It is impossible to improve any process until it is standardized. If the process is shifting from here to there, then any improvement will just be one more variation that is occasionally used and mostly ignored. One must standardize, and thus stabilize the process, before continuous improvement can be made.
Masaaki ImaiThe Kaizen Philosophy assumes that our way of life - be it our working life, our social life, or our home life - deserves to be constantly improved.
Masaaki ImaiThe message of the Kaizen strategy is that not a day should go by without some kind of improvement being made somewhere in the company.
Masaaki ImaiYou can't do kaizen just once or twice and expect immediate results. You have to be in it for the long haul.
Masaaki ImaiThere are various non-statistical tools that have been typically developed by lean companies, notably by Toyota for minimizing variability in production, such as standardization, introduction of takt time, synchronization, shortening the total production lead time which I am fond of referring to as non statistical tools.
Masaaki Imai