Ways of working are approaches or processes that teams use to get work done over time. Lean management includes integrated management practices and continuous improvement, or kaizen, with agile adding “scrum” teamwork management and extreme programming, emphasizing short development cycles and frequent releases.
Kaizen introduces the philosophy of continuous improvement, while Agile adds scrum for effective management.
Kaizen is a lean practice, not an agile one. It comes from the Toyota Production System (TPS) and the lean manufacturing movement of the 20th century.
A Kaizen (Japanese for "good change") is the result of the Sprint Retrospective. It is collaboratively identified within the event by the entire Scrum team to solve the team's most important problem or help the team continuously evolve.
Kanban is a visual-based agile framework with a focus on optimizing the flow of work in a continuous delivery manner.
Kanban, on the other hand, is an Agile methodology. This means it offers the specific tools and processes to implement Agile. It exhibits many principles characteristic of Agile, including the capacity to adapt to changes, and transparency across the team.
While Kanban certainly helps with some aspects of team interaction, it does not natively address customer feedback and responding to change. That is what many teams going agile with only Kanban miss out on. For some teams, mainly those doing maintenance work only, a sole Kanban system is good and probably enough.
While kaizen is more of a philosophy or a cultural influence on all employees' behavior and social interactions, kanban is more tactical, with precise directions in its pull system using cards. Both utilize boards for easy visualization and organization.
Lean Six Sigma (LSS) practitioners may lead the team, conduct kaizen training, or act as an advisor/coach. The project is clearly defined and preliminary data has already been gathered. The team usually works from a value stream map.
Kaizen and Lean Six Sigma are both methodologies to increase customer satisfaction, to realise lasting improvement of company results and to continuously improve processes (the way we work). In both cases, this is about the reduction of waste and variation.
Kaizen in relation to Lean Six Sigma
Kaizen goes even further in regards to the awareness of the management and the employees. Lean Six Sigma, on the other hand, is more focused on the financial results of the organization. Kaizen works best if the entire organization works together.
Lean is focused on eliminating waste, and increasing productivity and value adds for the consumer while Kaizen focuses on continuous improvement.
If the goal is to achieve near-perfect levels of quality, Six Sigma may be the best approach. However, if the goal is to create a culture of continuous improvement with a focus on efficiency and waste reduction, then Kaizen may be a better fit.
Agile methodology focuses on better management of projects. Lean Six Sigma methodology focuses on improving processes. Combining the two may be the key to maximizing process efficiency.
Kanban is a visual Lean Tool and is often applied in combination with JIT (Just-In-Time). Components are only produced when they are needed. Kanban comes from the Japanese words 'kan', which means 'visual' and 'ban', which means 'card' or 'board'.
5S is derived from the philosophy of "kaizen", which simply means "continuous improvement". Japanese automotive manufacturer, Toyota, states that the philosophy of "kaizen" is one of its core values. This philosophy is supported by three key principles, one of which is 5S.
Among the Lean methods that can be mentioned, Kaikaku is often presented as the opposite of the Kaizen method. And for a very simple reason: Kaizen advocates continuous change, while Kaikaku literally means "radical change" in Japanese.
There are various types of Kaizen events an organization can adopt. Notable ones being Point Kaizen, System Kaizen, Line Kaizen, Plane Kaizen, Cube Kaizen. They have a common goal: they all seek to improve innovation in the workforce and cause a positive change in specific areas of the organization.
Kanban is an Agile management method built on a philosophy of continuous improvement, where work items are “pulled” from a product backlog into a steady flow of work.
Conclusion: Kanban is an Essential & Helpful Lean Tool
Kanban is an important part of lean manufacturing, and it can also be used even if your organization hasn't adopted lean.
Many Scrum teams also use Kanban as a visual process and project management tool. While some teams prefer to use only Scrum because of its prescriptive nature (there is less ambiguity), many Scrum teams have adopted select principles of Kanban that are useful in adding an extra layer of visibility to their projects.