Kaizen or Continuous Improvement

Kaizen is the philosophy of continuous improvement. Kaizen says “if it ain’t broke, then you should aim to make it better anyhow.”  Kaizen is an obsession with the refinement, re-engineering, and improvement of systems, products, and processes.

Dr. Edward Deming, the quality guru, exported the kaizen concept to the Japanese in the 50’s. The Japanese appropriated it and built a strong and, for many decades, unmatched economy (i.e. car and electronics industries still dominate world markets). Dr. Deming’s concept of kaizen emerged from four a conceptual and practical framework based on: planning, doing, checking, and acting. For more information, please visit http://totalqualitymanagement.wordpress.com/2009/02/25/deming-cycle-the-wheel-of-continuous-improvement/.