job by improving how they do their work.