In various forums , a lot of heated discussions about which is better Kaizen with Six Sigma ? In our opinion , the question is the same as when you asked nicer where the same hammer screwdriver ? Guns ‘ connect , because they are different their role .
If you want apples . Where do you grab first ? If your answer is in the treetops we are not to blame , but the question is why did you bother to get on top of the fruit , but with less effort , you can get the apples on the bottom . The logic is that , once the existing finish on the bottom, then just go up to the top .
Likewise, when you want to improve the performance of organizations , based on the economic principle of how with very little effort we benefit as much as possible .
According to Masaaki Imai , Kaizen is the essence of simple and direct . Kaizen physical observation on the production floor , find opportunities for improvement , execution ! The focus of Kaizen is ” Do it! ” Kaizen is a pressure point that accelerated DMAIC , insists on doing the repairs now , while for the more complex and difficult we leave it as a recommendation. As a consequence, the scope of Kaizen smaller by using the tools ( tool ) is simple .
Kaizen can also be used to get buy -in early to stakeholders that the repair activity is real and can quickly produce a benefit to the organization . Kaizen is also good for cultural formation and ownership of the process , due to the local nature of Kaizen improvement ( use of resources in the process in question )
Recommendation of Kaizen will be a pipeline project for Six Sigma , or it could be when we do the analysis process in the Measure phase , we will find some opportunities for improvement that can be executed in Kaizen .
Linkage Six Sigma and Kaizen
Six Sigma helps companies do breakthrough improvement , but in some cases the cost savings are not visible . But if the company is able to integrate Six Sigma with local resources that actively and constantly looking for ways to make the process better ( Kaizen ) your organization will be in the right track due to sustained improvement activity and breakthrough