KAIZEN (CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT)

Change sometimes can be slow, incremental and often times uncomfortable but at Blowplast we believe that it’s worth pursuing.

The sole purpose of Kaizen in Blowplast Limited is to make minor changes over time to improve the company’s general business performance. Kaizen approach was created in Blowplast to reduce errors, decrease waste, increase productivity, motivate workers, foster creativity and for quality control.

It simply recognizes that minor changes made now can have great positive impacts in the future. The idea is that everyone has an interest in the organization’s growth and that they should always strive to improve Blowplast’s business strategy.

Our Kaizen philosophy is to “do it better, make it better, and improve it even if it isn’t broken, because if we don’t, we can’t compete with those who do.”

Principles of Kaizen at Blowplast include;

1. Maintain a positive attitude.
2. Avoid excuses.
3. Seek solutions.
4. Take
5. Implement ideas immediately.
6. Don’t seek perfection. That is, do what can be done now, with the resources at hand
7. Equality among all team members

 

How Kaizen works at Blowplast Limited

Kaizen at Blowplast Limited is implemented in a certain step cycle to foster a culture of continuous improvement. Kaizen manager also facilitates the process by training and working with the team and management to ensure success. The steps are as follows;

1. Involving the employees-At Blowplast, we seek employee participation, that is including their assistance in identifying any possible issues. Doing this increases support for change.
2. Look for issues – The person responsible is supposed to compile a list of problems and potential opportunities based on widespread feedback from all employees. If there are numerous issues, then they are required to make a list.
3. Find solutions- Once the problems have been identified, our staff are motivated to give creative solutions, with all ways of ideas welcomed. From the ideas presented, the best solution is picked.
4. Try out the solution -After picking the best solution we implement it by taking small steps to put it to test.
5. Examine the outcomes –With the help of the Kaizen manager, progress is checked at regular intervals, with specific plans for who will be the point of contact and how to keep ground-level workers engaged. Examining helps determine the degree of success of the change.

If the results are satisfactory, we implement the solution throughout the company. However, the steps above are replicated on a regular basis, with new solutions tested as needed or new lists of problems addressed.

 

Importance of Kaizen at Blowplast Limited

• Significant reductions in new equipment costs.
• Improved staff morale as a result of Kaizen’s emphasis on significance and value.
• Reduction of waste in areas such as inventory, waiting times, transportation, worker motion, employee skills, over production and quality defect in the company processes.
• Improved  space utilization, product quality, use of capital, communications, production capacity and employee retention.
• Systems have been put into place to encourage both short-term and long-term improvements at Blowplast.
• With minimal mistakes, the need for inspection has reduced.

Improvement is the goal and responsibility of every Blowplast staff. Through the small but continual efforts of everyone in the organization, we are able to make significant reductions in costs over time.

 

Written by

Charanjeet Singh,

Kaizen Coordinator