Kaizen Training

What is Kaizen Training?

Kaizen is a concept originating in Japan which focuses on continual improvement in the workplace. The key idea of Kaizen is that everyone in the organisation, from workers to managers, takes part in improvement efforts. The word itself comes from two terms: ‘Kai’ meaning ‘change’ and ‘Zen’ meaning ‘for the better’.

Five key principles are at the core of Kaizen:

• Know your customer – Identify the interests of your target audience
• Let it flow – Create value while eliminating waste
• Go to gemba – Managers should go to where the work happens
• Empower people – Organise and give teams the tools needed to reach goals
• Be transparent – Report on improvements by using real data

Kaizen Certifications

We provide two types of Kaizen certification: Kaizen Foundation, which introduces the fundamentals of Kaizen, and Kaizen Practitioner, which demonstrates how to put it into practice.

Certified Kaizen Foundation Training

Our 1-day Kaizen Foundation course provides the ideal introduction to Kaizen for those who are new to it and would like to learn more. Beginning with a look at Kaizen’s basic concepts, it progresses to look at Kaizen strategy as well as essential tools and the 7 types of waste. The course concludes with an exam for delegates to gain their Kaizen Foundation certification.

Certified Kaizen Practitioner Training

Following on from our Kaizen Foundation course, our 1-day Kaizen Practitioner course looks in greater depth at how to implement a Kaizen strategy using PDCA (Plan Do Check Act). It also looks at the specific skills and knowledge needed to lead Kaizen initiatives, as well as advanced tools for continual improvement and the mapping of processes and value streams. The course concludes with an exam for the Kaizen Practitioner certification.

Why take a training course with Six Sigma?

We are a nationally respected training provider who have had over 50,000 people take our courses. 90% of people who complete one of our Six Sigma or Kaizen courses return to take more.

Our exam pass rates are incredibly high and all our trainers are highly qualified with vast industry knowledge and experience. Our training venues are modern, comfortable and designed to provide the best possible learning experience.

Kaizen Case Study

A food delivery company was growing quickly but having many problems as a result. The kitchen was unable to keep up with orders, resulting in unreliable meal preparation and meals being delivered late – and cold. 

A kaizen-based approach was applied to the kitchen. This meant ensuring everyone had a specified role and responsibilities, rather than helping out wherever needed. This was accomplished by first identifying what tasks needed to be done and then creating roles based on this. The kitchen also implemented measurement systems to identify error rates and spot where failures were occurring and which processes could be improved. Many changes, often small, were made according to what failures were identified.

Four months into the Kaizen project, time taken to dispatch food was reduced by 90%, production was scaled by 400%, and staff costs were reduced by 30%.