Quality Management: Create/Develop Team Charter
Kaizen Event
Six Sigma
Kaizen
Kaizen is the Japanese word for “improvement.”
It refers to continuously improving.
改善
Kaizen Events
Are held at various stages of the Six Sigma project
Focus specifically on the task at hand
Identify information needed or gather information from those present
Well define the path forward
7 Steps for Successful Kaizen Events
Appoint a Skilled Facilitator
Make sure leadership is engaged
Set the scope and limits of the event
Assemble the Team
Define Success
Provide Training
Outline the Event Schedule
Appoint a Skilled Facilitator
Strong leadership is essential to a successful Kaizen event.
This is usually the Black Belt or Master Black Belt that is leading the project.
The goal of the facilitator is to ensure every member is included and that all of the objectives of the Kaizen event are met.
Make Sure Leadership is Engaged
Most of the time, the executive leaders are not present at the Kaizen events, but they must be aware of them and support them.
Resources are needed to complete Six Sigma projects. Executive leaders are usually the only ones that can obtain such resources.
Change will likely occur during the Six Sigma Project. The executive leaders must be willing to support this change.
Set the Scope of the Kaizen Event
It is common to try to be too ambitious with a Six Sigma Project. Many participants will try to expand the scope of the project and of each meeting.
The Kaizen event must specifically state the scope of the meeting.
The Kaizen leader must ensure a clear definition of why each of the items is included.
The scope should be sent to each member before the event.
Assemble the Team
This may be the most important part of the Kaizen event.
The first step is to determine which team members need to be present to address the items that will be discussed.
Remember, the point is to look at all of the variables that could affect the problem.
Therefore, Subject Matter Experts from each area should be included.
This may include internal and external stakeholders.
Define Success
Set benchmarks or goals for each item on the agenda.
Write down these benchmarks or goals so that every member can agree that the objectives have been met.
These benchmarks may include:
A list of potential variables that affect the problem
Identifying which metrics need to be collected
Identifying who is responsible for each task
Identifying other people to include
Identifying the objectives of the next Kaizen event
Provide Training
Until the team has had a lot of practice with Kaizen events, a pre-training event might be necessary.
Outlining expectations and rules of engagement can be discussed.
Discussing tools that will be used is important.
The Six Sigma Roadmap
| Define | Measure | Analyze | Improve | Control |
| Establish scope of project | Process Mapping | Identify Waste | Six Sigma principles | Control Plan |
| Identify the gap | MSA | Multi-variate Studies | Design of Experiments | Statistical Process Control |
| Identify team | Capability Study | Hypothesis Testing | Future State Map | Error Proofing |
| Create Project Charter | Attribute Studies | ANOVA | Optimize Process | Return to Process Owner |