| | |  | Kaizen | Home » » » » Kaizen Event Fieldbook: Foundation, Framework, and Standard Work for Effective Events | | | | | | | Description: | | Foreword by Arthur ByrneAwarded the prestigious Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award in 2010! Kaizen event effectiveness is a prerequisite for lean transformation success. It provides the necessary transformational jump-start, momentum, organizational learning and engagement, and sustainable, step-function improvements. The systemic use of kaizen events establishes the technical and cultural foundation for principle-driven kaizen--the powerful combination of kaizen events and daily kaizen activities. The Kaizen Event Fieldbook brings this all together as an indispensable reference for lean leaders and implementers within any industry and for use at any stage within the lean implementation journey. One of lean's defining characteristics is learning by seeing, doing, and studying. In context with lean theory and lean leadership principles, readers will gain an understanding of the essential 'whys' and 'hows' of kaizen event standard work and event management, as well as a proven means to sustain the gains. The Fieldbook's multi-phase approach addresses strategy, pre-event planning, execution, and follow-through. Practical examples, over a hundred figures and tables, and many real-life Gemba Tales provide for an enriched learning experience. Also included is a chapter on the deployment of a kaizen promotion office, a glossary, and two appendices, which offer blank forms and an overview of daily kaizen. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Mark R. Hamel | | Spiral-bound:
| 272 pages | | Publisher:
| Society of Manufacturing Engineers,U.S. | | Publication Date:
| October 27, 2009 | | ISBN:
| 0872638634 | | Package Length:
| 10.9 inches | | Package Width:
| 8.9 inches | | Package Height:
| 0.9 inches | | Package Weight:
| 1.9 pounds | | Average Customer Rating:
|  based on 14 reviews |
| | | | Customer Reviews: | |
Average Customer Review:
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Bureaucratic and Nebulous - But Looks Nice on Your Office ShelfJul 20, 2011
By Amazon Fan!
What kills most programs is the confusion between activity and progress. Unfortunately, this work generates the former.
If you seek a "cookbook assist" to performance improvement, this guide will give you a feeling of security. Unfortunately that's not what makes strong kaizen cultures.
The documents will slow implementation by causing teams to administrate rather than THINK.
For those very new to kaizen, it will lure away from a path to success. Another work by someone who hasn't truly implemented - certificates aside - but has compiled other works into their own in a very general manner.
Buyer beware as you fill out the forms... Busy and productive aren't the same thing.
5 of 7 found the following review helpful:
 FAKE reviewsMar 20, 2011
By med student
Of the 10 reviews listed here, only 20% of the reviewers actually purchased the book from Amazon. Further, only 20% of the reviewers had reviewed another purchase on Amazon. It doesn't take a Kaizen event to show that this set of reviews is padded and the reviews are sometimes fake. Annoying.
 It's the Real ThingAug 07, 2011
By PeopleHow
Fundamentally, this is one of the most detailed descriptions in English of the Toyota Production System's intensive kaizen workshop approach to accelerated improvement - its principles, methodology, and standards for implementation.
As Hamel rightly acknowledges in the book's first chapter (Getting Started), the methods, approach, structure, and philosophy he describes are based on the practices of the Japanese consultancy now well-known as Shingijutsu. The founders of Shingijutsu studied under Taiichi Ohno (founder of the Toyota Production System) as part of his Toyota Independent Working Group along with such greats as Shigeo Shingo. In the late 1980s, Shingijutsu first began working with North American manufacturers to achieve breakthrough improvements with this unique approach. As a Japanese interpreter with hundreds of weeks experience interpreting for Shingijutsu sensei at such "kaizen events" over the past 15 years, I know that Hamel's Fieldbook is as close to a `Standard Ops for Shingijutsu Kaizen' as there is ever likely to be. For this reason alone, the book is a priceless contribution to current knowledge and practice of the subject.
Much of the lean manufacturing and operational excellence community recognizes Shingijutsu's approach to intensive, week-long kaizen blitzes as their industry's gold-standard. Consequently, many of the `rapid improvement programs' and `company X production systems' (i.e. Danaher Business System, Boeing Production System, etc.) developed in the US these past 20 years are derivatives of the Shingi kaizen approach modified and/or diluted in keeping with those companies' grasp of the teachings received from Shingi's most sought-after sensei. Yet in spite of all this admiration, imitation, and adulation, there is still tremendous confusion about how kaizen must be implemented and imbibed daily for potent, sustainable results and - just as importantly - how respect for people figures into all of it. Hamel's book is a taxonomy of that confusion, its causes and antidotes, from the perspective of one who has seen the light, toiled on the gemba in good faith, and experienced the healing firsthand.
As Hamel points out, due to its very nature much of the tactical know-how and strategic change management he reviews has never been clearly catalogued before. Real standards, therefore, have been the subject of debate and disagreement since the word kaizen landed in America. Paradoxically, kaizen is also an exquisitely context-dependent, experiential learning system that while constantly evolving also adheres to immutable principles. For this and other reasons, skill in implementing and sustaining kaizen is traditionally acquired only through long years of direct experience under the guidance of an accomplished mentor. And there will never be a substitute for hands-on practical experience. Nonetheless, in terms of its remarkable detail, balanced approach, and quest for reliable, repeatable standards, The Fieldbook is a compilation of kaizen best practices that is long overdue. It is also far superior to the proprietary `Principles of Kaizen Practice' handbooks, which I have seen, that are compiled by many of Shingijutsu's Fortune 100 clients for their exclusive internal use. Had The Fieldbook been available to the executives and lean promotion leaders of those companies 15 years ago, I'm convinced there would be more genuinely lean enterprises in our midst today and fewer demoralizing lean failures in the news.
On that last note, it's worth mentioning that the book's Forward is written by none other than Arthur Byrne, former chairman and CEO of the Wiremold Company. During the 1990s, under Byrne's (and Orry Fiume's) guidance and assiduous application of the same kaizen practices described in Hamel's Fieldbook, Wiremold underwent a legendary lean transformation. The real thing. Here on American soil. And much has been said and writing about it since then. In his Forward, Byrne is characteristically emphatic that kaizen and the change management approach presented in The Fieldbook is a requirement for such a transformation. Ironically, Byrne's personal devotion to the practices of good kaizen throughout the 90s is even more poignant in 2011 as Wiremold's new owners (Legrand) provide an abject lesson in how to destroy a lean enterprise by abandoning those practices and throwing respect for your workforce out the window with them.
Personally, I have been a dedicated student of the Toyota Production System and Shingijutsu's founders for many years. Now, quite unexpectedly, I have a practical compendium of kaizen standards - in the form of The Fieldbook - that accurately reflects my experiences and observations doing good kaizen with great teachers. Nobody intent on learning the power of real kaizen can afford to avoid Hamel's book. Though extremely well organized, it is not a breezy read. The author's effort to capture the ambiguities and seemingly contradictory aspects of real kaizen in action succeed and the true sources of the kaizen tradition shine through as a result. As a whole, The Fieldbook epitomizes the uniquely outstanding work I believe the Shingo Research and Professional Publication Award was established to recognize. Kudos to the Shingo Award Committee for directing attention to this book.
Very good manual to guide you through a successful Kaizen eventNov 25, 2009
By H. Rivera
I just used this manual last week as I ran a Kaizen event in a manufacturing facility. I have participated, facilitated, or lead over 2 dozen improvement teams and found new information that was useful in the workbook. It was a very good manual in providing guidance on how to run a Kaizen event and how to follow up once it is completed. The sequence it which it presents its' information is logical and very helpful.
If you already have run Kaizen events, you will probably find a new way to present a concept, a new tool to use, or a new story to tell your team in the workbook.
The benefits of the book compared to the cost make it a great value.
1 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Kaizen Events and More!Nov 30, 2010
By Brian R. Buck
"Lean Healthcare Consultant"
Mark Hamel's "Kaizen Event Fieldbook" is an excellent addition to the library of Lean literature. Don't let the title fool you though, there is more to this book than just the technical details behind a kaizen event.
The book definitely delivers on the myriad of details for progressing through the different phases of a kaizen event. Instead of just explaining what to do, the author provides the reason why it is done. The book's emphasis on the thinking behind the actions is valuable for Lean leaders, facilitators, and consultants . While there are a lot of similarities to how my organization conducts events, it is nice to see the differences recommended by the book.
There are many great tables and visuals throughout the book. A few of my favorites are the decision tree for what should be a kaizen event, a table with nine symptoms of event malpractice, and a team behavioral audit for the facilitator. There is also an exhaustive appendix with blank forms to use for kaizen events.
In addition to the technical details, the book has a lot of insight for transformational leadership. I enjoyed the different short stories in the "gemba tales". I like to learn how others teach Lean concepts and the book has an excellent chapter where the author does just that. I am glad the book also discusses the need for daily kaizen and what that looks like in relation to kaizen events. Lastly, there is an outstanding section about the role of a kaizen promotion office and the core competencies of those who work in it.
The "Kaizen Event Fieldbook" is a book I open often and refer to. I highly recommend it.
Mark Hamel writes a great blog at [...] and can be found on twitter as @markrhamel.
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