The Kanzen Journey

KANZEN is a journey searching for “PERFECTION” or “COMPLETENESS” – the fifth and final step laid down by Womack and Jones in their seminal book “Lean Thinking”. Achieving operational excellence becomes a reality as the organization aims for perfection which is a dynamic state, the milestone shifts further away every time we think we are about to reach it.

Perfection is not attainable
However if we chase Perfection
We can achieve Excellence

– Vince Lombardi

By embarking on the KANZEN journey, we believe that not only will our clients achieve excellence in their business but also develop a unique culture that makes continual improvement a Way of Life.

The KANZEN journey is typically marked by four main phases, each having its own milestone and measures.

Diagnostic Phase : The first step is to assess the current state vis a vis the organization goals and identify the gaps to be bridged across the gamut of operations.

Improvement Phase : Identified constraints and bottlenecks are eliminated or minimized through radical process improvements done in a relatively short span of time. Significant results can be seen during this phase itself the implementation methodology being our unique Focused Improvement Workshop.

Standardization Phase : Most gains and improvements are short lived as the operational processes are not robust enough to keep them going. During this phase, deeper and longer gestation concepts such as 5 S, elements to Total Productive Maintenance (TPM) etc are systematically percolated through the organization allowing sufficient time for them to seep into the DNA of every person.

Sustenance Phase : To Quote Tennyson from his poem The Brook “men may come and men may go but I go on forever”. KIAP believes that the role of the consultant ends with putting in place and handing over a self sustaining framework so that organization is firmly set on the path of Continual Improvement.