1.

Kaizen:

Kaizen was created in Japan following World War II. The word Kaizen means "continuous

improvement". It comes from the Japanese words 改 ("kai") which means "change" or "to

correct" and ("zen") which means "good".

Kaizen is a system that involves every employee - from upper management to the cleaning
crew. Everyone is encouraged to come up with small improvement suggestions on a regular
basis. This is not a once a month or once a year activity. It is continuous. Japanese
companies, such as Toyota and Canon, a total of 60 to 70 suggestions per employee per
year are written down, shared and implemented.

In most cases these are not ideas for major changes. Kaizen is based on making little
changes on a regular basis: always improving productivity, safety and effectiveness while
reducing waste.

Suggestions are not limited to a specific area such as production or marketing. Kaizen is
based on making changes anywhere that improvements can be made. Western philosophy
may be summarized as, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." The Kaizen philosophy is to "do it
better, make it better, improve it even if it isn't broken, because if we don't, we can't
compete with those who do."

2. Quality Circles:
A quality circle is a volunteer group composed of workers, usually under the leadership of
their supervisor (or an elected team leader), who are trained to identify, analyze and solve
work-related problems and present their solutions to management in order to improve the
performance of the organization, and motivate and enrich the work of employees. When
matured, true quality circles become self-managing, having gained the confidence of
management.

Quality circles are an alternative to the dehumanizing concept of the division of labor,
where workers or individuals are treated like robots. They bring back the concept of
craftsmanship, which when operated on an individual basis is uneconomic but when used in
group form can be devastatingly powerful. Quality circles can help enrich the lives of
workers and aid in creating harmony and high performance. Typical topics are improving
occupational safety and health, improving product design, and improvement in the
workplace and manufacturing processes.

3. Lean 5S:

5S is a technique that results in a well-organized workplace complete with visual controls

and order. It’s an environment that has “a place for everything and everything in its place,
when you need it”.

5S produces a workplace that’s clean, uncluttered, safe and organized. People become
empowered, engaged and spirited. As the workplace begins to “speak”, by linking people
and processes, product begins to flow at the drumbeat of the Customer.

The 5S’s stand for 5 Japanese words that constitute good housekeeping. Roughly translated
they are;

● Sort (Seiri)
● Set in order (Seiton)
● Shine (Seiso)
● Standardize (Seiketsu)
● Sustain (Shitsuke)

“Visual order is the foundation of excellence in manufacturing. When it is in its place on the
production floor, work gets done efficiently and effectively. When it is not in place, work
still gets done – but at a level of cost that is hard to justify”.

5S is not just a clean-up campaign, it’s a system that allows individuals to work more
efficiently. It requires;

● Perseverance and determination

● The ability to see what’s important
● Attention to detail

● 5S is the key first step in workplace improvement.

“Sort”

Remove from the workplace all items that are not needed for current production (or office)
operation.
· Sorting means leaving only the bare necessities
· When in doubt, throw it away

“Set in Order”

Arranging needed items so that they are readily accessible and labelled so that anyone can find
them or put them away.

“Shine”

Sweep and clean the work area. The key purpose is to keep everything in top condition so that
when someone needs to use something, it is ready to be used. Cleaning a work area produces
and opportunity to visually inspect equipment, tooling, materials and work conditions.

“Standardize”

Define what the “normal” condition of the work area. Define how to correct “abnormal”
conditions. The standard should be easily understood and easy to communicate (i.e. visual
controls).

“Sustain”

Implementing solutions to address the root causes of work area organization issues. All
employees must be properly trained and use visual management techniques.

4. Six Sigma:
Six Sigma at many organizations simply means a measure of quality that strives for near
perfection. Six Sigma is a disciplined, data-driven approach and methodology for eliminating
defects (driving toward six standard deviations between the mean and the nearest
specification limit) in any process – from manufacturing to transactional and from product
to service.

The statistical representation of Six Sigma describes quantitatively how a process is

performing. To achieve Six Sigma, a process must not produce more than 3.4 defects per
million opportunities. A Six Sigma defect is defined as anything outside of customer
specifications. A Six Sigma opportunity is then the total quantity of chances for a defect.
Process sigma can easily be calculated using a Six Sigma calculator.

The fundamental objective of the Six Sigma methodology is the implementation of a

measurement-based strategy that focuses on process improvement and variation reduction
through the application of Six Sigma improvement projects. This is accomplished through
the use of two Six Sigma sub-methodologies: DMAIC and DMADV. The Six Sigma DMAIC
process (define, measure, analyze, improve, control) is an improvement system for existing
processes falling below specification and looking for incremental improvement. The Six
Sigma DMADV process (define, measure, analyze, design, verify) is an improvement system
used to develop new processes or products at Six Sigma quality levels. It can also be
employed if a current process requires more than just incremental improvement. Both Six
Sigma processes are executed by Six Sigma Green Belts and Six Sigma Black Belts, and are
overseen by Six Sigma Master Black Belts.

5. FMEA :
Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA) is a systematic, proactive method for evaluating
a process to identify where and how it might fail and to assess the relative impact of
different failures, in order to identify the parts of the process that are most in need of
change. FMEA includes review of the following:

● Steps in the process

● Failure modes (What could go wrong?)
● Failure causes (Why would the failure happen?)
● Failure effects (What would be the consequences of each failure?)

Teams use FMEA to evaluate processes for possible failures and to prevent them by
correcting the processes proactively rather than reacting to adverse events after failures
have occurred. This emphasis on prevention may reduce risk of harm to both patients and
staff. FMEA is particularly useful in evaluating a new process prior to implementation and in
assessing the impact of a proposed change to an existing process.

6. QFD:
QFD (quality function deployment) is defined as a method for developing a design quality
aiming at satisfying the consumer and then translating the consumer's demand into design
targets and major quality assurance points to be used throughout the production phase.
QFD is a way to assure the design quality while the product is still in the design stage. From
this definition, QFD can be seen as a process where the consumer’s voice is valued to carry
through the whole process of production and services.

QFD consists of two components which are deployed into the design process: quality and
function. The " quality deployment" component brings the costumer’s voice into the design
process. The "function deployment" component links different organizational functions and
units into to the design-to-manufacturing transition via the formation of design teams.

7. TQM:
At its core, total quality management (TQM) is a management approach to long–term
success through customer satisfaction. In a TQM effort, all members of an organization
participate in improving processes, products, services, and the culture in which they
work.
The Primary Elements of TQM are:

● Customer-focused
● Total employee involvement
● Process-centered
● Integrated system
● Strategic and systematic approach
● Continual improvement
● Fact-based decision making
● Communications