Free template
Quick kaizen template
A quick kaizen is a small improvement that a team finishes in a few days, and the quick kaizen sheet is its one-page summary, sometimes called a kaizen report. It shows what the area looked like before and after, the problem with a number, the root cause in one line, what was changed and what it achieved, so anyone walking past the board can read it in a minute. This template fits it all on one landscape page, with boxes for before and after photos, a results table, a checklist of the standards to update and a sign-off. The Excel version works out the change and the payback, and has a log that adds up every quick kaizen.
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
When to use it
When to use a quick kaizen template
- For a problem whose cause the team can find and fix in days, without a full A3 or a kaizen event.
- To write up a finished improvement for the team board, a review or a recognition program.
- When a Just Do It turns out to need a root cause, or keeps coming back.
- To share a fix with other lines and shifts on one page they can copy.
How to fill it in
- 1
Take the before photo
Before anything changes, photograph the problem from a spot you can find again, and note the number that shows it: minutes, defects, steps or cost.
- 2
Write the problem with a number
What is wrong, where and how big. For example: 12 minutes a shift spent looking for the torque wrench on line 4.
- 3
Find the root cause
State the one cause the fix removes, in one line. If it is not obvious, run a 5 Whys first.
- 4
Make the change
Write what was changed and where, then take the after photo from the same spot.
- 5
Measure the result
Enter before and after for each measure. The Excel version works out the change and whether it improved.
- 6
Update the standard and sign
Tick the documents that changed, such as the work instruction or a one point lesson, then sign it off and post it.
A filled-in example
Illustrative, not a benchmarkAn example: a quick kaizen on a packing line where operators waited for cartons.
- Problem: operators stopped about 25 minutes a shift waiting for flat cartons to come from the warehouse.
- Root cause: cartons were delivered once a shift, and the space at the line held only half a shift's worth.
- Countermeasure: a two-bin rack at the line, with an empty bin as the signal for the material handler's hourly round.
- Results after two weeks: waiting down to about 3 minutes a shift, for a rack that cost $450.
- Standard updated: the material handler's route sheet, and a one point lesson for the packing operators.
The team signed it off after two weeks of data, posted the sheet on the board and copied the rack to the second packing line.
Common mistakes
No number
Without a before and after measure, the result is an opinion. Pick one number and measure it both times.
Skipping the root cause
Fixing the symptom brings the problem back. Write the cause in one line, and check it.
Photos from different places
Take the after photo from the same spot as the before, or the difference is hard to see.
Leaving the standard unchanged
If the work instruction still describes the old way, the old way comes back. Update it and train every shift.
Too big for one page
If the sheet cannot hold it, the problem needs an A3 or a kaizen event instead.
Download the template
Free to use: print it, copy it and edit it for your team. Enter your name and work email once to download.
Run this template in LeanSuite
In LeanSuite a Quick Kaizen is a project type with its own methodologies and phases, every action has an owner and a due date, savings are recorded, and a project turns into slides or a PDF for the review.
In the lean glossary
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FAQ
Quick kaizen template: common questions
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