Kaizen Event Checklist

Define the in-scope process boundaries (start operation, end operation), the SQDC target (safety, quality, delivery, cost), and the specific metric movement — e.g., reduce changeover from 42 to 20 minutes, or lift OEE from 58% to 72%. Vague charters ("improve the line") are the most common reason kaizen events fail to land.

Aim for 6-10 people: two operators from the target cell, the cell lead, manufacturing engineering, quality, maintenance, materials, and one outsider (a fresh pair of eyes from another value stream). The CI lead facilitates; the value-stream owner sponsors.

Pull at least 4 weeks of MES or machine-monitoring data: availability, performance, quality, scrap PPM, rework, and any takt vs. cycle data. Baseline before the event so improvement claims are defensible.

Hold the war room for the full event week; coordinate with production scheduling so the target cell is available for trystorm (down or low-volume work). Surprise the schedulers and you lose a day.

Operators in the target area need to know the event is coming, what the goal is, and that they are not the problem. Pre-brief the off-shift leads so all three shifts hear the same message.

Sponsor reads the charter aloud. Team confirms scope, target, and out-of-scope items. Set ground rules: respect for operators, data over opinions, trystorm don't argue.

Two-hour silent observation in the cell. Each team member follows one operator or one part. No suggestions yet — just watch and note. The CI lead enforces silence.

Sticky-note every operation, transport, inspection, and wait. Add timed cycle observations (10 cycles minimum per operation) and operator walking distance. Capture the map photographically before the team starts modifying it.

Walk the team through TIMWOOD — transportation, inventory, motion, waiting, overproduction, overprocessing, defects. Color-coded dots on the map. Quantify each waste with the timed observations.

Generate ideas freely, then sort onto a 2x2 of impact vs. effort. Pick the top 3-5 for trystorm this week; park the rest in the 30/60/90-day list. Avoid the trap of designing the perfect future state — kaizen is bias-to-action.

Show the cell layout, kanban quantities, takt-aligned cycle time, and operator standard work loops after the countermeasures land. This becomes the target the team builds toward on the floor.

Move equipment, build poka-yoke fixtures, set kanban quantities, paint floor markings. Use cardboard mock-ups and tape for layout changes before anything is bolted down. Run parts through the new flow and measure.

Re-time cycles, re-walk operator distances, re-count WIP. Compare against the charter target. Photograph the cell at each iteration so the report-out shows the visible change.

Rewrite the standard work combination sheet, the operator job-element sheet, and the cell board. Update visual controls — andon thresholds, kanban cards, min/max labels. Route through document control if the SOP is controlled.

TWI-style job instruction: tell, show, do, review. All three shifts. Capture acknowledgment signatures and add the new revision to the training matrix. Operators not trained on the new standard cannot run the cell.

Run a full shift under the new standard work and measure against the charter target. Pass = the metric movement specified on the charter is achieved or exceeded with no safety or quality regression.

Team presents the A3: charter, current state, future state, countermeasures, before/after metrics, and the 30-day sustain plan. Operators present alongside engineers — they did the work.

If the pilot did not hit the charter target, open a corrective action with named owner, root-cause analysis, and a hard due date. Do not close the event with the gap unaddressed — that is how kaizen events become paperwork rituals.

Layered process audit by the cell lead and the value-stream owner. Verify operators are running the new standard work — not the old one — and that visual controls are intact. Drift at 30 days is the normal failure mode.

If audit shows drift or reversion, re-deliver TWI training across all three shifts and dig into why the standard is not being followed — usually the standard is wrong, not the operator. Update the standard if so.

Finalize the A3 with what worked, what didn't, and what to do differently next event. Store in the CI tracker so the next kaizen lead can read it.

Record final metrics, savings, and sustained vs. target. Roll the parking-lot ideas to the 30/60/90 list for the next event. Celebrate publicly — recognition is what makes the next event easier to staff.