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Kaizen event preparation checklist

A kaizen event preparation checklist is the dated list of what has to be in place before a kaizen event starts and done after it ends: the process and its target, the team and their release from normal work, a baseline measured before day 1, maintenance and engineering booked, the production schedule protected, the room and materials ready, and the follow-up to the 30-day check. The event week gets the attention, but it only works if this work is done. This template has 44 items in ten phases, each owned by a role, with five gate items that decide at a go or no-go review 5 days before day 1 whether the event runs or moves. Page 1 of the PDF is the timeline on one page, pages 2 to 4 the items, page 5 a day-by-day agenda for a five-day event with the report-out format, and page 6 how to use it with a worked example and a 30, 60 and 90 day sustain record. The Excel version works out every due date from the event date, flags overdue items, counts the status by phase and gives a readiness score and the go or no-go.

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Page 1 of the kaizen event preparation checklistA timeline of ten phases from 6 weeks before day 1 to 30 days after the report-out, the five go or no-go gates and who does what.
44 dated items in 10 phasesRole, name, due date, evidenceFive go or no-go gatesReadiness scoreOverdue flagsDay-by-day agendaReport-out format30, 60, 90 day sustain recordWorked example

When to use it

When to use a kaizen event preparation checklist

  • Six weeks before a three to five day kaizen event, as soon as the sponsor agrees to hold one.
  • When the event needs people released from production, maintenance time or a protected schedule, all of which have to be booked weeks ahead.
  • At the weekly preparation review with the sponsor, to see what is overdue and whether the gates will be met.
  • After the report-out, to hand the follow-up to the process owner with dates.

How to fill it in

  1. 1

    Enter day 1 and the event length

    In the Excel version every due date fills in: phases before the event count back from day 1, phases after it count on from the report-out. On paper, write the dates under each phase on page 1.

  2. 2

    Put a name against every role

    At the scoping meeting, write a person next to the sponsor, process owner, team leader, facilitator, scribe and the support roles. One name per item, even when the role is a group.

  3. 3

    Review it every week with the sponsor

    Set the status of each item and write the evidence: a record, a booking, a signature. The sheet flags overdue items and items due within 7 days, and works out the readiness score: items done ÷ items due by today, leaving out the ones that do not apply.

  4. 4

    Hold the go or no-go review 5 days before day 1

    All five gate items done means go. Any open gate: fix it that week or move the event, and tell the team, the cover and maintenance the same day.

  5. 5

    Run the week to the agenda

    Day 1 teach and see, day 2 current state and causes, day 3 change and try, day 4 prove and standardize, day 5 report-out and hand-over, with a 15-minute check with the sponsor at the end of each day. Keep one action list from day 1.

  6. 6

    Hand over and check at 30 days

    The process owner runs weekly follow-up, posts the new standard work and walks the process with the sponsor at 30 days, measuring the main metric the same way as the baseline. The kaizen event tracker takes the 60 and 90 day checks.

The event week

A day-by-day agenda for a five-day kaizen event

A common shape for a five-day event, the same flow the EPA Lean in Government Starter Kit and the Lean Enterprise Institute's Lean Lexicon describe. Shorten the days for a smaller scope.

  • Day 1

    Focus
    Teach and see
    What the team does
    The sponsor opens with why this process, the scope and the safety rules. Short training on only the methods this event needs, then walk the process with the operators, check the baseline and start timing.
    Out by the end of the day
    Charter confirmed by the team. Everyone has seen the process run.

  • Day 2

    Focus
    Current state and causes
    What the team does
    Finish timing and observing, draw the current state with its numbers, compare the work with takt where it applies, find the causes on the floor and choose what to try.
    Out by the end of the day
    Current state with data, the causes, a ranked list of changes to try.

  • Day 3

    Focus
    Change and try
    What the team does
    Mock up in cardboard first, move equipment with maintenance under lockout, rebalance the work. Measure each trial the same way as the baseline.
    Out by the end of the day
    First trials run and measured.

  • Day 4

    Focus
    Prove and standardize
    What the team does
    Run the new method at normal pace with the operators who will own it, measure it, write the standard work, train the operators, list what is not finished with owners and dates.
    Out by the end of the day
    New standard work, the result, the action list.

  • Day 5

    Focus
    Report-out and hand-over
    What the team does
    Dry run, then a report-out under 45 minutes to the sponsor and plant leaders. Hand the actions to the process owner and book the follow-up.
    Out by the end of the day
    The process owner owns the actions. Follow-up dates in diaries.

What's on the checklist

The 44 items, from 6 weeks before day 1 to 30 days after the report-out

Ten phases. The role in front of each item owns it; write a name next to it on the sheet. Items before the event are due a set time before day 1, items after it a set time after the report-out. The five items that end in a gate are the go or no-go checks, a rule this template sets: if one is not done 5 days before day 1, fix it or move the event.

6 weeks before

Choose the process, the target and the owners

  1. 1Sponsor: Pick one process and one problem that shows in the plant's own numbers, such as changeover minutes, lead time, scrap or walking distance, not a wish to improve an area.
  2. 2Sponsor and facilitator: Set one main metric with a target for the week and its unit; add no more than two secondary metrics.
  3. 3Sponsor: Name the process owner, the person who runs this process every day and will own the result after the report-out.
  4. 4Facilitator: Check the problem suits an event: it needs several functions, the change can be made and tried within the week, and the cause can be found on the floor. If not, send it to daily kaizen or a longer project.
  5. 5Facilitator: Choose the event week away from audits, launches, shutdowns and peak shipping weeks, and put it on the CI calendar.

5 weeks before

Scope, team and the scoping meeting

  1. 6Sponsor and team leader: Draft the scope: where the process starts and stops, what is in and out, and what may not be changed, such as a customer-approved step or a capital limit.
  2. 7Team leader: Pick 6 to 10 people: operators who run the process, from each shift it runs on, the supervisor, maintenance, engineering or quality as needed, and one person from outside the area who will ask the obvious questions.
  3. 8Team leader: Give each person a role: team leader, facilitator, scribe (keeps the action list, data and photos), process owner and members. The sponsor supports the team but is not a full-time member.
  4. 9Facilitator: Hold a 2 to 4 hour scoping meeting at or near the process with the sponsor and the team; agree the scope, metric, target and pre-work, and write them on the charter.
  5. 10Sponsor: Write down how much the team may spend during the week without further approval, and who signs above that.

4 weeks before

Baseline and pre-work

  1. 11Process owner: Pull the main metric's history from existing records (production, scrap, downtime) for the last few months, so the event is compared with a normal week and not one good day.
  2. 12Facilitator: Write down how the main metric is measured: what is counted or timed, from which record, by whom and over what period. The result is measured the same way.
  3. 13Team leader: Measure the baseline on the floor: cycle time by element over at least 10 cycles per operator for a repeated job, changeover from last good part to first good part, lead time by following parts through, or defects per number checked. Gate: no baseline, no event.
  4. 14Team leader: Film the process with the operators' agreement, draw a spaghetti map of the walking, and sketch the steps with the waits and inventory between them.
  5. 15Process owner: Collect the current standard work, work instructions, layout drawing, quality records and notes from any earlier attempt to fix this problem.
  6. 16Facilitator: Give every pre-work task an owner and a due date, and check them each week until the event.

3 weeks before

Support booked, production protected

  1. 17Production planner: Protect the schedule: build ahead or move orders so the line can stop or slow for trials without missing a customer delivery, and agree the hours when trials may run. Gate: no protected schedule, no event.
  2. 18Supervisor: Plan cover for every operator on the team for the whole event, with overtime or borrowed people, so the line runs without them.
  3. 19Maintenance lead: Book a technician, and an electrician if equipment will move, to work with the team on days 3 and 4, with their tools and locks. Gate: no maintenance support, no event.
  4. 20Engineer: Book engineering and quality time for any change to a fixture, program, check or layout, and agree who approves a changed process before parts ship.
  5. 21Sponsor: Sign the charter with the process owner and team leader, and send it to the team and the area. Gate: no signed charter, no event.

2 weeks before

Confirm people, tell the area

  1. 22Team leader: Get written confirmation that every team member is released for the whole event and their normal work is covered. Gate: no released team, no event.
  2. 23Supervisor: Tell everyone in the area, on every shift, what the event is for and when it runs, and how to pass ideas or concerns to the team.
  3. 24Sponsor: Put the day 1 kick-off, a short check at the end of each day and the report-out in the diaries of the sponsor and the plant leaders.
  4. 25Safety: Review the planned changes for hazards: moving or modifying equipment follows the site's lockout procedure, and new layouts keep aisles, exits and safety equipment clear.
  5. 26Purchasing: Agree how the team can buy small items during the week, within the spending limit: petty cash, a purchasing card or a named buyer.

1 week before

Room, supplies and materials

  1. 27Team leader: Book a room close to the process for the whole week, with wall space, and a room for the report-out.
  2. 28Team leader: Stock the room: flip charts, sticky notes, markers, stopwatches or phone timers, tape measures, floor tape, labels, a camera and the printed pre-work data.
  3. 29Maintenance lead: Have materials for quick changes ready: hand tools, carts, shelving, cardboard for mock-ups, workshop time for fixtures, and a forklift booked if racks or machines will move.
  4. 30Safety: Have the area's PPE ready for every team member, including people from the office.
  5. 31Facilitator: Prepare the day 1 training (only the methods this event needs) and send the team the agenda, start times, PPE rules, charter and baseline.

5 days before

Go or no-go review

  1. 32Sponsor: Hold the go or no-go review with the team leader and facilitator. If any gate item is not done, fix it this week or move the event.
  2. 33Facilitator: If the event moves, tell the team, the cover, maintenance and the area the same day, and book the support again for the new date.

Event week

Day 1 to the report-out

  1. 34Sponsor: Open day 1: why this process matters, what is in and out of scope, and that what the team proves this week becomes the new way of working, not a recommendation.
  2. 35Team leader: Hold a 15-minute check with the sponsor at the end of each day: progress against the target, help needed, decisions to make.
  3. 36Scribe: Keep one action list from day 1, each action with one owner and a due date.
  4. 37Team: Measure the new method the same way as the baseline, write the new standard work, and train the operators who will run it, or book the training for the other shifts.
  5. 38Team: Give the report-out on the last day: result against target, the new standard, open actions with owners and dates, and the follow-up dates.

1 week after

Hand over to the process owner

  1. 39Process owner: Start weekly follow-up meetings the week after the event, and hold them until every open action is closed.
  2. 40Process owner: Post the new standard work at the process, and check on every shift that it is followed.
  3. 41Facilitator: Add the event to the kaizen event tracker with its baseline, target, result and the 30, 60 and 90 day check dates.

30 days after

First sustain check

  1. 42Process owner: Walk the process with the sponsor: is the new standard followed on every shift, and does the main metric hold, measured the same way as the baseline?
  2. 43Process owner: Close or re-date every open action, and take any action past its date to the sponsor.
  3. 44Facilitator: Share what worked with similar lines and areas, and confirm the 60 and 90 day re-measures on the tracker.

A filled-in example

Illustrative, not a benchmark

An example: a five-day event on a hose assembly cell, checked seven days before day 1 (illustrative, the same as the Excel worked example).

The example checklist seven days before day 1

  • Done: 26 items due by today
  • Open: 4 items due by today
  • N/A: 1 item due by today

The five gate items

  • Done: Schedule protected
  • Done: Charter signed
  • Done: Team released
  • Open: Floor baseline: 2 of 5 stations timed
  • Open: Maintenance technician: asked, not confirmed

Readiness = items done ÷ (items due − N/A)

  1. Readiness =26 ÷ (31 − 1)= 87%
Gates done3 of 5: NO-GO

31 of the 44 items are due: 26 done, 4 open and 1 not applicable. Readiness is 26 divided by 30, 87 percent. 3 of the 5 gate items are done; the floor baseline, with 2 of 5 stations timed, and the maintenance technician, asked but not confirmed, are open, so the sheet says no-go.

87% ready still reads NO-GO, because two gates are open: no baseline, no event, and no maintenance support, no event.
  • The cell makes 380 hoses a shift against 430 needed, so the main metric is hoses a shift with four operators, from 380 to 430.
  • 31 of the 44 items are due by today. Item 20, booking engineering, is N/A: no fixture, program or check change is in scope.
  • 26 are done. Four are open: the floor baseline (2 of 5 stations timed, 21 days overdue), the maintenance technician (asked, not confirmed, 14 days overdue), the report-out room and the forklift to move a rack (both due today).
  • Two of the open items are gates: no baseline, no event, and no maintenance support, no event.

Readiness = 26 ÷ (31 − 1) = 87%, and 3 of the 5 gates are done, so the sheet says NO-GO. The team leader times the other three stations the next day and the maintenance lead confirms the technician before the go or no-go review.

Common mistakes

  • Measuring the baseline during the event

    Day 1 is for seeing the process, not for finding out there are no numbers. Measure before, with the method you will use for the result, or the report-out compares two different things.

  • Operators on the team with no cover

    If nobody runs their machine, they get called back on day 2. Book cover for the whole week and get the release in writing.

  • Maintenance on call instead of booked

    A rack or machine that cannot move on day 3 stops the trial. Book the technician for the days the team will change things, and the forklift if anything heavy moves.

  • A team of managers and engineers

    The people who do the work every day know where the time goes and have to live with the new method. Most of the team should be them, plus the support the change needs and one outsider.

  • Ending at the report-out

    Some actions are always open on day 5. Weekly follow-up starts the next week, run by the process owner, not the facilitator, who moves on to the next event.

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