Lean For Dummies
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The term Kaizen is derived from two Japanese characters; kai, meaning “change” and zen meaning “continuous improvement.” Eliminating waste in the value stream is the goal of Kaizen. The PDCA (or PDSA) Cycle is the Lean working structure –the system for executing Kaizen. The acronym stands for:

  1. Plan.

    Create a plan for change, identifying specifically what you want to change. Define the steps you need to make the change, and predict the results of the change.

  2. Do.

    Carry out the plan in a trial or test environment, on a small scale, under controlled conditions.

  3. Check (or study).

    Examine the results of your trial. Verify that you’ve improved the process. If you have, consider implementing it on a broader scale. If you haven’t improved the process, go back and try again.

  4. Act.

    Implement the changes you’ve verified on a broader scale. Update the standard operating procedures.

About This Article

This article is from the book:

About the book authors:

Natalie J. Sayer has more than 25 years of international experience as an implementer, facilitator, and consultant in continuous improvement methods. Bruce Williams is Vice President of Pegasystems, the world leader in business process management. He is a leading speaker and presenter on business and technology trends and is coauthor of Six Sigma Workbook For Dummies, Process Intelligence For Dummies, BPM Basics For Dummies, and the Intelligent Guide to Enterprise BPM.

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