Kaizen events have become commonplace at companies that practice lean manufacturing. But these events are only a portion of the complete Kaizen process. Traditionally companies have focused on a project based path to change. Organizations that work toward a state of constant improvement understand that Kaizen events are a tool that allows them to focus resources and employees on process improvements. By understanding the current process and the future state goals you can implement Kaizen. Creating a corporate culture of continuous improvement will allow you to adapt to a changing marketplace and exceed customer expectations.

A critical component of Kaizen is an unbiased view of the current state. Particularly when companies are profitable and customers are generally satisfied, changes to any process can seem both a waste and a risk. There may be bias against change when the people who created a process are the same people who need to continuously change the process. In order to overcome this it is necessary to understand the current process, particularly any shortcomings. By studying, understanding and documenting the current process you can identify areas that would benefit from change.

Once the current state is understood and documented and the future state defined you are then ready to create and implement your improvement process. The most successful improvements involve everyone who is part of the process that is being changed. The actual steps and methods of changing aren't the focus of Kaizen. There are several tested and documented methods of improving a process.