A Kaizen board is a communication tool which serves as a communication medium between the lean team, process engineers and all stakeholders in the production process or business regarding the application of problem solving , potential problems and lean manufacturing techniques in Kaizen initiatives. It is a communication medium in both ways as it allows plant workers and process operators to communicate possible causes and solution for issues being addressed as part of the kaizen/continuous improvement process. Usually the Kaizen board will relate to a section of the plant or a specific problem or issues being addressed.
There are many ways to organize a kaizen board, none of which are the correct way of doing so. The layout of the kaizen board will depend on the nature of the process, the scope of the kaizen initiatives, stakeholders involved.
The layout of the board should be based on the PDCA cycle with a section of the board dedicated to each step of the cycle and contain areas where all employees can contribute to the process, such as observations relating to defects, problems and issues, and possible solutions and suggestions.
The Kaizen board should be updated and moderated by a single person or group to ensure communication, suggestions and ideas are constantly reviewed and evaluated.
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