I knew it wouldn’t be long before Kaizen and Six Sigma would be combined.
Kaizen, from two Japanese words, Kai (change) and Zen (to become good), implies continuous improvement. It is grounded on the basic elements namely teamwork, personal discipline, improved morale, quality circles, and suggestions for improvement. The ultimate goal is to get rid of waste (Muda), and inefficiency.
Six Sigma, on the other hand, is a set of quality management methods and statistical tools whose ultimate goal is to improve processes and eliminate defects or waste.
The marriage of the two is therefore inevitable. True enough, there is now Kai Sigma. Catalyst Consulting coined the term and was talking about how they’ve combined Six Sigma and Kaizen in the 4th Annual Lean Six Sigma & Process Improvement Summit.
The approach Kai Sigma is a name that reflects the link to continuous improvement (Kaizen) with the use of DMAIC (the improvement method commonly used in Six Sigma).
Related posts:
Lean, Six Sigma, and Kaizen for Forest Management
Kaizen with Six Sigma
