Kaikaku
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Kaikaku (改革), is the Japanese term for "radical change". In business, kaikaku is concerned with making fundamental and radical changes to a production system, unlike kaizen which is focused on incremental changes.[1]
Kaikaku and kaizen are concepts in Japanese production philosophy that relate to each other. Both have origins in the Toyota Production System and can be applied to activities other than production.
Kaikaku means a radical change, during a limited time, of a production system. Kaizen, on the other hand, is a system of incremental production system changes, often with the primary goal of solving team-related problems. Kaizen is based on the involvement of all employees, wherein singular changes typically do not improve major production metrics above a 20% threshold. A cross between kaikaku and kaizen is kaizen blitz (or kaizen events), which targets a radical improvement in a limited area, such as a production cell, typically during an intense week.
A crucial distinction between kaikaku and kaizen is that kaikaku as a process is willing to wholly overturn or replace current systems of production, instead of incrementally improving it, which can keep production at contemporary rates. "By focusing exclusively on small improvements, an organization may miss an opportunity to gain a competitive advantage in costs and customer service. If competitors take a big leap, an organization will be left behind, still making candles in a light bulb market."[2]