Kaizen is a basic lean tool that can be applied to many things, including plant layout. “Layout kaizen is a rapid improvement project focused on the implementation of one or more workcells for a group of products,” says Don Penkala, president of Granite Bay Global. “It is typically conducted over a five-day period, starting with a predetermined product family.”
The kaizen team goes through a brief training class on the objectives of the project and pertinent lean strategies that they will be using during the project. Over the course of the week, possible new layouts are designed on paper and the best is selected for trial on the plant floor.