In a previous life I studied Production management and one thing I was completely enthralled with was the idea of Quality and the management of lean production. Lean production as the name suggests endeavours to reduce waste in the manufacturing process. What a fantastic idea, I thought, to be able to solely concentrate on the delivery of value to the customer and at the same time reduce wasted effort and resources. Streamlining at its best!
Kaizen is a related topic and can be applied within the whole idea of lean production and focuses on continual improvement. The idea is that efficiency can be reached by making small improvements all the time. These improvements can be gradual but there is a common goal (within business) towards driving the process towards efficiency of work patterns and delivering quality to the customer. My good friend NAS works for Danaher (who say on their website "Kaizen is our way of life") and he told me he went to a Kaizen seminar with a Japanese sensei! (NAS, please comment!)
You guys are way ahead of me, but just in case, check this out...
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