The Lean Pocket Handbook for Kaizen Events

The Lean Pocket Handbook for Kaizen Events is your personal (i.e., individual) Lean planner for the 21st century. We have found individuals that use this pocket handbook feel more part of the Kaizen team. They also continue to contribute improvement ideas well past the formal team Kaizen Event. That is what Lean is all about – making those small, incremental, improvements daily (i.e., hour-by-hour and minute-by-minute) by those closest to the process.

This handbook is designed to be:

1. A quick-reference guide.  Lean tools are explained in more detail in other manuals or by your facilitator during the instruction portion of the workshop.
2. Your individual (i.e., personal) log. When working outside the formal training class, notes and ideas about the area or process that are being analyzed can be easily written down in this handbook (serving as your personal log) so as not to lose valuable process information.
3. Your personal Kaizen planner. Kaizen Events will require that individual tasks be assigned to team members to be completed prior to the next meeting.  Many of these tasks will need to be scheduled within the individual’s current work day. This handbook will thus serve as your “planner” to assure these tasks are adequately planned and completed on time.
4. A tool to self-initiate Idea Kaizens.  An Idea Kaizen is an individual that implements an improvement with little or no assistance or resource required.  This is similar to a Suggestion Program submission; however, the individual with the Idea Kaizen would be responsible for immediate implementation of the idea.
5. A learning tool.  Each tool will have illustrations to graphically represent the essence of each tool. This will allow you to better understand and learn about each tool prior to using them in your Kaizen Event.

Each topic will have 4 pages.  The first page will define the tool and provide a brief description.  The second page will provide a simple flowchart of how that tool can be used effectively.  This flowchart is meant to serve as a catalyst (and guideline) to stimulate ideas for the possible use of that tool in the Kaizen Event.

The third page will provide illustrations demonstrating the tool as it is being used.  This page will also contain an area for any notes that may be taken.  The fourth page will be your personal Lean log and planner.  This page is meant for you to write anything and everything down that you must do in support of the Kaizen Event.  Idea Kaizen references can be noted here for investigation and implementation at a later date.

Paperback – 3.75” x 5.5” – 96 pages