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Example gallery · 18 examples · Kaizen and continuous improvement

Kaizen examples: 18 small changes with before and after numbers

A kaizen example is one small change with a number before and after. A parts bin raised to waist height removes about 400 bends a shift. A go/no-go gauge takes a check from 12 seconds to 3. Below are 18 examples, from changes one operator made in a shift to events of 3 to 5 days, each with what changed and what it cost. The stations and numbers are illustrative. They are made up to show what a good write-up looks like, and are not results from a real plant or customer.

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Each card is one change at one station. Before and After give the same measure, taken the same way. The paragraph says what changed and who keeps it. Cost is materials only unless it says otherwise.

Area
Materials cost

Showing 18 of 18 examples

Quick kaizen

One or two people, a shift or a few days. Written up on one page.

    • Production
    • Under $100

    Tilted bin stand at assembly station 2

    The operator asked for the parts bin to be raised to waist height and tilted toward the fixture. Maintenance welded a stand from scrap angle iron the same week. The team leader added the stand to the station layout sheet.

    Before:
    About 400 bends to floor level a shift. Cycle time 42 seconds.
    After:
    No bends. Cycle time 39 seconds.
    Cost:
    About $35 for paint and casters. The steel was scrap.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Production
    • Under $100

    Tool balancer for the torque driver

    The driver used to lie on the bench between uses. It now hangs from a spring balancer above the fixture, within reach. The operator checks the balancer cable at the start of the shift.

    Before:
    About 3 seconds to pick up and position the driver. It was dropped about twice a week.
    After:
    About 1 second. No drops in the first month.
    Cost:
    About $60 for the balancer and a bracket.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Production
    • Under $100

    Low-roll mark on the labeler at packing line 2

    The operator painted a red line on the label spindle at the point where about 10 minutes of labels remain. When the roll wears down to the line, the next roll is fetched and staged. Checking the mark is on the line's startup sheet.

    Before:
    The roll ran out mid-run about 3 times a week, with 6 minutes lost each time.
    After:
    0 run-outs in the next 4 weeks.
    Cost:
    About $4 for a paint marker.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Quality
    • $100 to $1,000

    Go/no-go gauge at the deburr bench

    The slot width was checked with calipers on every part. The quality engineer had a go/no-go gauge made for that one dimension. The gauge is on the calibration list and hangs on a hook at the bench.

    Before:
    About 12 seconds a check, and two operators sometimes read the same part differently.
    After:
    About 3 seconds a check, with one answer.
    Cost:
    About $180 for the gauge.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Production
    • $100 to $1,000

    Scrap chute at the trim press

    Trim scrap fell into a small tote that the operator carried to the hopper. A sheet metal chute now feeds a large hopper behind the press, and the forklift swaps it once a shift. The material handler owns the swap.

    Before:
    The tote was emptied every 40 minutes at about 4 minutes a time. That is 48 minutes a shift.
    After:
    One 5 minute hopper swap a shift.
    Cost:
    About $220 for sheet metal and brackets.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Production
    • Under $100

    Hardware kit tray at final assembly

    The 9 fasteners for each unit are now set out in a moulded tray with one pocket per fastener. An empty tray means the unit is complete. A fastener left in a pocket means it is not. The material handler fills the trays.

    Before:
    About 2 units a week reached test with a fastener missing.
    After:
    None in 6 weeks.
    Cost:
    About $50 for 10 trays.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Warehouse
    • Under $100

    Pick list printed in bin location order

    The pick list used to print in the order the lines were typed. The warehouse lead asked for it sorted by aisle and bin, so the picker walks each aisle once. The change was one setting in the report.

    Before:
    24 minutes to pick a 20 line order, average of 10 orders.
    After:
    17 minutes, average of 10 orders.
    Cost:
    $0.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Maintenance
    • Under $100

    Numbered, colour-coded grease points on the conveyor

    Each of the 26 grease points got a numbered tag in the colour of its grease type, and the route sheet follows the numbers. The technician ticks each number off. The maintenance planner owns the route sheet.

    Before:
    The route took about 50 minutes, and 2 of 26 points were missed on a typical round.
    After:
    About 35 minutes, with no points missed in 8 rounds.
    Cost:
    About $30 for tags and paint.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Quality
    • Under $100

    Inspection sheet reordered to follow the part

    The sheet listed features in drawing order, so the inspector turned the part back and forth. An inspector rewrote it to go around the part once, face by face. The quality engineer approved the new revision.

    Before:
    7 flips of the part and about 95 seconds an inspection.
    After:
    2 flips and about 70 seconds.
    Cost:
    $0.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.

Team kaizen

A small team and a few weeks, with a cause to find before the fix. Often written up as an A3.

    • Quality
    • $100 to $1,000

    First-piece approval wait at the CNC cell

    After every changeover the machine waited for an inspector to approve the first part. The team trained operators to do the 5 checks themselves with gauges at the machine. An inspector audits 1 changeover in 5. The quality manager owns the audit plan.

    Before:
    22 minutes average wait, over 30 changeovers.
    After:
    4 minutes, over 30 changeovers.
    Cost:
    About $600 for a gauge set at the machine.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Warehouse
    • $100 to $1,000

    Timed material route for the assembly lines

    Lines used to call for parts when a bin ran empty. A material handler now runs a fixed route every 30 minutes and swaps any bin that has a card in its slot. The warehouse supervisor owns the route and its timing.

    Before:
    About 3 line stops a shift waiting for parts, 7 minutes each.
    After:
    About 2 stops a week.
    Cost:
    About $850 for a cart, card holders and cards.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Production
    • $100 to $1,000

    Sealant bead rework at the housing station

    The team watched 50 units and saw the bead wander whenever the nozzle angle changed. A plastic guide now clips to the nozzle and rides along the edge of the housing. The team leader checks the guide for wear every Monday.

    Before:
    About 18 units a week reworked for gaps in the bead.
    After:
    About 2 a week.
    Cost:
    About $140 for guides and a spare set.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Maintenance
    • $100 to $1,000

    Repeat jams at the case sealer

    Operators logged every jam for a week, with the box size. Most came after a size change. Maintenance replaced a worn side rail and scribed setting marks for the 3 box sizes. The line lead checks the marks at each size change.

    Before:
    About 14 jams a shift, 2 minutes each.
    After:
    About 2 jams a shift.
    Cost:
    About $310 for the rail and hardware.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Production
    • Under $100

    Shift handover at the board

    Handover was a few words in the locker room. The two supervisors now meet at the line board for 5 minutes with a 6 line sheet: safety, quality, machine status, material, people, open actions. Both sign it.

    Before:
    About 3 issues a week came back because the next shift had not heard about them.
    After:
    0 or 1 a week.
    Cost:
    $0.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.

Kaizen events

A cross-functional team taken off the job for 3 to 5 days to change one process.

    • Production
    • Over $1,000

    3-day changeover event at the 200-ton press

    A team of 6 filmed a die change, then split the work into what can be done while the press runs and what cannot. Dies are now staged on a cart beforehand, the clamps are one-turn, and the setter follows a sequence sheet. The press supervisor audits one changeover a week.

    Before:
    48 minutes from last good part to first good part.
    After:
    21 minutes, average of the next 10 changeovers.
    Cost:
    About $2,400 for clamps, a die cart and locating blocks.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Production
    • Over $1,000

    5-day layout event at the weld cell

    The team drew the loader's path on a floor plan and found most of the walking was to a parts rack on the far wall. They moved the rack and the fixture table into a U shape. The cell lead owns the new layout drawing.

    Before:
    38 feet walked per cycle. At 290 cycles a shift that is 11,020 feet, about 2.1 miles.
    After:
    14 feet per cycle. That is 4,060 feet a shift, about 0.8 miles.
    Cost:
    About $1,800 for electrical drops, floor anchors and tape.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Office
    • Under $100

    3-day office event on quote turnaround

    Sales, engineering and purchasing mapped a quote from request to send. Most of the time was spent waiting for three approvals. Quotes under $10,000 now need one approval, and a standard quote sheet replaced free-form emails. The sales manager tracks turnaround weekly.

    Before:
    5 working days on average to send a quote.
    After:
    2 working days.
    Cost:
    $0 in materials. Three days for 7 people.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.
    • Warehouse
    • Over $1,000

    4-day dock-to-stock event at receiving

    The team followed 40 pallets from the dock to the shelf. Pallets waited for paperwork, then for a free forklift. Receiving now scans and labels at the dock door, and a marked lane holds no more than 6 pallets. The receiving lead owns the lane.

    Before:
    26 hours on average from dock to shelf, over 40 pallets.
    After:
    6 hours, over the next 40 pallets.
    Cost:
    About $1,200 for a second label printer and a scanner.
    Basis:
    Illustrative. Not a real plant or customer.

These examples are illustrative. The stations and numbers are made up and are not results from a real plant or a customer. Measure your own before and after, the same way both times, before you copy one.

Write up your own kaizen

One problem on one page, in this order.

  1. 1State the problem in one sentence with a number: how often, how long or how many.
  2. 2Take a before photo and measure at least 10 cycles or one full week.
  3. 3Write down the cause you found and how you checked it.
  4. 4Make the change and write down what it cost.
  5. 5Measure again the same way and take the after photo.
  6. 6Update the standard: the work instruction, the layout sheet or the checklist. Without that the old way comes back.
  7. 7Share the page with the other shifts and with any line that has the same problem.

What kaizen means, and one published case

The Lean Enterprise Institute's Lean Lexicon gives kaizen as a Japanese word meaning continuous improvement, worked through plan-do-check-act cycles. It repeats Taiichi Ohno's point that there can be no kaizen without a standard, and advises leaders to set standardized work first as the baseline. That is why every example here starts from a measured before.

The examples are sorted by size. Quick kaizen is a change one or two people make and write up on one page. Team kaizen has a cause to find first and often runs as an A3. A kaizen event takes a cross-functional team off the job for a few days to change one process.

For a published case, NIST's Manufacturing Extension Partnership describes a kaizen event at Pat's Pastured, a poultry processor in Rhode Island, run with Polaris MEP. The team mapped cutting, transferring and storing, adopted a two-handed cutting method and added storage at each station. NIST lists the reported results as processing time down 5.5 hours a week, $26,000 in cost savings and 4 jobs retained.

Sources checked

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The cards are the short version. These guides explain the method and walk through examples in full.

All our articles on this subject are in the kaizen and continuous improvement topic.

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FAQ

Questions about kaizen examples

  1. Raising and tilting a parts bin so the operator no longer bends to the floor. In the illustrative example on this page, that removes about 400 bends a shift and takes 3 seconds off the cycle, for about $35. Most kaizen looks like this: a small, cheap change made by the people who do the job.

  2. A red mark on a label spindle that warns the roll is low. A kit tray with one pocket per fastener. A chute that carries trim scrap to a hopper. A pick list sorted in bin order. Setting marks on a case sealer for each box size. All of these are on this page with before and after numbers.

  3. Kaizen is continuous improvement as a daily habit, mostly small changes made by the people doing the work. A kaizen event is a planned burst: a cross-functional team spends 3 to 5 days on one process, with a charter, a target and follow-up actions. Plants need both.

  4. Often very little. Half of the 18 examples on this page cost under $100 in materials, and several cost nothing. The three shop floor events cost between $1,200 and $2,400 in materials, plus the team's time. Write the cost on the kaizen sheet so the saving can be set against it.

  5. On one page. Before photo and the problem with a number, the cause, the change, the after photo and the result measured the same way, the cost, and which standard was updated. The quick kaizen template on this page has those boxes.

  6. Yes. The office event on this page maps a quote from request to send and finds that most of the time is spent waiting for approvals. Office kaizen usually goes after waiting, rework and handoffs, and the measure is turnaround time.

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