{"id":3611,"date":"2018-03-27T16:17:18","date_gmt":"2018-03-27T14:17:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/b417oh-staging.myrdbx.io\/japanese-philosophy\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T09:07:37","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:07:37","slug":"japanese-philosophy","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.kitagawa.de\/en\/the-company\/japanese-philosophy\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese philosophy"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” dhsv_background_color=”bg_brand-primary” dhsv_margin_top=”vc-padding-top-none” dhsv_margin_bottom=”vc-padding-bottom-none”][vc_column][dhsv_vc_header bgimage=”18618″ headline=”Japanese Philosophy”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row dhsv_margin_top=”vc-padding-top-small” dhsv_margin_bottom=”vc-padding-bottom-none”][vc_column width=”2\/12″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”8\/12″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Kaizen<\/h2>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/12″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row dhsv_margin_top=”vc-padding-top-none” dhsv_margin_bottom=”vc-padding-bottom-small”][vc_column width=”2\/12″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/12″][vc_column_text]The Japanese word\u00a0kaizen<\/em>\u00a0simply means “change for better”, with inherent meaning of either “continuous” or “philosophy” in Japanese dictionaries and in everyday use. The word refers to any improvement, one-time or continuous, large or small, in the same sense as the English word “improvement”.However, given the common practice in Japan of labelling industrial or business improvement techniques with the word “kaizen”, particularly the practices spearheaded by Toyota, the word “kaizen” in English is typically applied to measures for implementing\u00a0continuous<\/em>\u00a0improvement<\/u><\/a>, especially those with a “Japanese philosophy”. The discussion below focuses on such interpretations of the word, as frequently used in the context of modern management discussions.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”3\/12″][vc_single_image image=”16939″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/12″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row full_width=”stretch_row” dhsv_background_color=”bg_brand-gradient” dhsv_margin_top=”vc-padding-top-small” dhsv_margin_bottom=”vc-padding-bottom-none”][vc_column width=”2\/12″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”8\/12″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

Two Kaizen approaches have been distinguished:<\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”16940″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

FLOW KAIZEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1\/2″][vc_single_image image=”16941″][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

PROCESS KAIZEN<\/strong><\/p>\n

[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column_inner][\/vc_row_inner][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/12″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row dhsv_margin_top=”vc-padding-top-none”][vc_column width=”2\/12″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”8\/12″][vc_column_text]The former is oriented towards the flow of materials and information, and is often identified with the reorganization of an entire\u00a0production<\/u><\/a>\u00a0area, even a company. The latter means the\u00a0improvement<\/u><\/a>\u00a0of individual workstands. Therefore, improving the way production workers do their job is a part of a process kaizen. The use of the kaizen model for\u00a0continuous improvement<\/u><\/a>\u00a0demands that both flow and process kaizens are used, although process kaizens are used more often to focus workers on continuous small improvements. In this model, operators mostly look for small\u00a0ideas<\/u><\/a>\u00a0which, if possible, can be implemented on the same day. This is in contrast to traditional models of work improvement, which generally have a long lag between concept development and project implementation.[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]<\/p>\n

10 Principles of Kaizen<\/h3>\n

[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]The Kaizen method follows ten specific principles, which are described below:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Improve everything continuously.<\/li>\n
  2. Abolish old, traditional concepts.<\/li>\n
  3. Accept no excuses and make things happen.<\/li>\n
  4. Say no to the status quo of implementing new methods and assuming they will work.<\/li>\n
  5. If something is wrong, correct it.<\/li>\n
  6. Empower everyone to take part in problem solving.<\/li>\n
  7. Get information and opinions from multiple people.<\/li>\n
  8. Before making decisions, ask \u201cwhy\u201d five times to get to the root cause. (5 Why Method)<\/li>\n
  9. Be economical. Save money through small improvements and spend the saved money on further improvements.<\/li>\n
  10. Remember that improvement has no limits. Never stop trying to improve.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/12″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    [vc_row full_width=”stretch_row_content_no_spaces” dhsv_background_color=”bg_brand-primary” dhsv_margin_top=”vc-padding-top-none” dhsv_margin_bottom=”vc-padding-bottom-none”][vc_column][dhsv_vc_header bgimage=”18618″ headline=”Japanese Philosophy”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row dhsv_margin_top=”vc-padding-top-small” dhsv_margin_bottom=”vc-padding-bottom-none”][vc_column width=”2\/12″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”8\/12″][vc_column_text] Kaizen [\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”2\/12″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row dhsv_margin_top=”vc-padding-top-none” dhsv_margin_bottom=”vc-padding-bottom-small”][vc_column width=”2\/12″][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”5\/12″][vc_column_text]The Japanese word\u00a0kaizen\u00a0simply means “change for better”, with inherent meaning of either “continuous” or “philosophy” in Japanese dictionaries and in everyday use. The word refers to any improvement, one-time or continuous, large or small, in the same ganzen Artikel lesen…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"parent":3651,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-3611","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nJapanese philosophy - Kitagawa GmbH<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Discover Kitagawa\u2019s Japanese corporate philosophy \u2013 defined by precision, innovation, and a commitment to continuous improvement.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kitagawa.de\/en\/the-company\/japanese-philosophy\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Japanese philosophy - 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